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The Three Shell Game can still be seen today performed on the streets to fleece the innocent from their hard-earned cash. It also makes a great performance piece in an intimate close-up setting.

This is the most detailed description of this con game I have seen so far. It describes numerous moves and routines as well as the history and details of the shells and peas. Tom Osborne knew the real moves, psychology, and ruses of the street artists who challenged everybody to "follow the little pea." This is the real work of scam artists. To appreciate it, you have to pay close attention to the...

Encyclopedia of the 3 shell game, completely exposed, revised and enlarged, including the latest routines, profusely illustrated, and comprehensively described.

• Forward
• Forward, Junior
• The Author Speaks
• Chapter 1 Point On Shells
• Chapter 2 The Correct Pea
• Chapter 3 How To Make A Pea
• Chapter 4 The Size Of The Pea
• Chapter 5 Working Surface
• Chapter 6 The 3 Shell Game
• Chapter 7 Fundamentals
• Chapter 8 Red, White & Blue
• Chapter 9 You Hold It
• Chapter 10 Over The Top
• Chapter 11 Double Pea
• Chapter 12 Back Hand Trick
• Chapter 13 Variation
• Chapter 14 Which One, Bub?
• Chapter 15 Open Hand...

This is one of the best explanations of the Three Shell Game or Thimble Rig including 24 moves and 3 full routines. Jack Lamonte has drawn 86 clear illustrations to make studying the moves and routines a lot easier.

Excerpt from the introduction:

[Note: You will also be able to download a facsimile version of this manuscript.]

1st edition 1959, 30 pages; 1st digital edition 2013, 49 pages....

Instructions for games, magic tricks, model building, giving shows, and more.

• Games Of Skill
  • Draughts
    • Laws Of The Game
    • Games For Practice
    • Concluding Observations
  • Dominoes
  • Chess
    • The Chess-Board And Chessmen
    • Value And Moves Of The Pieces
    • Laws Of Chess
    • Technical Terms Used In Chess
    • Opening The Game
    • Games For Practice
    • General Observations
    • Conclusion
  • Morrice
  • Fox And Geese
• Conjuring
  • Legerdemain And Simple Deceptions
  • To Lift A Bottle With A Straw
  • The Tobacco Pipe Jug Stand
  • To Break A Stick Placed On Two Glasses
  • The Bottle Conjuror
  • The Mysterious Wafers
  • Advantageous...

Contents:

• Sketch of My Life
• Gold Brick Scheme
• The Story of the Over-Issue
• Green Goods
• Bunko or Confidence
• Short Change
• Three Card Monte
• Three Shell Game
• Race Track or Wire-Tapping Gag
• Spectacle Fraud
• Exposes: Faro Bank
• Roulette
• Hazard
• Craps
• Draw Poker
• Giving Victims the Best of It at Faro Bank and Roulette
• Big Hands on Trains
• Top and Bottom
• Soap Game
• Spindle Game
• Bookmakers' Wheel, Policy
• Bucket Shop...

January 1938 - December 1938
Abbott's Magic Novelty Company
Percy Abbott, Publisher and Editor

659 pages

1. The "Tops" - Volume 3, Number 1 - January 1938 - 52 pages
3. Index - Contents (including advertisers)
4. Editorial - Percy Abbott
   • Happy Birthday To You
6. Sid Lorraine's Chatter
   • Pig On the Slate by U. F. Grant not Oswald Williams
   • Loyd's Mystery Wand - trick
   • Questions and Answers
9. The Permeating Pasteboard - Arthur H. Roberts
10. Accumulated Magic - Ed Burchell
    • Cigarette Vanish
    • Another Cigarette Vanish
    • Eating A Lighted Cigarette
    • Silk Production ...

The Magigram, Volume 3, The Supreme Magic Company, Ken de Courcy, editor

448 pages - 6 Issues. No page numbers on printed issues, page numbers refer to the page in the file.

1. Volume 3, Number 1, September-October, 1970, 72 unnumbered pages
2. advertisements
9. Let's Face It - editorial by Ken de Courcy
10. World-Wide Acclaim! - testimonials
11. Kennaugh Kalling - Alan Kennaugh on the Show Business Scene
15. At Homb with McComb - Billy McComb
16. picture of editor Ken de Courcy
19. 25 Tricks with the Self-Lighting Bulb - Ken de Courcy
21. Dominating Dice - Paul Marcus
22. Paging Ian Adair's Panello
    22. Magic...

This is a COMPLETE 3-in-1 training system that will sharpen your tactics, calculation and visualization skills.

