Games You Can't Lose

by Anderson, Harry

• ISBN13: 9781580800860
• ISBN10: 1580800866
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2001-02-01
• Publisher: Burford Books

Summary

Before starring in 'Night Court' on television, Harry Anderson was a performing con man. Here in this funny, insightful and deliciously wicked book he unveils the tricks behind cons, swindles, and wagers that separate fools and their money in streets, bars, carnivals, casinos and racetracks every day.

Table of Contents

Introductions to the 2001 Edition	viii
Introduction: ``Hello, Sucker!''	xi
BOOK ONE: GAMES YOU CAN'T LOSE
Cunning Stunts	3	(16)
Equally Cunning Stunts
The Acrobatic Glasses	9	(2)
Do As I Do	11	(1)
Topsy-Turvy Matchboxes	11	(2)
Balancing an Egg on End	13	(1)
Billiards	14	(1)
Removing Your Vest Without Removing Your Coat	15	(4)
Playing the Odds	19	(16)
Your Best Bets at Playing the Odds
Unhappy Birthdays	25	(2)
Twenty Bits	27	(1)
The Matching Card Game	27	(2)
Roll Six or Eight Before Seven	29	(3)
Coins on the Tray	32	(3)
Proposition Bets	35	(8)
A Few Choice Proposition Bets
Throwing a Walnut	40	(1)
Heaving a Pumpkin	40	(1)
The Fly and the Sugar	40	(1)
Stepping Off the Curb	41	(1)
Counting the Pumpkins	41	(2)
Trivial Dispute	43	(10)
More Trivial Disputes
Hail to the Chief	50	(1)
Something Rotten in Denmark	50	(1)
``Day-O! Day-ay-ay-O!''	50	(1)
Jackie O?	51	(1)
Never the Twain Shall Meet	51	(2)
Games You Can't Lose	53	(24)
More Games You Can't Lose
Nim	59	(2)
Tic-Tac-Toe	61	(3)
Liar's Poker	64	(3)
Golf	67	(2)
Chess	69	(4)
BOOK TWO: GAMES YOU CAN'T WIN
Introduction	73	(4)
Casionos	77	(28)
How They Make Money
Slot Machines	86	(2)
Keno	88	(2)
Roulette	90	(2)
Money Wheel	92	(1)
Casino Poker	93	(2)
Craps	95	(5)
Blackjack	100	(5)
The Carnival	105	(14)
Carny Hot Spots
Penny Falls	112	(1)
Basketball Toss	113	(1)
Spotting the Spot	114	(1)
String Pull	115	(1)
Numbers Games	116	(3)
Sports & The Track	119	(12)
Sport of Kings
Forms & Favorites	123	(1)
Systems	124	(2)
Touts	126	(1)
The Fix Is Out	127	(3)
Rules for Not Losing Your Pants	130	(1)
The Street	131	(14)
The Man Who Beat Monte Carlo
Three-Card Monte	138	(1)
Shell Game	139	(1)
Matching Coin Scam	140	(2)
The Lottery	142	(3)
``So Long, Suckers!''	145	(14)
Some Words of Wisdom
Finding Your Mark	154	(1)
Playing the Part	155	(4)
Bibliography	159

Excerpts

CUNNING STUNTS HOOK, LINE AND SINKER I am sitting one day in a local beanery with the old thinkin' hat on as usual-when a very rewarding-type scheme enters my noggin. Lately, I am frequently noticing that my growing reputation as a notorious sort of character is making the suckers extremely suspicious of even my most honest intentions. I ask one guy for a light and he clamps his hand over his wallet and runs away screaming. Obviously, the word is out that I will be clever in ways they have never dreamed of and that I will not hesitate one bit to take monetary advantage of the situation. That's right, I been rippin' 'em off something fierce, which is causing John Q. Public to avoid me like a mongrel avoids the dogcatcher. Mayhap it is time to turn from fleecing the sheep to tending them. I think. I am not the only wolf out there. And someone has to give the suckers a more or less fair shake. It is soon my resolve to grasp one of the less intelligent of the flock and become his professor. How should I put it? To teach him a thing or two. And if the everlovin' reader, in the process, learns a little about the fine art of games and gaming, all the better. Thirsty and anxious to embark upon my plan, all I need is a short drink and a ripe sucker. That's easy because the quickest way to get a drink is to find a sucker. And in this joint, as in most bars, there's more suckers than ice cubes.