How to Run the Three-card Monte Hustle

You need twenty-five dollars, a deck of cards, and a newspaper to get started.

First, take the newspaper and cut it into strips the size of dollar bills. When there are about one hundred of these strips, dip them into tea and wait until they dry. The tea stains the edges of the strips of newspaper and makes them turn a light green, like the edges of dollar bills. Wrap a twenty-dollar bill around the outside of the wad of tea-soaked newspaper. This is the Tosser's roll. With the twenty on the outside, it looks like he's holding a large bankroll.

The Tosser? Oh, I forgot to tell you, it takes three guys to run the game. There is a Shill, a Watcher and a Tosser. The Tosser has three cards, one of which is a red queen. These cards are shown to the crowd or "tip" and then thrown face-down on a playing area in front of the Tosser. The object of the game is to "find the red queen" which is wherever the Tosser wants it to be. He either deals from the bottom of the deck: making you think the first card he throws down is the winning card when it is not, or he works the "four for three," a simple sleight-of-hand maneuver by which there appear to be only three cards in his hand when there are actually four. The Tosser plays the game, the Shill makes bets and the Watcher keeps an eye open for the law, and also steps in if there is trouble with a Mark.

You'll start as a Shill.

Here's how it works: the Tosser gives you two code phrases, let's say, "Walk right in" and "Cop center broad." When he says, "Walk right in," you place a bet and pick up the card closest to you. If he says, "Cop center broad" you pick up the card in the center of the three.

You have to listen closely, because the Tosser will say this as part of the oration he gives while running the game; "Find the lucky lady; five will get you ten, walk right in...."

We work the game with the Shill, Watcher and Tosser all hunkered around the cards like they are playing. The public thinks that the Tosser is an independent operator, and that you are just another citizen. The Watcher usually looks like some homeless guy who is observing this game because he has nothing else to do.

You, as Shill, will bet only when you hear "cop center broad" or "walk right in." The Tosser uses you to get the game going; you win a few hands, people start to gather, then they start to play. The Tosser will start to win some small bets. After each win, he will quickly lay out the three cards again and work the "walk right in" signal into his rap. You will win and the cash he just received gets funneled to you. As soon as a Mark loses a bet, the Shill wins. You hold the actual bankroll, while the Tosser continues to work the tea-soaked bogus roll.

It is important to get the game going and keep it going. Remember, you are looking for a big score, not a bunch of little ones; and you can't find it unless the game is active and a lot of people are watching and playing.

Sometimes you let a mark win. If the Tosser wins all the time, people will stop playing. You have to let them see other people win. Some marks might walk away after they win. Those are the smart ones. The greedy will try to take you for more.

When those greedy ones start talking loud, showing off to their girlfriends or their beer-drunk buddies, you know you got a fish on the line and it's time to work the Gypsy Twist.

To work the Twist, the Tosser puts a small crease in the corner of the winning card, the red queen. Everybody around the game will see this crease, but nobody will say anything. The Tosser will act like he doesn't know about the crease, even though he just put it there.

You, the Shill, will bet on the card with the crease in it and win. The Mark will see this and he'll be chomping at the bit to get a bet down, afraid that the Tosser will notice the crease in the winning red card before he can make his move.

None of the bystanders will speak up and tell the Tosser that there is a crease in the winning card. If they don't lay down bets themselves, they will stick around to see the Mark take advantage of this cheap sharpie tossing cards on a street corner (Oh, I should have told you, in addition to being greedy; people are cruel. That's how we make our money...) .

Then the Tosser throws the Gypsy Twist. The card with the crease in it will be lying there right in the center, plain as day. The Mark will point to it and try to drop a big bet--hopefully everything he has. The Tosser will then look worried, and turn around to check his bogus tea bankroll. The people around the game will think he's counting real money to make sure he can cover the Mark's bet.

The Mark will then reach down with a triumphant look on his face and turn over the card with the crease in the corner; but when he does he finds the Queen of Spades.

The Tosser will probably say, "The Black Molly..." and shake his head, as if he too had once lost this same way. Then he turns over the remaining two cards, one of which is the winning red queen; then he scoops up all the money and cards.

Then you gotta break up the game.

There's different ways to do this. Usually people start to look at the Mark and laugh. Like I said, they're cruel; they like to see a man look stupid. They like to act like they all know better. Most of the time, the Mark will stand there looking confused. You simply get up and walk back to the car. Remember to walk in a different direction than the Tosser and the Watcher.

Sometimes the Mark is suspicious. He may reveal his own dishonesty and say, "Hey, I saw the corner of the red card was creased" or he may ask for his money back. If this happens, then you, the Shill, will say some white-boy thing like "Hey man, don't be a sore loser..." or, "I lost forty dollars, too, bro."

If the Mark tries to put his hands on the Tosser, then the Watcher will have to earn his money. The Watcher might have something in his pocket.

But this hardly ever happens; not if you do it right.

After we break up the game we go in three separate directions and meet up back here. The Tosser gets half; the Watcher and the Shill split the other half.

That's all you got to know, except for two things. First, you can't be "soft on the Mark." The last white boy was soft on the Mark. These marks beat themselves. They ask to make the big bet; but only when they're sure they will win. You're doing them a favor, taking their money. Don't be afraid to take a mark for everything he's got. He might learn you can't get something for nothing.

They usually don't though.

The second thing is: don't ever tell anybody what I told you here tonight... That's part of showing respect for the game.

So that's it. Just remember "Walk right in" is for the card closest to you; "Cop center broad" is for the center card.

Now, we got a newspaper already cut up and dipped. Do you have the $25 we need to get the game going? Good. Give me twenty and keep five. Put it down when you hear the signal.

We're gonna start down there by Fisherman's Wharf. There's a lot of foot traffic.I think we'll make some money tonight...

Tomorrow I'll teach you how to be a pimp.