The
shell game (also known as
Thimblerig,
Three shells and a pea,
the old army game) is portrayed as a
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period....
gameA game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas...
, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a
confidence trickA confidence trick or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence...
used to perpetrate
fraudIn the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation....
. In
confidence trickA confidence trick or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence...
slang, this famous swindle is referred to as a
short-con because it is quick and easy to pull off.
The game requires three shells (thimbles, walnut shells, bottle caps, and even match boxes have been used), and a small, soft round ball, about the size of a pea, and often referred to as such.
The
shell game (also known as
Thimblerig,
Three shells and a pea,
the old army game) is portrayed as a
gamblingGambling is the wagering of money or something of material value on an event with an uncertain outcome with the primary intent of winning additional money and/or material goods. Typically, the outcome of the wager is evident within a short period....
gameA game is a structured activity, usually undertaken for enjoyment and sometimes used as an educational tool. Games are distinct from work, which is usually carried out for remuneration, and from art, which is more concerned with the expression of ideas...
, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is a
confidence trickA confidence trick or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence...
used to perpetrate
fraudIn the broadest sense, a fraud is an intentional deception made for personal gain or to damage another individual. The specific legal definition varies by legal jurisdiction. Fraud is a crime, and is also a civil law violation....
. In
confidence trickA confidence trick or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence...
slang, this famous swindle is referred to as a
short-con because it is quick and easy to pull off.
"Play"
The game requires three shells (thimbles, walnut shells, bottle caps, and even match boxes have been used), and a small, soft round ball, about the size of a pea, and often referred to as such. It can be played on almost any flat surface, but on the streets it is often seen played on a mat lying on the ground, or on a cardboard box. The person perpetrating the swindle (called the
thimblerigger, operator, or
shell man) begins the game by placing the pea under one of the shells, then quickly shuffles the shells around.
Once done shuffling, the operator takes bets from his audience on the location of the pea. The audience is told that if a player bets and guesses correctly, the player will win back double his bet (that is, he will double his money); otherwise he loses his money. However, in the hands of a skilled operator, it is not possible for the game to be won, unless the operator wants the player to win.
When an individual not familiar with the shell game encounters a game on the streets, it appears that bets are being placed by numerous players, when in reality, these persons around the game are
shillA shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage others unaware of the set-up to purchase said...
s who are all part of the confidence trick.
The apparent players actually serve various roles in the swindle: they act as lookouts for the police; they also serve as "muscle" to intimidate marks who become unruly and some are
shillA shill is an associate of a person selling goods or services or a political group, who pretends no association to the seller/group and assumes the air of an enthusiastic customer. The intention of the shill is, using crowd psychology, to encourage others unaware of the set-up to purchase said...
s, whose job is to pretend to play the game, and entice the mark into betting. Once a mark enters the circle of apparent players and faces the operator, the gang surrounds them to discourage an easy exit and to keep other pedestrians from entering and disrupting the confidence trick gang's action on the main mark.
The job of crowding around also protects the operator from any incriminating photographs being taken of the act. The operator and the shills will try to get the mark into a heightened state of anger or greed. Once this is accomplished, one shill will pretend to disclose a winning strategy to the mark. It is all a ruse to get the mark to place a large bet.
The operator's trick is
sleight of handSleight of hand, also known as prestidigitation or légèreté des mains , is the set of techniques used by a magician to manipulate objects such as cards and coins secretly....
. A skilled operator can remove a pea from under any shell (or shells) and place it (or not) under any shell (or shells) undetected by a mark. So it is never of any benefit for the mark to watch the movement of either the shells or the operator's hands.
When the operator has finished moving the shells around, he asks the mark if they wish to bet on the play. If a mark agrees, they have to place their money down before they can point to a shell. Using sleight of hand, the pea is revealed to be under a different shell than chosen.
If no mark wants to play, one of the shills may start the play in order to animate the mark. The shill will either lift a shell which is "obviously" wrong and will lose his money, or he lifts the "obvious" shell and wins. Or he may pretend that he has discovered some trick, and either "succeed" or clumsily fail.
The game should not be mistaken for an honest game. It is not possible for a mark to win, even if they know how the trick is worked, or even if they "accidentally" pick the shell that actually has the pea under it. Through very skilled sleight of hand, the operator can easily hide the pea, without the mark seeing.
Any player who is suspected of understanding the trick, or does not place a bet and just wants to watch, will be quickly edged away from the table by the shills or the muscle. The shell game set-up and lay-out is quick and simple, so that in the event of trouble, or if they are signaled that authorities are approaching, they can remove all traces of the game in seconds.
History
thumbnail
The shell game has been played at least since the
Middle AgesThe Middle Ages of European history is a period of European history covering roughly a millennium in the 5th century through 16th centuries. More specific starting and ending points are sometimes adopted by scholars to suit their respective specializations or current focus...
