Everyday Hustling

Thoughts on Hustling

"Sorry Joe, I've only got thirteen bucks. I'll have to get the other two to you some other time."

Those were the words of defeat from my first experience with hustling. What had happened was horrible; I should've noticed it before I made the bet.

"Now I tell you what Mac, my friend. I've played this game with 6 other kids today and not once have I won. I play for the sheer fun of the game!"

What was the game you might ask? It was a simple game of red/black. Joe wanted to bet me $100 against my $15 that he could guess at least half of the cards right.

"Here's the game Mac. I like to play because its a guessing game. You take this deck of cards and shuffle them up good and I'm going to bet you that I can guess at least half of them 52 cards. If I don't get at least 26 right, then I'll pay you $100."

Wow what a great deal! The most I can lose is $15, but if I can win $100 on a 50/50 deal like these I have the odds in my favor. For every $15 I lose, I win $100, making my average net earnings be $85! I'm going to take this bet and win some money.

The game began and he started his guessing. "Red!" The first card was black, a good start! "Red!" Again, black! "Red" This time it was red, 2-1 so far. "Red, Red, Red, Red..." I was beginning to wonder if he would ever guess black, but it was then that I caught on to the hustle.

Sure enough, by the end of the game, he had guess exactly 26 cards right, half the deck. I had 13 dollars and couldn't pay the other 2 right away. He said "It's okay, you can pay me tommorrow," and thats just what I did.

Funny thing was is that Joe slowly moved away from being a friend of mine. After that game, I just couldn't trust him like I could before. I knew him well, but I never knew just what he was capable of. He hustled me, and that scarred me forever.