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Soapy Smith
Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (November 2, 1860 – July 8, 1898) was an American con artist and gangster in the American frontier and the Klondike. Smith operated confidence schemes across the Western United States, and had a large hand in organized criminal operations in both Colorado and the District of Alaska. Smith gained notoriety through his "prize soap racket," in which he would sell bars of soap with prize money hidden in some of the bars' packaging in order to increase sales. However, through sleight of hand, he ensured that only members of his gang purchased "prize" soap. The racket led to his sobriquet of "Soapy." The success of his soap racket and other scams helped him finance three successive criminal empires in Denver and Creede, both in Colorado, and in Skagway, Alaska. He was killed in the shootout on Juneau Wharf in Skagway, on July 8, 1898. Early years Jefferson Smith was born on November 2, 1860, in Coweta County, Georgia, to a wealthy family. Hi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Coweta County, Georgia
Coweta County is a County (United States), county in the West Central Georgia, West Central region of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. It is part of Metro Atlanta. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 146,158. The county seat is Newnan, Georgia, Newnan. Coweta County is included in the Atlanta metropolitan area, Atlanta-Sandy Springs-Roswell metropolitan statistical area. History The land for Lee County, Georgia, Lee, Muscogee County, Georgia, Muscogee, Troup County, Georgia, Troup, Coweta and Carroll County, Georgia, Carroll counties was cession, ceded by the Creek people in the 1825 Treaty of Indian Springs (1825), Treaty of Indian Springs. The counties' boundaries were created by the Georgia General Assembly on June 9, 1826, but they were not named until December 14, 1826. Coweta County was named for the Koweta Indians (a sub-group of the Creek (people), Creek people), who had several towns in and around the present-day coun ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fort Worth, Texas
Fort Worth is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the county seat of Tarrant County, Texas, Tarrant County, covering nearly into Denton County, Texas, Denton, Johnson County, Texas, Johnson, Parker County, Texas, Parker, and Wise County, Texas, Wise counties. Fort Worth's population was estimated to be 1,008,156 in 2024, making it the List of United States cities by population, 11th-most populous city in the United States. Fort Worth is the city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, after Dallas, Texas, Dallas, and the metropolitan area is the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-most populous metropolitan area in the United States and the List of Texas metropolitan areas, most populous in Texas. The city of Fort Worth was established in 1849 as an army outpost on a bluff overlooking the Trinity River (Texas), Trinity River. Fort Worth has historically been a center of the Texas Longhorn cattle trade. It still embraces its Western heritage and traditional architec ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Boomtown
A boomtown is a community that undergoes sudden and rapid population and economic growth, or that is started from scratch. The growth is normally attributed to the nearby discovery of a precious resource such as gold, silver, or oil, although the term can also be applied to communities growing very rapidly for different reasons, such as a proximity to a major metropolitan area, large infrastructure projects, or an attractive climate. First boomtowns Early boomtowns, such as Leeds, Liverpool, and Manchester, experienced a dramatic surge in population and economic activity during the Industrial Revolution at the turn of the 19th century. In pre-industrial England these towns had been relative backwaters, compared to the more important market towns of Bristol, Norwich, and York, but they soon became major urban and industrial centres. Although these boomtowns did not directly owe their sudden growth to the discovery of a local natural resource, the factories were set up there to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Electoral Fraud
Electoral fraud, sometimes referred to as election manipulation, voter fraud, or vote rigging, involves illegal interference with the process of an election, either by increasing the vote share of a favored candidate, depressing the vote share of rival candidates, or both. It differs from but often goes hand-in-hand with voter suppression. What exactly constitutes electoral fraud varies from country to country, though the goal is often election subversion. Electoral legislation outlaws many kinds of election fraud, * also at but other practices violate general laws, such as those banning assault, harassment or libel. Although technically the term "electoral fraud" covers only those acts which are illegal, the term is sometimes used to describe acts which are legal, but considered morally unacceptable, outside the spirit of an election or in violation of the principles of democracy. Show elections, featuring only one candidate, are sometimes classified as electoral fraud, a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Lottery
A lottery (or lotto) is a form of gambling that involves the drawing of numbers at random for a prize. Some governments outlaw lotteries, while others endorse it to the extent of organizing a national or state lottery. It is common to find some degree of regulation of lottery by governments. The most common regulations are prohibition of sale to minors and licensing of ticket vendors. Although lotteries were common in the United States and some other countries during the 19th century, by the beginning of the 20th century, most forms of gambling, including lotteries and sweepstakes, were illegal in the U.S. and most of Europe as well as many other countries. This remained so until well after World War II. In the 1960s, casinos and lotteries began to re-appear throughout the world as a means for governments to raise revenue without raising taxes. Lotteries come in many formats. For example, the prize can be a fixed amount of cash or goods. In this format, there is risk to the org ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Cheating In Poker
