People v. Hunt

616 N.Y.S.2d 168, 162 Misc. 2d 70 (1994)

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People v. Hunt

New York City Criminal Court
616 N.Y.S.2d 168, 162 Misc. 2d 70 (1994)

  • Written by Brett Stavin, JD

Facts

Eric Hunt (defendant) was alleged by the people of the state of New York (the people) (plaintiff) to have illegally possessed a gambling device and promoted gambling in the second degree. Specifically, Hunt was charged with running a game of three-card monte. As described by the people, the game of three-card monte involved a dealer showing three cards to a player, including one deemed a court card. The three cards were then turned face down on a flat surface and shuffled around. The player then had to attempt to identify the court card. If the player successfully identified the court card, he or she won; if not, the dealer won. The dealer’s objective was therefore to shuffle the cards faster than the player could visually track them, and vice versa. Hunt moved to dismiss on the basis that the accusations were facially insufficient. Hunt argued that three-card monte was a game of skill, not chance, and therefore could not constitute gambling. In particular, Hunt argued that the game pitted the player’s visual-tracking abilities versus the dealer’s shuffling abilities. In response, the people argued that three-card monte was a game of chance because the commonsense understanding of the game was that the player had a one in three chance of winning.

Rule of Law

Issue

Holding and Reasoning (Parker, J.)

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