Scam from my mum
Big thanks to Jill Johnson (or ‘mum’ as I call her) for letting me know about the Duke of Cumberland hand in bridge/whist.
I remember seeing it in the James Bond film Moonraker not realising it was a real scam.
The Duke of Cumberland, son of George III was cheated using the same technique over two hundred years ago.
The card cheat dealt out the following hands to the four players.
| Partner of the Duke
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| West Opponent Defender & Shill
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East Opponent Dealer & Cheat
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| The Duke of Cumberland
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Without going into the details of the rules of whist vs bridge, in this hand, the Duke and his partner have more points than their competitors owing to the high number of royal cards in his hand.
This lead to him wagering 20,000 pounds on a single hand. That is close to a million dollars in today’s money.
However, it is possible for the East/West players to win all 13 tricks and take the money.
Which is exactly what happened.
“”The idea of the game is to give away all your money as fast as you can.” - Prince George (Blackadder)