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The Magic Cafe Forum Index » » If right you win, if wrong you lose... » » Con games of the old west? (1 Likes) Printer Friendly Version

Race Blakhart
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Selma,CA
628 Posts

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Does anyone know what con games were popular in the old west? I imagine Fast & Loose and Three-Card Monte were both popular. But I'd also imagine there were many others.

This may be a silly question, but I've been thinking about it for days now.

I figured I'd start here before hopping onto any of the search engines.
NicholasD25
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I suspect that Three Card Monte, Dice games involving various cheating devices (wheels , cups, etc) and The Shell Game might have been in use at the time. Fast and Loose maybe not so much.
MagicByVincent
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Staten Island, New York
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@popHaydn is probably the best resource for this info
Smile Smile Smile Magic is all around us we just have to be willing to see it.
Pop Haydn
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Los Angeles
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Fast and Loose goes back to the middle ages. Three Card Monte and thimble rig or shell game were the other two main scams. There were many confidence schemes that were played by the same characters. The Gold Brick scam, the Badger Game, rigged betting for prize fights and races, and even the Dollar Store were variations of the "store" created for Three Card Monte.

A good introduction to these scammers is found in the autobiography of George Devol "40 Years a Gambler on the Mississippi."

David Maurer's book the American Confidence Man gives a wonderful history of the "monte store" to the Big Store described in the movie the Sting.
Race Blakhart
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Selma,CA
628 Posts

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Quote:
On Jul 10, 2023, Pop Haydn wrote:
Fast and Loose goes back to the middle ages. Three Card Monte and thimble rig or shell game were the other two main scams. There were many confidence schemes that were played by the same characters. The Gold Brick scam, the Badger Game, rigged betting for prize fights and races, and even the Dollar Store were variations of the "store" created for Three Card Monte.

A good introduction to these scammers is found in the autobiography of George Devol "40 Years a Gambler on the Mississippi."

David Maurer's book the American Confidence Man gives a wonderful history of the "monte store" to the Big Store described in the movie the Sting.


Thanks so much, yet again! You are the absolute master, sir.
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