Cheating in poker is any behavior outside the rules of poker that is intended to give an unfair advantage to one or more players. Minimal-skill methods The easiest and most common types of cheating require no skill of manipulation, but rather merely the nerve. Such methods include shorting the pot, avoiding house fees, and peeking at other players' cards. It is very difficult to prove because when confronted, at least the first time, the cheat often calls the cheating an honest mistake. One minimal-skill method that occurs in non-casino and casino games happens when a player who has folded appoints themselves the tender of the pot, stacking chips, counting them, and delivering them to the winning player. ''Check-chopping'' is when such a "helpful" player palms a chip. Odorless adhesive can be used for this purpose. Another minimal-skill method is going south (also known as "ratholing"), where a player covertly removes a portion of their chips from play while remaining in the ga ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Caveat Emptor
''Caveat emptor'' (; from ''caveat'', "may he/she beware", a subjunctive form of ''cavēre'', "to beware" + ''ēmptor'', "buyer") is Latin for "Let the buyer beware". It has become a proverb in English. Generally, ''caveat emptor'' is the contract law principle that controls the sale of real property after the date of closing, but may also apply to sales of other goods. The phrase ''caveat emptor'' and its use as a disclaimer of warranties arises from the fact that buyers typically have less information than the seller about the good or service they are purchasing. This quality of the situation is known as ' information asymmetry'. Defects in the good or service may be hidden from the buyer, and only known to the seller. It is a short form of ''Caveat emptor, quia ignorare non debuit quod jus alienum emit'' ("Let a purchaser beware, for he ought not to be ignorant of the nature of the property which he is buying from another party.") I.e. the buyer should assure himself that the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sleight-of-hand
Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' () comprises fine motor skills used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card flourishing and stealing. Because of its heavy use and practice by magicians, sleight of hand is often confused as a branch of magic; however, it is a separate genre of entertainment and many artists practice sleight of hand as an independent skill. Sleight of hand pioneers with worldwide acclaim include Dan and Dave, Ricky Jay, Derek DelGaudio, David Copperfield, Yann Frisch, Norbert Ferré, Dai Vernon, Jerry Sadowitz, Cardini, Tony Slydini, Helder Guimarães and Tom Mullica. Etymology and history The word ''sleight'', meaning "the use of dexterity or cunning, especially so as to deceive", comes from the Old Norse. The phrase ''sleight of hand'' means "quick fingers" or "trickster fingers". Common synonyms of Latin and French in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Shell Game
The shell game (also known as thimblerig, three shells and a pea, the old army game) is a public gambling game that challenges players to follow the movement of a marker hidden under one of several covers (shells). In practice, the game is almost always run as a confidence trick that uses sleight of hand to transfer the marker between covers. In confidence trick slang, this swindle is referred to as a ''short-con'' because it is quick and easy to pull off. The shell game is related to the cups and balls conjuring trick, which is performed purely for entertainment purposes without any purported gambling element. Play In the shell game, three or more identical containers (which may be cups, shells, bottle caps, or anything else) are placed face-down on a surface. A small ball is placed beneath one of these containers so that it cannot be seen, and they are then shuffled by the operator in plain view. One or more players are invited to bet on which container holds the ball – ty ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Short Cons
A scam, or a confidence trick, is an attempt to defraud a person or group after first gaining their trust. Confidence tricks exploit victims using a combination of the victim's credulity, naivety, compassion, vanity, confidence, irresponsibility, and greed. Researchers have defined confidence tricks as "a distinctive species of fraudulent conduct ... intending to further voluntary exchanges that are not mutually beneficial", as they "benefit con operators ('con men') at the expense of their victims (the 'marks')". Terminology Other terms for "scam" include confidence trick, con, con game, confidence game, confidence scheme, ripoff, stratagem, finesse, grift, hustle, bunko, bunco, swindle, flimflam, gaffle, and bamboozle. The perpetrator is often referred to as a scammer, confidence man, con man, con artist, grifter, hustler, or swindler. The intended victims are known as marks, suckers, stooges, mugs, rubes, or gulls (from the word ''gullible''). When accomplices are employed ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ed "Big Ed" Burns
Edward "Big Ed" Burns was an American 19th century confidence man and crime boss. He was born around 1842 in Buffalo, New York. In 1861, he began a bunco career in Chicago, Illinois. He joined his older brothers. Burns worked as a stonemason for some years. He also became a sailor on Lake Michigan, as second mate on a private yacht. His brother John Burns was first mate. About 1866, he strangled a man to death and was sentenced to nine years in Joliet, an Illinois prison. He returned to Chicago after being released in 1875 where he was seriously wounded by a bullet in the back by a man purported to be a friend. In April 1877, he was reported as the leader of a bunco gang on Chicago's South Side, where he used his gang to influence votes for political candidates. In a fight, Burns was shot in the thigh. He was arrested as ring-leader of buncoing. He was arrested again for vagrancy. He fled Chicago and a $300 bond. Returning in six months, he was arrested on the previous vagrancy ch ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
