Hustling the Mark: Difference between revisions

Often involves the use of [[Obfuscating Stupidity]]. A subtrope of [[Short Con]]. [[Truth in Television]]. There have been many famous hustlers in [[Real Life]].

 

 

'''May contain spoilers.'''

 

* Popped up in ''[[Hikaru no Go]]''. Hikaru is looking to recruit a kid from his school who is very good at Go, but who prefers to use his skills in semi-shady Go-parlors where money is bet on the outcomes... and he's not shy about cheating to make sure he takes home the cash, either. Eventually, however, he falls prey to this. A drunken patron plays him for a game, screws up impressively, and loses a small bet. Drunkenly complaining, he suggests a second game, with a much bigger bet, and the kid - thinking him an easy mark - agrees, putting all his money down. However, as soon as they start playing, the 'drunkard' changes, turning out to be a highly skilled and intimidating player, who is apt at sleight of hand himself. Turns out, he's actually a famed hustler who was hired by the local players to teach the kid a lesson, since they were tired of being cheated by him all the time. Sure enough, he beats the kid soundly and takes his money.

* In ''[[Mudazumo Naki Kaikaku]]'', George W. Bush does this against Taizo during a game of Mahjong. Yes, it's one of [[Widget Series|those series]].

 

== [[Literature]] ==

* The eponymous ''[[Prince Roger]]'' demonstrates the ''Discworld'' quote above at the beginning of the second book:

* [[Gaunt's Ghosts]] got in trouble pulling this for an unusual reason. One of the people involved was brought up before the Inquisition - and forced to prove that the method he was using to cheat did not involve the use of psychic powers.

* Denna pulls this in ''[[The Wise Man's Fear]]'' when playing cards with Kvothe and his friends.

 

* [[Full House]] has D.J. hustle Michelle into doing the dishes after Michelle refuses to do them together. Michelle feels that she would much rather play jacks. D.J. says " Hey, Jacks, gosh, I was never any good at that. " Michelle challenges her to a game and wages that the loser of the game has to do the dishes by themselves. Good Ol' Deej obliterates her [[Annoying Younger Sibling|little sister]] in the game. D.J. even says "call me a sucker, but ok." Probably as close to gambling as a show like that can get.

** No, the closest they actually got to gambling was when Jesse and Joey played a game of pool. Jesse beats Joey hands down, but then Danny wants to play. Jesse mocks the strait-laced Danny for wanting to play, especially when Danny seemingly tries to use the wrong end of the stick to break. That's when Danny breaks and sinks three balls on his first shot, before [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SdqKkrVgx0w mopping the floor with Jesse.] Danny makes a hundred bucks off Jesse, and then gives Joey $10 for keeping his mouth shut about Danny going to college on a billiards scholarship.

* In a recent episode of ''[[Jonas]] LA'', Macy pulled this off on Nick and Kevin during a game of golf.

* Used by Mimi one time on ''[[The Drew Carey Show]]'' when she was going to hustle Drew at bowling, but then some other guys challenged them and she & Drew ended up teaming up on the [[Short Con]].

* ''[[Supernatural]]'' has Sam and Dean hustling a pool player like this once onscreen. Though that particular occasion falls through, it is implied that this is how they make a good deal of their money usually, since they don't exactly get paid for their [[Demon Slaying|other kind of work]].

* Played straight on a episode of ''[[Family Matters]]'' in which Eddie and Urkel get hustled at a pool hall for more money than they have and require Carl and [[Never Mess with Granny|Grandma Winslow]] to get them out of their mess in yet ''another'' game of pool.

* Once in ''[[Drake and Josh]]'', [[Little Miss Con Artist|Megan]] first hustled Drake in a game of darts. Drawing inspiration, he goes to the pool hall and starts hustling there. Josh disapproves of the dishonest way to earn money, so he hires his two burly camp counselors to scare Drake straight afterwards.

* In the ''[[Victorious]]'' episode ''Freak The Freak Out'', Jade, Tori, and Cat pull off a rather awesome example on Haley and Tara. (Complete with [[Oh Crap]] looks on Haley and Tara's faces when they realized Tori wasn't the pushover they thought she would be.)

* Subverted in an episode of [[Leverage]], in which Ford ''pretends'' to pull this trick on his mark, in a game of poker. When the mark realizes he's been scammed, he pulls a gun on Ford {{spoiler|in front of a room full of undercover cops, which was the actual con.}}

* ''[[Hustle]]'', obviously. Though, being Long Con artists, they tend not to go for competition hustles as often as they might. Still frequently enough to be mentioned here, though.

* Daphne does this at a pool hall in the ''[[Frasier]]'' episode "You Can't Tell a Crook by His Cover":

'''Daphne''': Oh, I might as well. I never really have understood this game. Never understood it, when I started playing with me older brothers, at the age of six. And I never understood it during all my formative years, spent mostly in the pool halls of Manchester. Playing in local competitions and club tournaments ... winning cup after cup after cup ... until our poor dad had to convert the pantry into a trophy room. And I can't really claim to understand it -- eight ball in far corner -- even today. But I certainly do enjoy it. }}

* In ''[[Auction Hunters]]'', Allen and Ton are negotiating with a potential buyer over the price of a pool table. Eventually, Allen convinces the buyer to settle the final price over a game of pool: the buyer wins, the buyer pays his last offer; the auction hunters win, the buyer pays ''their'' last offer. The buyer is allowed to pick the game; the buyer picks nine-ball. Cue Ton: "Dude, what's nine-ball?" The buyer is then asked which of the two auction hunters he'll face. Naturally, [[Genre Blindness|he picks Ton]]. The moment the two shake on it, Ton grins very widely, letting the buyer know [[Oh Crap|he's in trouble]]. After the buyer scratches on the break, Ton proceeds to pot all the balls on the table, finishing with a two-rail shot on the nine ball.

== [[Western Animation]] ==

* In the [[Bugs Bunny]] cartoon "Barbary Coast Bunny", Bugs is disguised as a gullible country bumpkin in a poker game against the villain. The villain gets a full house, to which a dejected Bugs moans, "[[The Magic Poker Equation|Gee, all I got is two pair. A pair of ones, and another pair of ones.]]" (That's a Quad of Aces, an extremely high hand that can only be topped by a Straight/Royal Flush).

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:The Con]]

[[Category:Short Con]]