Hi, wondering if anyone can help. I am working on Bob Kohlers golden shells routine. I own the street shells from school for scoundrels.

My problem is that when I have the pea under the shell and shot glass, and I push the shot glass and all forward to steal the pea, the shell rides up so that you can see under it. It also sometimes flips over.

Any suggestions?

Thank you
Tony

I forgot to mention, it rides up in the back and then stays up

That's odd. Does the shell fit completely under the glass or is perhaps the front tip of the shell under the lip of the glass? Try it with a bigger glass to see if you hace the same issue.

What type of surface are you working on? Do you have the same issue on all surfaces?

HI Mike,

I use a small pad that is like a rug. I also tried it on a footrest which is fake leather. The shell seems to fit under the glass completely but I will check it again tomorrow.

Thanks

Tony

Did you get your shot glass from S4S? They sell the right size for their shells. The fit is pretty snug... not a lot of wiggle room. It can be tricky finding the correct size shot glass for the shells you use.

I just tested some Street Shells with their peas and shot glass and had no problems. I tested on a standard close-up mat.

Glenn

Glenn is correct about finding the right size shot glass can be a little tricky.

The inside wall of most shot glasses will normally have a tapered wall and depending on how well the shell fits inside the glass depends on this taper and the inside diameter of the glass.

Most think if the shell fits in the glass it will work. This is not the case at all.

This is the way I look at finding a shot glass that will work the best for a shell.
The shell is placed inside of the shot glass that is mouth up. What I want to find is for the shell bottom to lay level to the mouth of the glass and not fall down lower in the glass.
There are two important factors. One is having the right inside diameter for the shell to fit and two is how much head space the shell has inside the glass.
By placing the shell in a mouth up glass and seeing how far the shell bottom rests away from the glass mouth will tell you how much head space the shell will have when it is on the surface.
If there is too much head space for the shell, it will give the pea the freedom to lift the shell or flip it.

I don't think the problem is the surface.
If the glass is sized right it will work on most any surface.

Hope this helps some, good luck.

Al

I have used the routine with shot glasses, plastic tops of shaving cream cans, tops of mouth wash bottles, a leather dice stacking style chop cup, all on a close up mat surface. I really have no problem with any of them, although I very rarely use the street shells.

Sometimes plastic shells can have a rough spot on the bottom. You don't notice it when moving the shell with your hand but when moving the shell under a glass, it may get caught on the surface causing the shell to lift or flip. If that is the case, a very light sanding of the bottom would eliminate the rough spot.

Al's advice above is good. I have several shell sets, and not all work best with the same shot glass. My scarab shells use the largest mouth diameter glass. Have a shell in your pocket and shop around.

Thanks for all the answers. I will double check later as I just got home from a 12 hour shift. The shot glass I am using is the one that came with the shells from s4s.

Again thanks

Tony

I agree with Jakeg, many other items he mentioned can be used like; plastic tops of shaving cream cans, tops of mouth wash bottles, a leather dice stacking style chop cup that will work.
But all of these type items are not transparent to see the pea lifting the shell. It is a simple thing of how force and pressure will work.

As the pea forces pressure to continue its movement, if the shell has any head space in the glass to move up to relieve the pressure the shell will move up for the pea to continue its travel.

If the shell does not have any space to move up the shell will not move and the pea will have to compress more to continue its travel in coming out.
This is why a good fit is important if you don't want any movement of the shell to be seen with a transparent glass. Using a transparent item I think has a stronger effect. but it does not need to be a shot glass.
When working behind a bar, then I think a shot glass is the best.

Hey Al ...... I've been married for a vat long time. I'm not used to having anybody agreeing with anything I have to say. This is going into my diary.

One last thing I might mention; once you do find the right size shot glass, where the shell has no room to move up in the glass, there will now be pressure on the glass to lift in your hand.
You will need to hold the glass down with a firm forward motion for everything to look normal.

How you grip the glass and move the glass can also make a difference.
Hold the glass with the thumb & index finger on both sides of the glass and the other three fingers are behind the glass laying flat on the mat.
When the glass is moved forward with this grip everything is working as a single unit that is well supported to move in a level forward motion.

The three fingers that are laying flat on the mat bring this and are in a perfect position to take the pea in a back finger clip when the pea comes out.
Coming away from the glass the hands will appear empty.

The other two shells are picked up and shown empty and your hands will still appear empty.
When the two shells are placed back down, the back finger clipped pea is release and you use the surface to roll the pea under the fingers into loading a shell when the shells are swiveled back down on the mat. Like anything, it takes some practice to look smooth.

I'm very interested in the three shell game but I'm not sure what the learning curve and accessibility of the trick is. I usually work only with cards , I can't help but wonder if my clunky huge hands can manipulate the pea and the shells! Can someone give some insight?

If you have large hands, I would recommend large shells that are easy to grip and are able to work with different size peas. The standard size pea used is 3/8".

I find when using a larger shell I like to step up to a 7/16" pea. I also find when using a larger pea it will normally be easier to clip and control when the pea is fairly soft that will only take light pressure to clip in the fingers.

I think any size hand can operate the shells and pea if the right shells and pea are used for easy gripping.
Like anything, it takes some practice to do it well.

So, in the black fox shells, it is written that you get 2 large peas. Are those the bigger peas you're talking about?

I don't know what size Black Fox's big peas are. I do know they are a more firmer type pea than what I like to use.

Just switched from the SFS Golden Shells to the SFS Street Shells (easier for me to handle). No problem with the Golden Shells, but shell is 'flipping' with the Street Shells as reported by the op. I'm guessing that this is why SFS does not include a shot glass with Street Shells (which are lighter and easier to flip than the heavier Golden Shells). In any event, found a very slightly larger shot glass which works fine.

I use the 3shell Al vintage set. They are a bit bigger then sfs street shells. They are perfect for me. 3Shell Al also has table bells that perfect fit the vintage set. Highly recommended.