The Big Con (34 page)

The mark is usually selected through someone who “puts him up”—that is, gives the con men his name and some details about him in advance. One expert tip player now operating gets his “sucker lists” from a girl friend connected with a large Chicago firm which supplies all kinds of crooked gambling equipment—marked cards, loaded dice, shiners, card holdouts, etc.—to would-besure-thing gamblers. Few real professional gamblers buy these devices, and when anyone places an order, it is practically certain that he likes “the best of it.” This tip player organizes his lists geographically and visits all those in one section at a time.

The roper approaches a mark in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Says he, “Mr. Jones, when I was in Scranton last week, I was making inquiries for an honest and trustworthy
man in Harrisburg. Mr. White, who is a friend of yours there, said that you could be trusted in anything, and said I couldn’t find a better person for the deal I have in mind.”

“What’s on your mind?” asks Jones.

“This is the situation,” explains the roper. “But first, have you any scruples against making some sure money in a poker game?”

“Suppose I haven’t?” asks Jones tentatively.

“Well,” continues the roper, “this man I want to take the money away from has just inherited nearly half a million dollars. He loves to gamble and likes the best of it. He has cheated with me in several games.”

“Yes,” says Jones. “Go on.”

“I met him in Pittsburgh this last week and he told me that he was coming to Harrisburg to look at some property. He is here in the city now. I told him that I was coming here to play in a little businessman’s game, and he was all ears. He wants to be in with my play, for he knows that I can cheat any card game anywhere. I told him that I played here quite often and that I would see that he got into the game. He always carries a big bank roll on him and tries to make his money win for him. He is a sucker for gambling and is bound to lose his money. We might as well get a little of it. He will have at least $10,000 with him when he comes.

“Now I have figured out a way to beat this man. You don’t have to have any money. I’ll furnish you with all the money you need. You just do as I tell you and you will win this man’s money. Then after the game we will divide the profits.”

Mr. Jones agrees that he would like to be counted in on the deal. So the roper tells him to report at the hotel in the afternoon, and he will give him the final instructions for the play.

That afternoon the two men meet in the hotel lobby.
The roper asks the mark to buy the cards at the cigar counter. This is done to allay any suspicions he may have regarding marked cards. The roper provides himself with a large box of matches. They go up to the room to set a trap for their victim. The roper pulls the table to the center of the room and spreads the bedspread over it so as to have a good surface on which to shuffle the cards. He seats the mark at the proper place, gives him $100, and keeps $100 for himself.

“Now play carefully with that,” he admonishes the mark, “for it is all I have. At first we will play ‘percy pots’ and you won’t have to show your hand until it is called. You can open a jackpot on anything, just the five cards you hold in your hand. You understand?”

“Yes,” says Jones.

“All right. Now I’ll play along for a while and then I’ll lose my money to you. That will give you $200 to play with. And you never show your hand unless it is called. Just as soon as I lose my money to you, I’ll get out of the game and sit behind the man. I can see his hand from there and I’ll tip his hand off to you so you’ll always know what he has.”

“But,” says Jones, “how will I know? How will you signal me?”

“It’s easy, and you can learn it in five minutes,” says the roper. “Here I’ll show you.” Then he shows the mark how he will signal with his fingers to indicate the contents of his opponent’s hand. The mark has hardly memorized the signals when the insideman calls from the lobby. They tell him to come right up.

“Where is everybody?” he asks. “I thought there was a game going on here.”

“The boys will be here any minute,” says the roper. “Let’s get things going.”

So they start to play, the matches selling for a dollar apiece. The insideman displays large quantities of money
and bluffs heavily. The roper throws off his money to the mark, as arranged, then takes his place behind the insideman, who is betting from $100 a hand up. The insideman asks the roper, “Do you want to be in with my play?”

“No,” says the roper, “I’m broke and if you should lose, I couldn’t make my end of it good. I’ll just stay out now. You go it alone until the other boys come up.”

