The shell game

I was sauntering through the streets one day looking for the Moulin Rouge, when I stumbled upon a suspious crowd. Being one for adventure, I headed over to see what was happening. To my delight it was some sort of primitive street gambling.

Being cautious I watched the game a few times, and after deciding that my brain chemicals were clearly superior to my obviously inferior opponent, I threw down 20 euros in elated anticipation of doubling my money.

Before we get to the part where I lost my money, I want to share with you the poetic accuracy of the scam that I faced. After watching about 10 games of this, and witnessing other people easily win or lose money......... my moment arrived. One of the co conspirators (that status was hidden from me at the time on account of skills normally held by the world's greatest Thespians) turned over the correct cup while the dealer looked away, revealing the pea. As she looked into her purse to get the money, the dealer then swapped the cup without her (apparent) knowledge and she lost her money. Now here I am, getting all my practice games correct, I had just seen the pea under the cup, and I had seen said cup moved only once. I figured this was going to be my best chance......... there were only 2 cups left, and I KNEW which one it was under.

The next second I experienced a large spectrum of emotions. First was shock. Shock because it wasn't there. Befuddlement followed, how couldn't it be there. Then came realisation. I realised I had been had, and I kinda respected them for pulling off such an obvious scam in such a convincing way. That was all in the first second.

'Get out of there before you loose more money" was the main thought that carried my feet a few steps before the next emotion kicked in - anger. I got pissed cause not only did I realise that it was a scam, but I realised they had used my own arrogance against me.

Needless to say that when I turned around the whole group had vanished; even the senile old gent that kept loosing his money, which was rather odd. I mean, he can't run can he.

Country - Most big cities
Cost - 20-1000 dollars, depending on the penchant for gambling
Links - wiki

London - Monopoly Pub Crawl

This Herculean event matches the length and enjoyment of the board game from whence this pub crawl derives its name, Monopoly. But if your head and your heart agree to do it - maybe your stomach will comply the following day................... maybe.

So if performing this laudable inebriated pilgrimage is on your bucket list, there are some things to be aware of:

1) There is ALOT of drinking. The legend goes that in order to successfully complete the MPC, one must drink a pint at every pub, 26 in total.................. but if you do halves I won't tell if you don't

2) It is done in one day, so drinking 26 beers in 26 pubs in one day can be quite a time squeeze. This brings me to number...

3) It is up to you whether or not to do the pubs in order. Pubs open at 11am in London, and unless you have a tour guide, it can be quite a challenge to do it in correct order (assuming you know the correct order by the time you hit Oxford st). So more times than not, it is done in a way that minimises travel time.

Country - England
Price - 100-150 pounds
Links - beerintheevening