, as evidenced by several paintings of that time. A book published in
EnglandEngland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the North Sea to the east, with the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
in 1670 (Hull Elections -
Richard PerryRichard Perry is an American music producer. Perry began as a performer in his adolescence, but shifted gears after graduating college and rose through the late 1960s and early 1970s to become a highly successful and popular record producer with over a dozen gold records to his credit by 1982...
and his fiddler wife) mentions the thimblerig game. In the 1790s, it was called "thimblerig" as it was originally played using sewing thimbles. Later,
walnutWalnuts are plants in the family Juglandaceae. They are deciduous trees, 10–40 meters tall , with pinnate leaves 200–900 millimetres long , with 5–25 leaflets; the shoots have chambered pith, a character shared with the wingnuts but not the hickories in the same family.The 21 species...
shells were used, and today the use of bottle caps is very common.
It was believed to be introduced to the U.S. by a Dr. Bennett, who became famous (or infamous) for his skill at the game. The swindle became very popular throughout the nineteenth century, and games were often set up in or around traveling fairs. Fear of jail kept these shell men traveling from one town to the next, never staying in one place very long. One of the most infamous confidence men of the nineteenth century,
Jefferson Randolph SmithJefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II was an American con artist and gangster who had a major hand in the organized criminal operations of Denver, Colorado, Creede, Colorado, and Skagway, Alaska, from 1879 to 1898...
, known as Soapy Smith, led organized gangs of shell men throughout the mid-western United States, and later in
AlaskaAlaska is the largest state of the United States of America by area; it is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
.
Today, the game is still being played for money in many major cities around the world, usually at locations with a high tourist concentration (for example: New York and
Los AngelesLos Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the municipality of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123.445 inhabitants...
, in the United States,
La RamblaLa Rambla is a street in central Barcelona, popular with both tourists and locals alike. A 1.2 kilometer-long tree-lined pedestrian mall between Barri Gòtic and El Raval, it connects Plaça Catalunya in the center with the Christopher Columbus monument at Port Vell.-Overview:La Rambla can be...
in
BarcelonaBarcelona is the capital, most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, with a population of 1,615,908 in 2008. It is the 11th-most populous municipality in the European Union and sixth-most populous urban area in the European Union after Paris,...
,
SpainSpain , officially the Kingdom of Spain , is a country located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula.
[The Spanish constitution does not establish any official denomination of the country, even though España , Estado español and Nación española are used interchangeably...]
,
Gran ViaGran Vía is an ornate and upscale shopping street located in central Madrid. It leads from Calle de Alcalá, close to Plaza de Cibeles, to Plaza de España....
in
MadridMadrid is the capital and largest city of Spain. It is the third-most populous municipality in the European Union after Greater London and Berlin, and its metropolitan area is the third-most populous city by urban area in the European Union after Paris and London.The city is located on the river...
,
KurfürstendammThe Kurfürstendamm, known locally as the Ku'damm, is one of the most famous avenues in Berlin. The street takes its name from the former Kurfürsten of Brandenburg. This very broad, long boulevard can be considered the Champs-Élysées of Berlin — full of shops, houses, hotels and restaurants...
in
BerlinBerlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. With a population of 3.4 million within its city limits, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city and the eighth most populous urban area in the European Union...
,
GermanyGermany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered to the north by the North Sea, Denmark, and the Baltic Sea; to the east by Poland and the Czech Republic; to the south by Austria and Switzerland; and to the west by France, Luxembourg, Belgium,...
, Bahnhofsviertel in Frankfurt am Main). The swindle is classified as a
confidence trickA confidence trick or confidence game is an attempt to defraud a person or group by gaining their confidence...
game, and illegal to play for money, in most countries.
The "swindle" also inspired a
popular and long-running pricing gameShell Game is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on June 17, 1974, it is played for a prize worth more than $3,000 and uses small prizes.-Gameplay:...
on the game show
The Price Is RightThe Price Is Right is a U.S. television game show that is currently owned by the FremantleMedia subsidiary of the RTL Group. It was created by Bob Stewart for Goodson-Todman Productions in the United States in 1956, and was significantly revamped by them in 1972...
. Contestants win chips by correctly answering questions regarding prices of small prizes. If the contestant finds the ball inside the correct shell, they win. There are four shells, and the shell with the ball is not shown while the host shuffles the shells.
See also
- Get-rich-quick schemes
- Soapy Smith
Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II was an American con artist and gangster who had a major hand in the organized criminal operations of Denver, Colorado, Creede, Colorado, and Skagway, Alaska, from 1879 to 1898...
- Three-card Monte
Three-card Monte, also known as the Three-card marney, Three-card trick, Three-Way, Three-card shuffle, Menage-a-card, Triplets, Follow the lady, Find the lady, or Follow the Bee is a confidence game in which the victim, or mark, is tricked into betting a sum of money, on the assumtion that they...
- Shell Game
Shell Game is a pricing game on the American television game show The Price Is Right. Debuting on June 17, 1974, it is played for a prize worth more than $3,000 and uses small prizes.-Gameplay:...
, one of The Price Is Right's many pricing games
- Cups and balls
The cups and balls is a classic of magic with many adaptations. The effect known as acetabula et calculi was performed by Roman conjurers as far back as two thousand years ago...
routine
External links