A coin-matching game (also a coin smackPorter, Thomas J. Jr. (November 28, 1969). Con Artists Show Diversified Skills. ''

Pittsburgh Post-Gazette The ''Pittsburgh Post-Gazette'', also known simply as the PG, is the largest newspaper serving metropolitan Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Descended from the ''Pittsburgh Gazette'', established in 1786 as the first newspaper published west of the Alle ...

'' or smack gameAssociated Press (January 11, 1963). 3 sentenced; they picked wrong man. ''

The Spokesman-Review ''The Spokesman-Review'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper based in Spokane, Washington, the city's sole remaining daily publication. It has the third-highest readership among daily newspapers in the state, with most of its readership base in ...

'') is a

confidence trick A confidence trick is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using their credulity, naïveté, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have ...

in which two con artists set up one victim. The first con artist strikes up a conversation with the victim, usually while waiting somewhere. The con artist suggests

matching pennies Matching pennies is the name for a simple game used in game theory. It is played between two players, Even and Odd. Each player has a penny and must secretly turn the penny to heads or tails. The players then reveal their choices simultaneously ...

(or other

coin A coin is a small, flat (usually depending on the country or value), round piece of metal or plastic used primarily as a medium of exchange or legal tender. They are standardized in weight, and produced in large quantities at a mint in order t ...

s) to pass the time. The second con artist arrives and joins in, but soon leaves for a moment. The first con artist then suggests

cheating Cheating generally describes various actions designed to subvert rules in order to obtain unfair advantages. This includes acts of bribery, cronyism and nepotism in any situation where individuals are given preference using inappropriate crit ...

. The victim, thinking they are going to scam the second con artist, agrees to match coins each time. When the second con artist returns and begins losing, he accuses the two of cheating and threatens to call the police. The first con artist offers a sizable sum of

hush money Hush money is a term for an arrangement in which one person or party offers another an attractive sum of money or other enticement, in exchange for remaining silent about some illegal, stigmatized, or shameful behavior, action, or other fact abo ...

, and the victim contributes something too. After the victim leaves, the two con artists split up the money

extorted Extortion is the practice of obtaining benefit through coercion. In most jurisdictions it is likely to constitute a criminal offence; the bulk of this article deals with such cases. Robbery is the simplest and most common form of extortion, ...

from the victim.Staff report (November 9, 1913). Coin matchers of Times Square are doing rushing business; Detective Says He Knows No Less than 100 Professionals in That Line, Who Feel Safe Because Few Ever Get "Sent Up." ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' In game theory the term refers to a

zero-sum Zero-sum game is a mathematical representation in game theory and economic theory of a situation which involves two sides, where the result is an advantage for one side and an equivalent loss for the other. In other words, player one's gain is e ...

two-person game of

imperfect information In economics, perfect information (sometimes referred to as "no hidden information") is a feature of perfect competition. With perfect information in a market, all consumers and producers have complete and instantaneous knowledge of all market pri ...

(not involving a third player or collusion); other variations on the name are "matching coins" or "

References

Confidence tricks Deception Fraud {{game-stub