Supporting Con Artists

I´m walking down Paseo Puente by Plaza de Arms today to check out the shopping and see this large crowd of people watching this guy in the middle. Curious, I walk toward the crowd.

In the middle is this older guy with 3 circles that he moves around super fast...talking really fast as he does this. The crowd is supposed to guess which one the colored one is after he stops moving them around.

There are no gringo´s around this circle and all the "locals" are throwing down 10,000 minimum for the bets. Wow I´m thinking...big money.

Somehow I got into the game by him telling me to guess which circle, then turn it over. I had some of the people in the crowd ask me to tell them which circle to bet on. All in some form of Spanish.

Of course I was guessing correctly all the time.

Then the guy moving around the circles gives me 30,000 peso´s and tells me to use his money to make a bet. Of course I guess the correct one.

Knowing far better than the stupid moments that followed, I was encouraged by pretty well the full circle to make the next bet. A few of them were all playing along as well.

Of course I lost my money, and am now a "monkey" according to one of the people in the circle that I understood.

I´m pretty sure all of them were in on this now that I have my brain back.

I wanted to cry right then and there. How stupid was I?

I´m not laughing yet, but will be someday as I fondly remember Santiago for my support of a family and friends of con artists.