The shell game (also known as thimblerig, three shells and a pea, the old army game) is often portrayed as a gambling game, but in reality, when a wager for money is made, it is almost always a confidence trick used to perpetrate fraud.[1] In confidence trick slang, this swindle is referred to as a short-con because it is quick and easy to pull off.[2] The shell game is related to the cups and balls conjuring trick, which is performed purely for entertainment purposes without any purported gambling element.
- ^ "Definition of SHELL GAME". www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 12 April 2023.
- ^ "Three-card monte scam artists return to midtown, Is this Christmas 2014 – or 1974?". New York Post. 26 December 2014.