The Collaborative International Dictionary
Monte \Mon"te\ (m[o^]n"t[asl]), n. [Sp., lit., mountain, hence, the stock of cards remaining after laying out a certain number, fr. L. mons, montis, mountain.] A favorite gambling game among Spaniards, played with dice or cards.
three-card monte a gambling game using playing cards, in which a dealer shows a bettor three cards face up and specifies one to be identified, and after the cards are turned face down and moved around quickly, the bettor must identify which of the three cards is the specified card. It is sometimes engaged in by dealers on the streets of a city, with bets made by passers-by.
Wiktionary
n. A confidence game in which the victim, or mark, is tricked into betting a sum of money that they can find the money card, for example the queen of hearts, among three face-down playing cards.
WordNet
n. a gambling card game of Spanish origin; 3 or 4 cards are dealt face up and players bet that one of the will be matched before the others as the cards are dealt from the pack one at a time [syn: monte, four-card monte]
Wikipedia
Three-card Monte — also known as find the lady and three-card trick — is a confidence game in which the victim, or mark, is tricked into betting a sum of money, on the assumption that they can find the "money card" among three face-down playing cards. It is the same as the shell game except that cards are used instead of shells.
In its full form, three-card Monte is an example of a classic " short con" in which a shill pretends to conspire with the mark to cheat the dealer, while in fact conspiring with the dealer to cheat the mark. The chances of a mark winning are almost nil against a skilled con artist.
This confidence trick was already in use by the turn of the 15th century.
Usage examples of "three-card monte".
His friend Bobby had won some money from a three-card monte dealer that day and Carol had worn her blue bathing suit on the beach and sometimes she'd give Bobby that look, the one that said he was killing her and death was sweet.
The cheats, the three-card monte experts and that damned thimble game.
Under a torchlight across the street a man was operating a three-card monte layout.
She thought of the man in Portside, the one with the handsome, unreliable face and the game of three-card monte set up on top of his suitcase.
I came down on her like a New York cop on a game of three-card monte.
My client was toying with me, playing tricks with my mind like a three-card monte dealer fleecing the suckers.
Not just three-card monte and its infinite variations, though I have been known to run a game.
Picking up one bottle, he slid another sideways, and shuffled their order like a three-card monte dealer.