# Name this scam
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [February 18, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209 "2012-02-18T01:19:22Z")
**Posts on this page:** 13
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/1 "2012-02-18T01:19:22Z")
There’s a (perhaps apocryphal) gambling scam that goes something like this:
Scammer takes a large list of people and divides it in two. Half of the list are sent a prediction “team X will win this week”; the other half get the opposite prediction, “team X will lose”. After the result is known, the scammer discards those who were sent the wrong prediction, divides the remainder of the list in two, and repeats. After several iterations they have a short list of people who believe the scammer makes predictions with 100% accuracy.
Does this class of scam have a name?
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/2 "2012-02-18T01:33:05Z")
The first time I read of it, it was called The Inverted Pyramid.
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### Author:  [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/3 "2012-02-18T01:34:50Z")
[Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_confidence_tricks) calls it a “Football Picks” or “Inverted Pyramid” scam (and calls it a “theoretical scam usually seen on TV” suggesting it might be apocryphal as you say).
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### Author:  [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/4 "2012-02-18T01:36:09Z")
Nothing as cool as the Pigeon Drop or Spanish Prisoner. It’s been called an inverted pyramid scheme, or the horse pick con, but it’s not like any long con in that there’s no identified mark – there’s a pool of potential marks, and you don’t know which one will be the “winner.” If I had to come up with a name, I might call it the Elimination con, or maybe March Madness.
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### Author:  [@tellyworth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tellyworth)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/5 "2012-02-18T01:44:55Z")
Thanks! Inverted Pyramid is the term I was looking for.
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/6 "2012-02-18T01:51:09Z")
Now I’m wondering if the other scams named in Lafferty’s Adam Had Three Brothers are actual cons. I’ll see if I can find the book OTTOMH
The Blue Valley Farm
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### Author:  [@DocCathode](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DocCathode)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/7 "2012-02-18T02:01:52Z")
other cons listed but not explained (and possibly just made up)
Virginia city version
seven-three-three
the professor and his dog
the little audrey
denver deal
chicago cut
little old lady
blue hat
silver lining
doghouse
double doghouse
oslo’s puds
copenhagen streg
farmer’s wife
little black dog
seventy-three
supper club
sleepy river
raft
down the smokestack
blue eyed drover
black cow
brandy snifter
snake doctor
bottom of the barrel
yellow grove
glastonbury giveaway
golden gambit
four quarters
nine dollar dob
three fish out
four diamond trick
two story chicken coop
thimblerig reverse
canal boat cut
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### Author:  [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/8 "2012-02-18T02:12:26Z")
When Derren Brown did a show based on this, he called it [_The System_](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lX94fV4TWbc).
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 3:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/9 "2012-02-18T03:34:17Z")
> [@zombywoof](#):
>
> [Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_confidence_tricks) calls it a “Football Picks” or “Inverted Pyramid” scam (and calls it a “theoretical scam usually seen on TV” suggesting it might be apocryphal as you say).
I first heard about it 40 years ago as a trick used by a [“colourful Sydney racing identity”](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Racing_identity) in the 30s and 40s. As a refinement he never asked for pre-payment for tips, the mark just had to have a bet for the conman. Because they only paid for winners that they backed they felt that it was legit.
The same guy pulled an even better scam in 1940 when \*Old Rowley \*won the Melbourne Cup. Each year in Australia there are thousands of [Melbourne Cup Sweeps](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Melbourne_Cup_Sweeps) run. Prizes are allotted on various scales according to the size of the field. The conman thought that _Old Rowley_ would win and wanted to have a substantial bet on it although it was 100/1 so he sold “sweep” tickets" and told everyone that they had drawn _Old Rowley_. He then put all the money on the horse. When it won he collected 101 pounds for every pound he bet and paid out less than 20 to each “winner.” Having won the sweep they were all happy.
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### Author:  [@Rachellelogram](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rachellelogram)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/10 "2012-02-18T04:16:47Z")
> [@DocCathode](#):
>
> The first time I read of it, it was called The Inverted Pyramid.
Or the dimaryp, for short. 😃
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### Author:  [@BeaMyra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BeaMyra)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/11 "2012-02-18T12:58:51Z")
Lisa Simpson said this to Homer.
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### Author:  [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/12 "2012-02-18T14:21:58Z")
I’ve always heard this called “The Raindrop Scam”. I.e., if you sprinkle enough drops around, one of them will hit. I thought that was what it was called on a “Math Net” episode. But Googling suggests this is not at all a common term for it.
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### Author:  [@Harvey\_The\_Heavy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Harvey_The_Heavy)
#### Post date: [February 18, 2012, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/name-this-scam/613209/13 "2012-02-18T19:10:41Z")
I’ve heard this called “Newsletter Scams”, and aimed at investors, trying to fool them into thinking they have an uncanny ability to pick winning stocks.