Modern chess = DYNAMIC chess

Modern chess, thanks to our 'silicon friends' Fritz, Houdini, and company, have advanced to a level that is never seen before. Just have a look at today's GM games - full of tactical twists and turns, intense fight for the initiative, sacrifices for dynamic compensation, and mind-boggling complications in ALL phases of the game.

Gone Are The Days When You Can Single-Mindedly Follow An Abstract Plan And Win Games!

True, positional play and strategic...

Have you ever wanted to win that stuffed toy at the fair? Would you like to impress that special someone with your skills? This ebook contains the secrets to many of the most popular carnival, midway and arcade games, along with advice on how to beat them. From the Basketball Toss to Hoopla. Cover the Spot to High Striker. The answers are all here!

The ebook is 68 pages, colour throughout with pictures for every game. It also includes five pages of construction tips for building the games.

1. Ball in the Bucket
2. Balloon Dart
3. Bank a Ball
4. Basketball Toss
5. Belt Swindle
6. Bingo / Lottery
7. Block...

• ...Ice Made in a Drawing-Room
• Who Wears the Ring?
• The Double Meaning
• Imitation Thunder
• Pool Table Tricks
• The Magic Egg
• An After-Dinner Trick
• Tricks with a Gas Jet
• The Paper Rings
• Card Reading
• Pyramid of Alum
• Biting Nails in Two
• How to Sit Without Chairs
• To Lift a Man with Five Fingers
• The Chinese Bat
• The Three Almonds
• Egg Production
• The Captives in the Tower
• Silken Fetters
• The Stretched Handkerchief
• Catching the Pile of Money
• Coin Trick
• Engraving an Egg
• Experiment with Dominoes
• Breaking Stones with Your Fist
• Thought Reading
• Candle Trick
• Ghastly Appearance
• A Burning Coal on a Muslin Handkerchief ...

All of these clever tricks use magnets in one way or another.

• Buddha Coin Mystery
• Fortune Telling Coin
• Cup Levitation
• Grant's Match Penetration
• Mental Detection
• Living and Dead Test
• Clever Coin Vanish
• Sliding Glue
• Improved Sliding Glue
• Psychic Lock And Keys
• Rising Cards And Wand
• Coin Through Block
• Box - Cover and Coin
• Tip-See Pencil
• Improved Imp Bottle
• Improved Wands and Cords
• Stopping A Watch
• Handkerchief Box
• Nu-Coin
• Rolling Cigarettes
• Adams Coin Box
• Magnetic Cigar
• Three Shell Game
• Number Detection
• Mystery Man

PDF 15 pages

This is China's version of the Three Shell Game or the Three Card Monte Game. It is played with three sticks held between the fingers of one hand. One stick has a little string tied to it. The task for the spectator is to identify the stick with the string. As you can imagine this is a crooked game and the performer decides when he lets you win. This game was brought by Ching Ling Foo to America in 1899.

In addition to the PDF, you will be able to download 6 videos that demonstrate several ways to perform this con game as well as videos that show you the modus operandi.

1st edition...

Do you perform the Three Shell game/con? Have you thought about doing the Three Shell game? If so, this is a must, decades-held, secret underground move for you. This ruse adds an auditory convincer to the otherwise purely visual con. Easily executed; stunningly entertaining and deceptive. This is a move you will use.

Here are the reactions of well-known Shell Game workers with whom it was recently shared.

"Very Clever." - Pop Haydn

"An amazing idea I love it." - Terry Ward

"Brilliant!" - Michael Stehle

1st edition 2022, PDF 1 page, video 3:02.

1. ...
   • ...
   • ESP Brain Busters - Bob Nelson
   • Canar's Poker Deal - Harry A. Canar
   • Artanis Explains The Bottom Deal [photos and record] - Sid Weissman
   • Lines From Lawton No. 25
   • The Magis Den Memos, Vol 1, No. 8 - Gene DeVoe
   • Ed Mellon's Mental-Wise, Vol. 4, No. 5
   • The Christian Conjurer, Vol. 3, No. 2
   • The Cardiste, No. 11
   • Gen, Vol. 14, No. 4
   • The Magnet, Vol. 3, No. 5
70. P.A.C.M. News - Lloyd E. Jones
    • 1959 Portland/Gearhart Convention
71. Dealer's Directory
72. Magic Dealers Association, Inc.
    • Gene Grant - Hocus Pocus Magic Co.

