When I am out and about at the flea markets every Sunday, I usually see a lot more than shopping going on. You see people hanging out and talking and laughing or sometimes yelling. One thing you also may see is a small crowd around a little table watching a guy play the shell game with an unlucky customer.This game is definitely a scam. This link will tell you about the game, The Shell Game, but basically it is a guy that puts a shell under one of three cups and moves them around and then you have to pick which cup it is under. It sounds pretty harmless but actually there are other factors.
First there will be another guy that tries to bet with the player on which cup the shell is really under. This guy most likely is part of a team with the guy that moves the cups. His job is to confuse the player so they think maybe they missed a movement or something. They probably did miss something though because more people that are also on a team with the other two that crowd around the table and try to distract the player when the cups are being moved. So really, the player has no chance, unless they are really keen and not easily swayed or distracted.
Last Sunday, I was at the flea market watching one of the poor suckers that got roped into playing this "game." It was going as it usually does with the betting guy and the distracting guys until one man in the crowd pointed out that they were cheating. Of course they tried to deny it but the man in the crowd wasn't gonna let them get away with it without some hassle. It was pretty funny because the cup guy was getting flustered. He doesn't look to happy to have his picture taken while he is taking customers!