The game goes on, with the insideman using a shiner so that he can see what he deals the mark, and signaling the roper what to tell the mark. The mark gets the roper’s signals perfectly. The stakes go up until there are large jackpots every hand. Then comes the “spring hand.” The insideman sees that he has dealt the mark two pairs. He gives the roper the office to tip the mark that he, the insideman, has one pair in his hand. The mark bets fifty dollars on his hand. The insideman raises him $200. The mark stays with him. The mark has the best of it. They draw cards, but neither helps his hand.

“What will you bet on that good hand you are holding?” asks the insideman. “I’m going to make you lay it down.”

The mark, feeling sure of his ground, bets all he has in front of him, perhaps $150. The insideman pulls out his bank roll and says, “That’s all right. I’ll take you and raise you $500 more.”

The mark has only a few bills in his pocket, say twenty dollars, and he puts that up. The insideman starts to beef about a showdown. The mark sees his winnings slipping away. Then the roper gives the mark the wink and says, “You can get it, can’t you? Here we’ll put the cards in an envelope and I’ll hold them until you come back.”

“O.K.,” says the mark. “I have it in the bank. You hold the cards and I’ll be right back.”

The insideman says, “O.K.,” and the mark starts for the door.

“While he’s gone, I’ll try to round up the boys,” says the roper, and starts for the door also.

“Here, here,” says the insideman, “I doubt that either one of you will be back. So just pay me for the chips you have before you leave.”

“Oh, we’ll be back,” says the mark. “At least I will,” and hurries out.

In the hall the roper shows the mark the hands he has in the envelope. There can be no mistake. The mark holds the winning hand. The roper goes with him to the bank and urges him to get enough money to raise the insideman and force a showdown. The mark gets all he can, for he knows that the insideman has enough money with him to raise again. He draws, say $1,000. The two return, the hands are laid out, and the mark wins the pot.

Another hand is dealt and the process of “faro-banking” begins. The mark knows that the insideman has a large bank roll with him, and lusts for more of it. The signaling process goes on, and the mark wins and loses, while the stakes mount up. To the mark it looks like a repetition of the first play, so he raises his bets as fast as he dares. Finally in the excitement of the play the mark bets his hand before the draw. The insideman draws out on him, thus winning the pot. There are many variations in the method of “putting in the sting,” but the principle remains the same.

Sometimes the roper blows the mark off immediately. However, if he feels that the mark has more money in the bank and if he still has the mark’s confidence, he may send him back to the bank again with the assurance that this time there will be no slips and the promise that they can recoup their losses—$200 of which apparently has been sustained by the roper.

To cool the mark out, the roper may use any one of a number of tricks. A favorite one is to take him to the telegraph office and wire for a friend of the roper’s to
come immediately on the next train and bring plenty of money and a hold-out machine. This leads the mark to believe that it is only a matter of hours until they will take the insideman for his bank roll. Meanwhile, the roper may give his personal note (worthless, of course) for the amount the mark has lost, since the roper claims to feel some responsibility for the mark’s losses.

A thousand dollars is a good average score on the tip. Often the mark yields less, and sometimes of course he is good for more. A score of $3,000 is considered very good, while one of $5,000 is phenomenal.

One of the earliest con men to specialize on the tip was Old Man Jennings. Later came Bill Bennett, Scotty, Wildfire John and others. Today any of the con men who gamble proficiently are likely to fall back on it for a touch.

Another short-con game popular with con men who gamble is the
last turn.
The build-up for the mark is somewhat similar to that used in the tip. The roper locates a mark with some money and larceny in his soul. He tells him this story: “I have come to you because you are an honest man and I know you can be trusted in a deal which will make you some money, but which must be handled by a man with both discretion and integrity. If you will finance this matter, you can make yourself a handsome profit, with no chance of losing. It is a sure thing.”

The mark is naturally curious about this deal and asks for details.

