Coin-matching game

{{Short description|Confidence trick in which two con artists set up one victim}}

{{about|the confidence trick|the two-person game|matching pennies}}

A coin-matching game (also a coin smackPorter, Thomas J. Jr. (November 28, 1969). Con Artists Show Diversified Skills. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette or smack gameAssociated Press (January 11, 1963). 3 sentenced; they picked wrong man. The Spokesman-Review) is a confidence trick in which two con artists set up one victim.

The first con artist strikes up a conversation with the victim, usually while waiting somewhere. The con artist suggests playing a game of matching pennies (or other coins) to pass the time, a simple game where players reveal coins as heads or tails and the winner is determined by whether the faces match or differ. The second con artist arrives and joins in, but soon leaves for a moment. The first con artist then suggests cheating. The victim, thinking they are going to scam the second con artist, agrees to match coins each time.

When the second con artist returns and begins losing, he accuses the two of cheating and threatens to call the police. The first con artist offers a sizable sum of hush money, and the victim contributes something too. After the victim leaves, the two con artists split up the money extorted from the victim.Staff report (November 9, 1913). Coin matchers of Times Square are doing rushing business; Detective Says He Knows No Less than 100 Professionals in That Line, Who Feel Safe Because Few Ever Get "Sent Up." The New York Times

In game theory the term refers to a zero-sum two-person game of imperfect information (not involving a third player or collusion);{{cite book|author1=Robert Clarke James|author2=Glenn James|title=Mathematics dictionary|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=UyIfgBIwLMQC&pg=PA180|year=1992|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-412-99041-0|page=180}}{{cite book|author=Soo Tang Tan|title=Finite mathematics for the managerial, life, and social sciences|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=ljPYuge6gk0C&pg=PA543|year=2005|publisher=Cengage Learning|isbn=978-0-534-49214-4|page=543}}{{cite book|author1=Herman Chernoff|author1-link=Herman Chernoff|author2-link=Lincoln E. Moses|author2=Lincoln E. Moses|title=Elementary decision theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=U9yQVLHLgT4C&pg=PA346|year=1959|publisher=Courier Dover Publications|isbn=978-0-486-65218-4|page=346}} other variations on the name are "matching coins" or "matching pennies".{{cite book|author=Peter Morris|title=Introduction to game theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cExIHG3TN0IC&pg=PA11|year=1994|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-387-94284-1|page=11}}{{cite book|author1=Julio González-Díaz|author2=Ignacio García-Jurado|author3=M. Gloria Fiestras-Janeiro|title=An Introductory Course on Mathematical Game Theory|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=pylGCDbRsPkC&pg=PA29|year=2010|publisher=AMS Bookstore|isbn=978-0-8218-5151-7|page=29}}