Truck Stop Con Men

Ran into a good one at the Loves on I65 just south of Louisville Ky. We were baby sitting a load that could not be delivered until the next day. I am sitting in the passenger seat, kind of bored and some guy walks up and says, man you should see what this driver did back hear, you wont believe it. So, I get out and go to see whats up. He leads me back toward the back of the lot. There are 4 or 5 guys standing around and one guy flashing a hand full of hundred dollar bills.The guy with the bills says he just won a bunch of money at a casino and wants to give everyone else a chance to win some. He has 3 playing cards. 2 9s and a queen. he keeps throwing them down and if you pick the queen, he gives you a hundred dollars. Well, some of you might not be old enough to have heard of the "shell game". In its classic way of being done, it was 3 walnut shells and a pea. So I know whats up, and the guys getting cash are his ringers. He asks me to pick, and he is obviously so sloppy throwing the cards, he shows the queen every time. So I pick it, and he starts to hand me a hundred dollars, and says, "wait, how do I know you are not a bum, show me your money. I dont give money to bums". I smiled, reached into my pocket and pulled out a dollar bill, and told him, that was all the cash I had. Told them to have fun and walked away, watching my back. I thought about messing with them, but decided against it, as he had at least 2 guys and maybe a 3rd as ringers. I am old now, and not up to what I was when I hung out in biker bars and got into fights every Saturday. Sad thing is, I am sure they found some marks and took some poor guys money. The whole trick is to keep waving that handful of hundred dollar bills in some poor saps face, and they dont think of anything else. aware out there.

Yeah, three card monty never goes out of style...but, you're right..some rube would have thought he could win and walked away without his shirt...

I'm a small figure, 5'7" and 12lbs. Easy to mess with but difficult to catch because I'm a runner. I had some tall Jamaican guy ask me to come to the back of a trailer in the back of the lot to see if something was wrong with it. He asked me inside the truck stop. I may be small but not stupid. I politely said ill be there in 5 minutes then he left and I went in the laundry room to help my wife do laundry. He never came back to find me. You've got to always think in those truck stops. Never walk at night between trailers.

Oops typo. I meant 120lbs not 12 haha!!!

The guy with the bills says he just won a bunch of money at a casino and wants to give everyone else a chance to win some

Wow, that gave me such a flashback because I've seen that same thing a few times and that's exactly the same line they always used. I remember vividly because it was such an odd statement. But they move fast and talk a lot to keep you from thinkin straight and try to lure you in. It's just such an odd and eerie feeling because you know exactly what they're up to so all you want to do it get the heck out of there as quickly as possible. That's why it sticks in my mind vividly.

The guy with the bills says he just won a bunch of money at a casino and wants to give everyone else a chance to win some

Wow, that gave me such a flashback because I've seen that same thing a few times and that's exactly the same line they always used. I remember vividly because it was such an odd statement. But they move fast and talk a lot to keep you from thinkin straight and try to lure you in. It's just such an odd and eerie feeling because you know exactly what they're up to so all you want to do it get the heck out of there as quickly as possible. That's why it sticks in my mind vividly.

Yeah, I have seen it before too. When I was younger I hung out in rough places. I really should have known better to go with the guy in the first place, saying "you should see what this driver did back here in the lot". It was daytime, so at the time I did not think that much of it.

The truck stop was a bit more off than others. Had already had someone come up to the truck begging. Had a guy who came up asking how to get his axles to legal weight. He must have been real new. Also had a guy came up and asked the best route to avoid the scales down the road, and when I told him I did not know, the guy got real angry. We always make sure we are legal and have no problems going through a scale. I have no idea the best route to miss them.

I have hit a couple of truck stops now that seem a bit seedier than most, this one is added to the list.

I have hit a couple of truck stops now that seem a bit seedier than most,

Yup. It's getting spooky in some places. I haul mainly to oilfield locations and some of the truck stops in these boom towns are flat spooky. Last night, I slept outside of a rig site because I didn't want to run around Casper after 9:00 and right now, I'm shut down in Bowman, ND. A nice, clean fuel stop. I have the hours to get to Williston, but that place gives me the heeby jeebies anymore. IF you can find a place to park, it might not be the most desirable location.

I ran into that gang 10-28-2016 at Petro west of Indianapolis. My brother saw them at Pilot east of Indy. You saw them south of Louisville so their general base is Indy probably. He said he'd match what I had so I pulled out a 100. When I saw it was 3 card monty I said no way. 6-7 guys surrounded me and said I already agreed to play. I refused to pick a card so they picked for me. I consider it robbery but learned a valuable lesson.

Ran into a good one at the Loves on I65 just south of Louisville Ky. We were baby sitting a load that could not be delivered until the next day. I am sitting in the passenger seat, kind of bored and some guy walks up and says, man you should see what this driver did back hear, you wont believe it. So, I get out and go to see whats up. He leads me back toward the back of the lot. There are 4 or 5 guys standing around and one guy flashing a hand full of hundred dollar bills.The guy with the bills says he just won a bunch of money at a casino and wants to give everyone else a chance to win some. He has 3 playing cards. 2 9s and a queen. he keeps throwing them down and if you pick the queen, he gives you a hundred dollars. Well, some of you might not be old enough to have heard of the "shell game". In its classic way of being done, it was 3 walnut shells and a pea. So I know whats up, and the guys getting cash are his ringers. He asks me to pick, and he is obviously so sloppy throwing the cards, he shows the queen every time. So I pick it, and he starts to hand me a hundred dollars, and says, "wait, how do I know you are not a bum, show me your money. I dont give money to bums". I smiled, reached into my pocket and pulled out a dollar bill, and told him, that was all the cash I had. Told them to have fun and walked away, watching my back. I thought about messing with them, but decided against it, as he had at least 2 guys and maybe a 3rd as ringers. I am old now, and not up to what I was when I hung out in biker bars and got into fights every Saturday. Sad thing is, I am sure they found some marks and took some poor guys money. The whole trick is to keep waving that handful of hundred dollar bills in some poor saps face, and they dont think of anything else. aware out there.

Why would you follow anyone you did not know? Yikes! Unimaginable to a woman!

I'm a small figure, 5'7" and 12lbs

Wow, Im sure glad that was a typo. I was concerned that your Wife quit feeding you. From what I have gathered on this site, She is quite the cook!