Learn Some Easy Tricks Now, Earn Free Drinks Tonight
There is a fun TV show in the U.K. called The Real Hustle, which shows various scams and hustles. One useful area is proposition bets - Primarily done in bar scenarios, the goal is to score some free drinks. I believe I first heard of these over at PFAdvice several months ago.
Here’s a classic one; it’s easy to remember and doesn’t require wasting any alcohol.
This next one that just requires some loose change, a dollar bill, and an empty glass:
And here’s one more that is a bit more involved:
The show makes it seem easy to go around and earn free drinks from strangers, but if you’re shy like me you just end up trying to con your friends. 
October 19th, 2007 at 7:23 am
Did you see the hustler undouble (or at least unfold an additional section of) his napkin after they marked it? The math given at the end of the clip doesn’t jibe. A circumference of 27.5 cm backcalcs to a diameter of 8.75 cm, which is more than half the given height of 15 cm. Visual inspection of the glass in the video shows that the diameter of the glass is somewhat less than half (~7.5 cm) the height of the glass.
Maybe I’m being fooled by the TV dimensions?
October 19th, 2007 at 7:58 am
LOL. A person who learns how to make a simple balloon dog, can get free drinks every night. I am a balloon artist (click on my name to see), but I don’t drink… Instead, I can get free meals if I want too. You’d be surprise what you can do with a few entertainment or magical tricks. LOL
October 19th, 2007 at 9:20 am
Nice work! I may have to rip this off for my blog…
October 19th, 2007 at 12:25 pm
Steve - Diameter ends us being nearly 2/3 of the height for that type of glass, you can just use your fingers to check beforehand.
Circumference is pi * diameter, or slightly more than 3 x diameter.
Multiply, and it ends up that circumference is about twice the height
October 19th, 2007 at 12:26 pm
irina, saw your blog, those are some cool balloon sculptures.
October 19th, 2007 at 12:38 pm
One is never shy. Just socially challenged.
October 19th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
I have done this trick on friends. It is true and it works great.
October 19th, 2007 at 6:35 pm
Jonathan - Okay, YouTube must be horizontally compressing the image then, because the observed diameter is not even close to 2/3 the observed relative height of the glass. In fact, it’s not even 1/2 the height. That would also explain why the napkin looked shorter when it was wrapped horizontally around the glass and then vertically dropped.
October 19th, 2007 at 8:37 pm
It’s somewhat of an optical illusion. If you really measure, you’ll see that the diameter is really much wider than it looks. Try it!
October 19th, 2007 at 9:24 pm
I did! According to the dimensions given (circumference 27.5 cm, height 15 cm), the dia. is ~8.75cm. That means twice the diameter should exceed the height. When I measure the glass as seen on my screen, I get a dia. of ~ 0.5 inches and a height of ~1.5 inches whereby twice the diameter is decidedly less than the height. The height:diameter ratio does not jibe between what I measure and what the video reports.
I still think YouTube is compressing the horizontal dimension.
October 20th, 2007 at 11:50 am
I never liked geometry! That is cool. Too bad I’m not 21. As my dad says, “What a ridiculous law!” But he was probably a lil tipsy when he said it.
On another note, my anti-spam word was frugal. Woo!
October 20th, 2007 at 11:58 am
I have an easier solution for the last trick: Soak up the booze with a napkin or two and stuff the wet napkins into the glass.
October 20th, 2007 at 2:35 pm
These are always fun. If they’re friends I hate betting beers out of them, but they make great party tricks.
October 20th, 2007 at 2:41 pm
Man.. it looks like your subscribers are growing exponentially at this point. Congrats man.
October 22nd, 2007 at 3:23 pm
Alex, I had the same idea, but I think the point is to make people “ooh” and “aah” so they’ll happily buy you a drink.
October 23rd, 2007 at 4:58 am
They teach this stuff in school. I did the “trick” with the matches in 8th grade but we used a candle and a test tube. But I think the the idea of using a napkin will get you more of the liquid back into the glass but it’s just not as fun to watch.
October 29th, 2007 at 6:14 pm
Steve: Go to time -3:16 to see that the video is compressed horizontally; the tipped-over shot glass is way shorter and fatter than the right-side-up glass.
August 20th, 2008 at 4:02 am
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August 23rd, 2008 at 10:01 am
I think I’ll just stick with flirting!
August 23rd, 2008 at 12:33 pm
LOL @ SavingDiva. Not fair