THREE CARD MONTE / COLOR MONTE
Three-card Monte – also known as Find the Lady and Three-card Trick – is a confidence game in which the victims, or 'marks', are tricked into betting a sum of money, on the assumption that they can find the 'money card' among three face-down playing cards. I don't like it! Pick a card, any card! Will you be able to keep track of yours as it flies around the table? Get ready to press.
Con Games & Conjuring – Don’t Bet on It! Three Card Monte
Paul Holmes - Guitar and Vocals; Mitch Hull - Drums; Roger Abernethy - Bass. Jan 24, 2021 The 3 card Monte is a great trick to perform for large and small audiences. You can capture their attention, capitalize on your own showmanship, and still leave them astounded. Plus, practicing the sleight of hand will help you improve your other magic tricks as well.
I love the Monte! It is seemingly an honest game of chance but is, in fact, a con game where those who unwittingly are suckered into placing a bet have almost no chance at winning. The game is fixed; it’s rigged. The operator (the person hosting the game and manipulating the props) is cheating by employing specialized apparatus or utilizing covert sleight of hand methods to create the illusion of a fair game. For centuries the monte in all its forms whether using 3 thimbles or walnut shells and pea, a ball and cups, bottle caps, or cards – has been used to swindle many poor victims from their hard-earned cash.
The concept is simple, usually 3 objects such as playing cards are used. One of the objects is different from the others – say one red face card like the Ace of Hearts is mixed face down on a table with two black face cards such as the Two of Clubs & Three of Clubs. The task is to follow and find the one odd card, the Ace of Hearts, amidst the two similar cards while their faces remain hidden. If you do this, you win! But the game is much more difficult than you could imagine because the operator cheats!
With the public’s interest in gambling over the centuries, it is no surprise that many so-called games of chance have found their way into the repertoire of magicians who have learned how to manipulate those games and the paraphernalia involved to achieve a desired outcome – that is… to win or at least prevent you from winning. Thankfully, most magicians now perform these routines as an expose’ of how others can protect themselves from being cheated by these crooked games.
Three Card Monte was a favorite trick of legendary magician Michael Skinner. For 20 years, he enjoyed demonstrating his incredible variation at the Golden Nugget casino in Las Vegas. The routine he performed made use of some cleverly designed playing cards created by Theodore Deland. These are the same ingenious cards supplied in Theatre Magic’s version of Three Card Monte. Micheal Skinner fooled thousands of people into believing he was using incredible sleight of hand skill to manipulate the cards, but the cards themselves did most of the work!
Here is Bill Malone performing his hamdling of the Skinner routine
For those who wish to learn some sleight of hand to perform the three card monte, Theatre Magic has you covered! One of the biggest selling packet card tricks in magic based on this classic gambling plot is Color Monte, marketed by Emerson and West in 1974 with a fantastic surprise ending created by Jim Temple. The inspiration for Jim Temple’s Color Monte was Bill Elliott’s 3 Card Monkey Business which was published in the March 1959 edition of P. Howard Lyon’s Ibidem. Elliott’s routine was based on Ed Marlo’s Quick 3-Way which was published in the December 1958 edition of the same journal.
Although the Color Monte cards are unique, they are not gaffed – in that the effect is achieved through sleight of hand alone. In fact, the Color Monte cards may be examined at the conclusion of the demonstration and the trick, once learned, can indeed be performed with ordinary playing cards. However, I personally feel that performing the effect with regular playing cards diminishes the impact of Jim Temple’s incredible surprise ending.
I shall refrain from naming the specific sleight used in the Color Monte routine, nor will I describe its mechanics, but I will provide a brief history of the technique so that those ambitious few may research it further. The primary sleight of hand maneuver employed in the Color Monte routine has erroneously been attributed to Dai Vernon in the first volume of The Vernon Chronicles in the discussion at the end of the effect, The Two-Thirteen Trick, page 154. It was believed that Dai Vernon devised this clever maneuver in 1933. However, the move in question has been more commonly associated with the magicians, Henry Christ and Ted Annemann. The latter having probably first described its application to playing cards in an effect entitled Remote Control which was marketed in 1931. The ACTUAL move first saw the light of day via a gentleman named Burling Hull (of Svengali Deck notoriety) – who used it as an envelope switch in a book entitled ’50 sealed message readings’ – published by Davenports in the late 1920’s.
While both Color Monte and Three Card Monte follow similar plots, they differ significantly in presentation. Three Card Monte can be presented almost as if you were truly playing the game or, as I prefer, instructing folks as to how the game is played. Color Monte is more of a story-telling routine in which you share an experience you apparently had upon encountering this game yourself while using the cards to illustrate what happened. I find the Three Card Monte plays very well for adult audiences who can actively follow the cards positions in a scenario where you have some table space to lay the cards down. Color Monte is great for children and family audiences to enjoy as it features shapes and colors on the cards rather than actual numbers and suite symbols so it tends to be easier to follow, not requiring any significant amount of thought on the part of the audience and the handling can be performed mainly in the magician’s hands so that a table is not necessarily required. So, the Three Card Monte may be better suited for a seated performance or one in which you can utilize a table whereas Color Monte is ideal for strolling situations. I always carry both with me in my professional work so that I am prepared for any situation at a moment’s notice. This classic con game has peeked the curiosity of many ambitious individuals willing to take a chance. If you are willing to take a chance to add something uniquely appealing to your repertoire, I can guarantee the monte will be one of the most popular effects you can perform.
