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\ ˈthrē-ˈkärd- 
\
\Definition of three-card monte
: a gambling game in which the dealer shows three cards, shuffles them, places them face down, and invites spectators to bet they can identify the location of a particular card
Examples of three-card monte in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web Topdog/Underdog For Ubuntu Theater Project, Dorian Lockett and Michael Curry star in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about brothers Lincoln and Booth, one who works as a Lincoln impersonator, the other who deals three-card monte.
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Chronicle Staff Report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Theater capsule reviews and listings, week of June 10," 7 June 2018 Topdog/Underdog For Ubuntu Theater Project, Dorian Lockett and Michael Curry star in Suzan-Lori Parks’s Pulitzer Prize-winning play about brothers Lincoln and Booth, one who works as a Lincoln impersonator, the other who deals three-card Monte.
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Chronicle Staff Report, San Francisco Chronicle, "Theater capsule reviews and listings, week of May 27," 24 May 2018 That fellow in the picture who, in my thinking, appears to be dealing a game of three-card monte, is former Democratic state Sen. Jeremy Ring of Parkland.
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Dan Sweeney, Sun-Sentinel.com, "Power Lunch: Four amendments on 2018 ballot and counting," 24 Jan. 2018 New Orleans watched for months as the top three candidates for mayor shuffled to the lead in poll after poll like a game of three-card Monte, deceiving anyone who thought a favorite would emerge.
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Richard Rainey, NOLA.com, "For a New Orleans mayoral runoff prediction, read the primary tea leaves," 17 Oct. 2017 And now, 40-odd years later, their achievements are under assault from a gaggle of lightweights and a president-elect whose only apparent political skill is the equivalent of a three-card monte game on the E train.
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Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, "What a Weekend It Was for Civil Rights," 17 Jan. 2017
See MoreThese example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'three-card monte.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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Time Traveler for three-card monte
The first known use of three-card monte was in 1854
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