About Three Card Monte:

Three card monte (also called Three-Card Trick, Follow the Lady or Find the Lady) is similar to the shell game. It is usually played on the street on a cardboard box or similar flat surface object that can be easily unmounted or abandoned if there is a policeman around. This overview describes the game of three card monte and explains the fraudulent tricks usually used in the game.

What is 3-Card Monte?

Three card monte is a fraudulent game, usually organized by a gang of cheats with one of them dealing and the rest acting as players. Even if there are no real players in the game, shills pretend to be very excited playing the game, which attracts the attention of passer-bys, and sooner or later gathers a crowd of watchers.

How is Three Card Monte Played?

The game is played with three cards. The dealer shows the faces of the cards to the public, then places them face down on the table, shuffles and asks everyone to wager and win money guessing where a specific card (usually the Queen of Spades) is. Shills wager if no one else is interested. The cards are shuffled quite slowly, so watching the hands of the dealer it is easy to follow the Queen. If a victim does so without wagering, he will know where the Queen is supposed to be, and will see shills winning, pointing on that card, or losing pointing on the wrong one, which will make him feel that he can play better than them. It looks very tempting and many get into the trap.

Even if the game was fair, its odds are 3 to 1, while the winning pays even money, which is worse than any casino game. However, the game of three card monte is anything, but fair. When a victim decides to play, an easy-to-win game becomes impossible-to-win with the help of a couple of sleight of hand and misdirection tricks.

The Throw

To show the cards to the players, the dealer lifts them in the air, holding one of them with his left hand and two cards one above the other with a Queen among them in his right hand. When the players see the cards, the dealer simultaneously drops the cards onto the table and places them side-by-side in one smooth motion. Than moves the cards that have been held in his right hand to separate them. At this stage the sleight of hand takes place. It is logical to think that the lower card held in the right hand falls onto the table first, but the dealer pushes up the top card a bit earlier, so it sweeps the positions with the other one and falls before it. When done correctly, the throw in is completely unnoticeable, and even the shills need special signs to know where the Queen is.

The Mexican Turnover

If a victim has accidentally picked the Queen correctly, the dealer can still correct the situation. He may take another card and use it as a tool to turn over the card picked by the player. He slides the wrong card under the right one and pushes. When both cards come vertical he shifts the grip from the wrong card to the right one and takes it away. This trick is quite difficult to perform and, according to many studies it is not used on the street, but only by card magicians.

In the end, winning at three card monte is practically impossible, unless the dealer wants you to win. Even knowing how the game works will not help. If cheats see that the player knows the trick they will find any excuse not to play, and if he will insist, they can easily employ physical violence or threat by it. Three card monte and the shell game are pure fraud and the best thing to do is not to play any of them.