“It is like this,” says the roper. “An old friend of mine has dealt faro for a rich old gambler in Buffalo for nearly fifty years. The gambler has made a fortune with his gambling house, and my friend has helped him build up his fortune but has nothing to show for his life’s work. My friend has made a pretty good salary during his lifetime,
but put all his savings in stocks and lost it. Now he is an old man, and broke. The gambler has promised to cut him in on the business, but he has put it off and put it off, and now he is about to retire and leave my friend out in the cold. That is pretty tough on him, and you can’t blame him for wanting to make enough to keep him on for the rest of his life, can you?”

The mark admits that he can’t.

“Here is what he intends to do,” continues the roper. “Do you understand how faro is played?”

If the mark says, “No,” the roper explains what a faro lay-out is, how the players bet against the bank, how the dealer pulls the cards from a dealing box, etc. The roper explains that many wealthy gamblers and playboys come to the gambling house and play for heavy stakes against the bank. The betting always grows progressively heavier throughout the game, the bets being placed on the order in which the dealer will draw cards from a dealer’s box. The odds are always greater on the last turn, and anyone who wins on that play may make a young fortune. The gambler is well heeled and the bank is always able to pay off. If the mark plays faro, so much the better, for he sees his own advantage all the more quickly.

“Now,” says the roper, “this friend came to me with this idea. He wants me to come into the gambling place and bet a little on certain turns that he will indicate. That is so no one will become suspicious. Then he will tip off the last turn, and I can make a sure-thing bet which will put us both on easy street. That is the proposition he made me. But I don’t have the money to finance it. That is why I came to you. You put up the money, I will handle the betting, he will tip off the last turn, and we will split the profits three ways. You and my friend will take eighty per cent and I will take twenty per cent.”

“How much would I have to put up?” asks the mark.

“The more the better,” says the roper. “How much can you raise? Fifteen thousand dollars?”

The mark considers and thinks he can get $10,000. It is agreed. The most important thing, the roper explains, is to have someone finance the deal who can be trusted not to run off with the profits once they are made.

The mark is taken to Buffalo to meet the old faro-dealer who shows him a faro lay-out and dealing box, explaining in detail how the game is played. He instructs the mark which turns to bet on and rehearses the play carefully with the mark and the roper so that the whole thing will come off without the old millionaire’s suspecting that there is collusion between his dealer and the two patrons. A date is set for the play and the two go to the gambling house where the other patrons are playing at various games.

Immediately the roper takes charge of the mark’s money, for faro is an intricate game and the mark has probably never seen it played. They bet on a number of turns before the last one, winning on the turns previously indicated by the dealer, but losing large sums on all the rest. The losses are also according to a pre-arranged agreement between the dealer and the roper, but the mark does not suspect this. He is somewhat alarmed to see the roper betting his money like so much lettuce, but the game moves so rapidly and is so complicated that he hardly realizes what is happening. The last turn falls as predicted, but it is impossible for the mark to recoup his losses on the last turn. He is lucky if he has railroad fare home as his share of the winnings.

If the mark thinks his losses were due to a run of bad luck and does not suspect a swindle, he may then be sent for more money and the play repeated. If he suspects foul play, or if he has no more money, the millionaire gambler accuses his dealer of turning traitor and fires him. The
old dealer cries and bewails his fate, and may even try to borrow money from the roper and the mark. The mark cannot stand this for long and soon goes back home.

The last turn may require the co-operation of a gambling house, for which a percentage of the score is paid. In the old days when faro-bank was more widely played than at present, this was a common swindle. However, in recent years, with the decline of faro since the World War days, it is not so extensively used. But in the hands of big-con men it is still a very effective swindle, for it eliminates the need for the send and produces very respectable scores. When good big-con men tell the tale to the mark, he is thoroughly convinced before the game is begun and moves to the city where the play is to take place prepared to put a given amount of money into the game. Occasionally big-con men get scores which rival those taken off on the pay-off or the rag in size, as, for instance, the $50,000 touch which was referred to in an earlier chapter. Old-timers who were rated the best at this game were old Hugh Brady, Sam Roberts, Charlie Stebbins (Ben Mark’s one-handed faro-dealer), Martin Fisher and Doc Middleton. The one essential which may be difficult to provide these days is an expert faro-dealer to play the inside.