I haven't seen any lately, but I know I've seen some guys pulling this scam in NYC as recently as the mid-80s. I have a vague recollection of seeing some in Spain around the same time.
One of my father's uncles was a carny and petty criminal who apparently was versed in this skill. This would have been in Canada in the 1920s or '30s. I remember my father explaining how it worked, just as Mayhew did, when I was a boy.
Far more popular these days is the similar three-card monte or "spot the lady," where you try to spot the red queen among two other black cards. (Or maybe the other way around--I forget.) As a guide to NYC explained, "The odds are with the house, because none of the three cards is a red queen."
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One of my father's uncles was a carny and petty criminal who apparently was versed in this skill. This would have been in Canada in the 1920s or '30s. I remember my father explaining how it worked, just as Mayhew did, when I was a boy.
Far more popular these days is the similar three-card monte or "spot the lady," where you try to spot the red queen among two other black cards. (Or maybe the other way around--I forget.) As a guide to NYC explained, "The odds are with the house, because none of the three cards is a red queen."