We were in east berlin about to board the boat to take a river cruise. My wife noticed these people on the street. They had 3 boxes and one small ball. They would move the boxes and you had to guess which one the ball was under. Looks easy. Well good luck. All these people are working together, they have 8 people working in on tourists. The people playing are in on it. They are all dressed up in business suits and carrying briefcases and some look like tourists. Please stay away and do not play. I lost 500 euros to these guys and later discovered that they make 10,0000 euros a day off tourists. Be warned. I wish someone had told me about this.

Hi montrealvic,

I don't mean to sound callous about the loss of your 500&euro;... but what on earth possessed you to play their game in the first place? Surely you didn't think you'd outwit them at their own game? If so, I strongly advise you stay far away from the casinos in Las Vegas... the odds <u>always</u> favor the house (or in this case, the smart crooks who suckered you in).

Those crooks do the same everywhere! Sometimes it's 3 boxes and a small ball. Sometimes 3 cards, and guess which one is a queen of spade.

In any case, the robbery goes 2 ways.

1. you lose money as their fingers work so fast, you can never guess, never outsmart them

2. pickpockets &quot;work&quot; the crowd and wallets get stolen

I've seen it in Belarus, Russia, USA, Canada. I'm sure they do this in every country.

On TV's travel channel they'd warned about this and other scams in Las Vegas. Sorry you've lost money, but this is the outcome of any gambling.

Another reminder: don't deal with &quot;street vendors&quot;.

And I want to ask you a question, just curious, what made you lose 500 euro? Why hadn't you stopped after losing 20? 50? 100? 200?

This is the classic three card monte game. They let you win a few small bets then when you bet big thats when they work their magic and you wind up losing.
If by some strange quirk you do pick the right box- then there is likely a disturbance- one of the shills calls out cops! and the game is packed up and everyone flees- bottom line you either loose your big bet or the game is off- you never ever win big!

Faina,
That was my thought... I never would have fallen for such a scheme in the first place, but to keep playing until I lost 500&euro;????!!!

I honestly am sorry for the poster b/c that is a great deal of money to lose to a scam... but I just am not understanding why it didn't occur to him after he lost the first round or two.

Because each time they let you see the cup which has the ball - only it doesn't.
This has been a game played all over Europe for years and especially in Berlin - Alexanderplatz used to be a hotbed for it. And i've seen it so many times that i wonder why an undercover cop can't stumble across one and bust these crooks.
There's a name for the game which i can't remember - but it's not a game of course but robbery. At first they clearly show you which cup has the ball under it and a shill of theirs bets and wins lots of euros and again, until the time a real person plays and inevitably loses.

The classic &quot;shell game.&quot;

There is always at least one person who plays and wins to attract the unsuspecting.

It has been going on all over the world, probably, for decades.

And to add insult to injury, sometimes another &quot;member&quot; picks pockets.

And the classic shell game has been around for centuries--can't believe that millions have fallen for it over all that time.

If you loose 500 euro this way, you are an idiot, that is all I can say.

There's nothing new about this game, and it's well known (or should be) that you can only lose and that they'll rip you off for sure.

I've seen this con game played elsewhere too. I'm very sorry that you lost 500 euro, but I'm surprised that you didn't realize that this was not just a simple game.

You should have stayed in Munich, we have police to protect &quot;unsuspecting&quot; tourists.

I am really surprised now, Vic, you fell for that old scam! You must be a well travelled person, Las Vegas, Greece are among your posts.

At least you had 500 to lose! This is the only positive thought I have.

Maybe they took it from his pocket – that’s how they usually make most of their money. I’m always amazed when I see people stopping in the streets for this.

Sorry about your very expensive lesson.

Just for the record, please tell us you bet the 500 all at once. I'd hate to think you kept on doing this over and over again without catching on. I love to watch this game, it is so entertaining, especially when they make it so simple that ANYONE who isn't blind would know where the ball is, but their partner bets on the wrong one. That's what makes the &quot;sucker&quot; think -- &quot;gee I would have won that&quot;. But after once or at most twice, surely you should have caught on!

Montrealvic,

If you send me $1000, I'll give you the details of how they play this game and then you can go play again. In fact you can send me your credit card information and I'll book the room for you.....

Hey, if you are so naive and sheltered that you had never heard of this game and fell for it all the way to losing 500 euros...I figure you'll send me the $1000 and credit card information.

....Frankly, if anyone is so naive as to fall for one of the OLDEST cons in the world, I say more power to the con artists...they are not taking money out of your wallet, you are willingly giving them your $....in fact, I can't really believe that this really happened....I've never accused anyone of this before...but I have to say it ....TROLL!!!!!!

Oh, my god!! I just clicked on your name and saw that most likely you're not a troll...I apologize for that...but then I just don't know what to say about your naivety....there are no words...I'm in shock.... where do you live? I'm in shock that anyone could be so ....

I would be more embarrassed that you posted to a travel site to &quot;warn&quot; other tourists of your stupidity!

There can't be a city in the world where this isn't done (including Montreal), and it must have been around since ancient times.