Michael Matson 2018
The three card monte magic trick is one of THE most famous card tricks in history. It’s definitely a trick that every magician should learn sooner or later. But there’s so many different versions of the three card monte that it’s hard to know where to begin.
In this blog post, we’re going to share our ‘top five’ three card monte routines and let you know exactly where to learn them!
Use the links below to navigate between our various picks.
Best 3 Card Monte Pick No.5: The ‘Classic’ 3 Card Monte
We’ll start this list off with the ‘classic’ three card monte. In this version of the trick, you have two black cards and one red card. It’s the job of the audience to follow the red card.
You begin by showing them the red card, and then throwing it to the tabletop. You then mix up the cards, but tell them to keep their eye on the red card (which they saw you throw to the table.) If they can correctly guess the position of the red card, they win. If they can’t – they lose.
In the first round of this game, the spectator usually guesses right. But here’s what’s actually going on: the magician will actually LET them get it right, in order to get them more confident in their ability to follow the card. After a couple of practice rounds in which the spectator guesses correct, the magician ups the ante by putting money on the outcome. If the spectator can tell him where the red card is, they win the money. Since the spectator is feeling pretty confident on his ability, they take the bet. And often, they guess correctly and win the money!
Now, the magician offers to play one more round. He puts even more money on the table. But this time, he asks the spectator to put some of their own money down too. If the spectator guesses right again, he takes all the money – but if he guesses wrong, the magician takes it.
Well, can you guess what comes next?
Of course, the magician throws down the cards and the spectator THINKS they see exactly where the red card goes. But when they take their guess – they discover they’re totally wrong, and the magician takes the money.
This is how the three card monte is often played by street performers and scammers.
WARNING: This version of the three card monte is nothing short of a scam. If you play it this way – you do so at your own risk, and we would strongly advise you not to.
But since we’re just learning the 3 card monte for fun…we would never perform it this way.
Indeed, if you’re looking for alternate presentations and endings for this trick, why not check out our official 3 Card Monte masterclass?
Inside this training, you’ll learn fascinating methods and presentations for this trick that are just as fooling – but end with everyone happy, magician and audience alike!
CC Members can get this training here:
Not a CC Member? Join for just $1 here!
Best 3 Card Monte Pick No.4: Stand Up Monte
Steve Barcellona is a member of the ‘CC Panel’ and he recently gave a CC Live Lecture where he shared the secrets behind his stunning ‘Stand Up Monte’. This routine is a three card monte style effect, but done with ‘jumbo’ playing cards.
This means you can take the three card monte – a trick usually reserved for solely close-up performances – and use it as part of a stage show.
For those of you who perform on stage or to large audiences, this trick is a great way to get the power of the three card monte on a large scale.
This training is available to CC Members here:
Not a CC Members? Join for just $1 here!
Best 3 Card Monte Pick No.3: The Skinner Monte
This monte is different to the others ones we’ve discussed because it actually relies on a ‘gimmick’ in order to work. While that means you can’t hand the cards out to be inspected, this drawback is far outweighed by the ASTONISHING effect it produces.
This routine looks like pure magic, and will stun your audiences.
You can pick it up at the official CC Store here:
Best 3 Card Monte Pick No.2: The 2 Card Monte
We’re cheating a little bit here, because this one isn’t technically a 3 card monte…it uses two cards.
This version of the 3 card monte was made very popular by David Blaine. Imagine this…
You hand the Ace of Diamonds to your spectator, asking them to hold it in their hand. You then show them the Ace of Hearts and demonstrate in slow motion how you would use sleight of hand to switch the cards. You take their Ace of Diamonds and leave the Ace of Hearts in their hand. Then, in a fast movement, you place the Ace of Diamonds in your hand into theirs. You ask them whether they think the Ace of Hearts or Diamonds in on top.
After they make their guess, they turn over their hand and see that they are in fact holding the Ace of SPADES and CLUBS.
This ALWAYS gets incredible reactions from audiences!
A great trick that works on a similar principle is ‘Daley’s Last Dance,’ a stunning four card routine that we offer in-depth training on inside CC.
CC Members can get this training here:
Not a CC Member? Join for just $1 here!
Best 3 Card Monte Pick No.1: Color Monte
The Color Monte is our favorite version of the three card monte. This classic effect is a little hard to describe, so just watch a video of it in action here:
3 Card Monte Game
As you can see, this is a visually stunning monte, with a kicker ending that ALWAYS astonishes audiences. The good news is, YOU can learn it.
The Color Monte is available in the CC Store here:
3 Card Monte Game
Honorable Mention: Color Monte PRO
3 Card Monte Video
Recently Scott Alexander came to Conjuror Community to deliver an astonishing live lecture filled with his very best material. One of the tricks he shared is his famous ‘Color Monte PRO’
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