Learn bar tricks, watch pub tricks, learn magic, and find out how scams work!
About Tricks & Scams
Tricks and Scams is your one stop place for all your needs on information about pub ticks, party tricks and known scams. From the simplest magic tricks to the cleverest scams and how they work you will find all you need to know here. This site is being constantly updated so please check back for updates!
Most people at some time or another have been in the presence of someone who claims that they are the fastest drinker around and claim that thy can down a pint of lager or any other drink in a very quick time frame. Here i will teach you how to firstly quieten down the local “bigmouth” and secondly win some money at the same time!
The Setup
So here is the scenario, whilst out at the pub with your friends subtly edge the conversation around to asking how quick everyone thinks they can down a pint. Nine times out of ten one person will proudly exclaim that they can down a pint in under 30 seconds, a this point you have just found your victim! After they have told you how easy it is you then challenge them that you will buy them a pint and give them a tenner if they can drink it in 30 seconds as you make it obvious that you think they are talking BS and want to see it for real. At this point say just to make the bet fair, tell them that if they cant “rise the the challenge” they have to buy you a pint and give you a tenner!
So the scene is set, you start your watch and everyone watches as your victim downs his pint in the fastest time ever, well under the thirty second mark. This is where you deliver the dishartenign blow once you tell you friend that thy have lst the bet. You bet your friend that they couldnt down a pint in “thirty seconds“, not under thirty seconds. At this pint you should swiftly take your winnings and get the next round in!
This is a neat bar trick you can do in almost any bar as everything you need is usually close to hand. The requirements are as follows, a few coins, a glass of soda, a straw and a table with a cloth on (else a bar towel will do if there are no covered tables). Once you have all the bit and pieces you set it up as follows, Place 2 coins stacked 2 high with a coin in the middle so the glass of soda sits on the stacked coins trapping the smaller coin in the centre (check video).
The challenge is, is to remove the coin from underneath the glass in the quickest time possible, but as in all pub tricks and proposition bets like this there are a couple of rules. You can only move the glass once it is empty and the only way to empty it is by drinking the soda through the straw! At this pint someone will try and drink the soda as fast as they can which at anyone’s standards will be very slow considering the amount of fizz the straw creates. As you watch your challenger (victim) try and slurp down the soda casually remark that you can do it in a tenth of the time. At this pint simply scratch at the table cloth in front of the coin and the coin will slowly edge its way out from under the glass! Easy when you know how. For a visual tutorial checkout the video below.
There are many different ways to discretely find a spectators card which has been lost in a deck of cards and allot of these ways use clever sleight of hand. This is an easy card trick and I will show you how to find a chosen card lost in a deck of cards with ease just by using this simple easy to make gimmick!
The Setup:
You Ask a spectator to choose a card from the deck, they look at the card, remember it and place it on-top of the deck. They then cut the deck into and put the bottom half of the deck on top so their card is now lost somewhere in the middle of the deck. They can do this as many times as they like or until they get sick! Once the spectator is happy that their card is lost in the deck you take the deck, riffle through them (see video) and immediately locate their card!
How it is done!
This is a great card trick hack which can be done on any deck of cards in under a minute and similar techniques were used by gamblers to cheat at cards. One of the easiest ways to find a card lost in a deck of cards is to use a key card. A key card is generally a card which you know, or are able to find the location of in a deck of cards. And if you discretely make the spectator place their card next to the “key card” then by locating the key card you can find the chosen card too! On of the best types of key cards i have personally found to use is a “short Card” this is a playing card which has been cut to be a couple of millimeters shorter than the rest of the deck.
Remember to round the corners too!
Comparison with another card
By having one short card in the deck you are able locate this card quite easily just by running your thumb up one end of the deck, and once you have found the “key car” you can then locate the spectators card. For a short demo please take a look at the video.
