Whit Hayden and Chef Anton present the School for Scoundrels notes on three-card monte

188 Pages·2001·61.93 MB·English

by  Whit Haydn

Whit Haydn and Chef Anton

Present

The School for Scoundrels

Notes
on
Three-Card Monte

Written by
Whit Haydn

Featuring: Gazzo on the London Monte Mob

Whit Haydn and Chef Anton

Present

The School for Scoundrels

Notes
on
Three-Card Monte

Written by
Whit Haydn

© Copyright 2001, The School for Scoundrels (revised 10/18/03)
Published by The School for Scoundrels, Alta Loma, CA. All Rights Reserved

The School for Scoundrels would like to thank all the magicians and swindlers who have ever added to our
knowledge of the history and strategy of these fascinating games. We apologize for any omissions or errors in attributing
credit for any ideas or moves. We will be happy to correct all that are brought to our attention.

We thank all the magicians who have taken the School for Scoundrels course at the Magic Castle over the past
several years. Their questions about these scams, and unique insights have taught us a lot.

But we specially wanted to mention all the help and advice we received from the late Hal Hale, the librarian at the
Magic Castle, who would always turn down thanks and say, “Just make sure the library gets a copy.”

For encouragement, help, ideas, and inside information we thank:

Alfonso
Gordon Bean
Leo Behnke
Bill Bowers
Dick Casey
Eddie Fields
Gazzo
Bob Jablonski
Bob Kohler
Michael A. Kroll
Jim Lewis
Lesley V. J. Manning
Rich and Tamara Marotta
Gary Norsigian
Darwin Ortiz
Cookie Riniti
Ryan Roenfeld
Ed Rosenthal
Rick Solymar
Johnny Thompson
Mark Wilson
Ronald A. Wohl

And for information on monte and the law we thank:

Lieutenant Biello, APD, Atlanta, GA
Detective Burnes, NYPD, Brooklyn South, NY
Detective Fernandez, LAPD, Los Angeles, CA
Detective Grady, DPD, Dallas, TX
Detective Haines, DPD, Dallas, TX
Sergeant Honeywood, CPD, Chicago, IL
Detective Siragusa, SFPD, San Francisco, CA

To our wives Nancy and Bonnie:

We are eternally thankful. Without your love, support, help and patience this project could never have reached completion.
To you two wonderful ladies, who somehow managed to fall in love with scoundrels, we dedicate these notes.

Whit Haydn and Chef Anton
The School for Scoundrels

Contents

Preface i.

History 1

Closed Monte and Open Monte 18

Closed Monte: The Rube Act of Frank Tarbeaux 21

Open Monte: Gazzo on The London Mob 25

Trays, Boxes, Tables and Umbrellas: The Layouts 31

Sleight-of-Hand

The Cards 39

The Mix 41

The Toss 44

The Hype 46

Three in the Hand Toss 48

Flushtration Move 48

Some Other Switches

Buckle Double-Lift 49

Glide 51

Vernon’s Optical Move 52

Scarne’s Monte Slide 53

Turnover Moves

Flip and Forward-Flip 54

Flip-Change 56

Mexican Turnover 58

Throws and Patterns 60
Hooks and Come-Ons 66

Bent Corner 67

Double Bent Corner 68

Gazzo’s Creased Lightning 69

Gazzo’s Down-Turn 72

One-Way Backs Hook 74

Scarne’s Crimped Corner 75

Scarne’s Marked Corner 76

Paperclip 77

Torn Corner 79

Kohler’s Knifed! 81

Stamp 84

Pencil Mark, Lipstick and Daub 86

The Moneybag Switch 88

Psychology and Shills 90

Spieling the Broads: Monte Patter 95

Three-Card Monte in Film 101

Monte and the Law 105

School for Scoundrels Exhibition Routine 111

Afterthoughts

Right on Cue 120

The Meaning for Magic 122

Appendix

Closed Monte: Canada Bill’s Rube Act 127

Closed Monte: Devol’s Bent Corner and Pencil Mark 130