77. Genii - Volume 23, Number 3 - November 1958 - 44 pages
77. Cover - Lee & Rita ...

1. ...
   • ... Conjurer, May-June
77. Without the Shuffle - Gene Gordon
79. Gabble and Verbosity - Ed Dart, Publicity Chairman, M.D.A
80. Magician's Guild of America, Inc. - Georgia Kondos
    • The 169th Meeting of the Magician's Guild
    • Guildmen News
    • Spotlight On Ed Mishell

89. Genii - Volume 27, Number 3 - November 1962 - 60 pages
89. Cover - Steranko
91. In This Issue - contents
108. The Genii Speaks - WWL (Jr)
109. Steranko: An Amalgam Of New Effects Plus An Exclusive Interview & Stacked Deck
111. Steranko: Legend
112. The Ultimate Move - Steranko - Review by W.W.L. (Jr.)
113. Stacked Deck - Steranko
     115. Improvisation,...

1. ... of the Trade - Ed Mishell
   • Bonzo The Hippy-Hopped-Hound - Jack Hughes
   • Numer-Menta - Magic-Masters
   • Magic with a Lifetime Guarantee - catalog - Magic Workshop
   • John Booth Classics - Supreme
     • A Conjurer's Reminiscences
     • Forging Ahead in Magic
     • Marvels of Mystery, Part Three
   • Red Rascal - Ron Stark
   • Spirit of '76 - Tannen's
   • Psycho-Match - Repro 71
   • Al Koran's Linking of Three Borrowed Rings - Repro 71
   • Posters Anyone? - Lee Jacobs
47. cartoon - Albrecht
47. Genii Turns 40 - Jerry Harrell

65. Genii - Volume 40, Number 2 - February 1976 - 60 pages ...

This is the book that tells the truth about cards, dice, punch boards, gambling wheels, races, and all other kinds of gambling.

Don't be a sucker! The Open Book reveals how crooked gamblers, cheats, and con artists fleece the innocent and unwary public out of thousands of dollars daily. Even that carnival game at the local fairgrounds may not be as innocent as it looks. Get the inside scoop.

Valuable secrets of marked cards, gaffed dice, ink formulas, holdouts and other cheating devices -- all clearly explained. Also included are scams and cons used by the unscrupulous to bilk the unwary....

2. COLOR CHANGE OF A SILK
Effect: A silk handkerchief is visibly pushed into the hand. When it emerges from the other end, it has instantly and impossibly changed to a completely different color. This is Chanin's expert handling of the dye tube.

3. J. C. SHOE LACE MIRACLE (Improved)
Effect: A borrowed ring or key is threaded onto a shoelace and tied in place for identification. The center of the lace is then burned away - yet the lace is instantly and visibly restored to perfect condition, with the ring still securely on it.

4. TRU-AN-TRU...

• ...
  • ... Check
  • The Cut And Restored Dollar Bill
  • The Homing Paper Ball
  • The Confounding Cocktail Pick
  • The Headless Match
  • Restoring The String
  • The Spools And Ribbons
  • The Itinerant Sponge Ball
  • The Wandering Spools
  • The Indestructible Newspaper
  • The Anti-Scientific Safety Pins
  • The Thumb Tie
  • The Famous Three-Shell Game
• PART TWO Basic Card Sleights
  • To Palm A Card
  • To Draw Off And Palm The Bottom Card
  • To Draw Off And Palm The Top Card
  • False Shuffle For The Entire Deck
  • To Pass The Bottom Card To The Top Of The Pack
  • To Pass The Top Card To The Bottom Of The Pack
  • The Crimp
  • False Shuffle For...

• ...
  • ... Cheque
  • The Cut And Restored Pound Note
  • The Homing Paper Ball
  • The Confounding Cocktail Pick
  • The Headless Match
  • Restoring The String
  • The Spools And Ribbons
  • The Wandering Spools
  • The Itinerant Sponge Ball
  • The Indestructible Newspaper
  • The Anti-Scientific Safety Pins
  • The Thumb Tie
  • The Famous Three-Shell Game
• PART TWO Basic Card Sleights
  • To Palm A Card
  • To Draw Off And Palm The Bottom Card
  • To Draw Off And Palm The Top Card
  • To Pass The Bottom Card To The Top Of The Pack
  • To Pass The Top Card To The Bottom Of The Pack
  • The Crimp
  • False Shuffle For One Card
  • False Shuffle For The...

A pair of long-forgotten touches for the three-shell game, including a mechanical walnut shell that steals and delivers the pea without sleight of hand. Also, a working surface that collapses at will in case the operator needs to make a quick escape.

A video shot from underneath a glass table clearly demonstrates the critical motion and action of stealing and reinserting the pea.

1st edition 2017, 4 pages, video 12s.