I was just wondering, with all the different versions of Montes out there, from gaffed, to the original ungaffed, to stand up, etc., which version do you all personally prefer??

I find myself most frequently performing gaffed versions, either Ultimate 3CM or Harold Cataquet's ULTIMONTE, which I am quite fond of.

Which version do you prefer or use most often??

If this topic has already been addressed, please redirect me!

I have a routine I call Ambitious monty, its a cross between color monty and ambitious card
no gaffs, I had a demo of it on magicvideodepot.com I'm not sure if it is still there . take a peek if interested pm me and I'll send you a demo via e mail with the handling,,
vinny

Ever since I was a kid, I wanted to know how 3 card Monte was done. Just the regular old street scam monte, non-gaffed. At the age of 10, I recall trading a GI Joe and Star Wars action figure to my friend for Hugard's "more card manipulations" (i think) and it had a little section on 3 card monte. I couldn't really understand what he was getting at. I lost the book for about 2 decades, and found it eventually in a closet. I started trying to learn 3 card Monte from it. Then I started card magic, got Whit Hadyn's notes on the subject and now I can do a fairly passable version of 3 card Monte with corner bends etc.

In fact, today I downloaded Lee Asher's notes on 3 card monte (catch 33).

So my vote is for the original. 3 Card Monkey Business is great too.

I've done a little bit of playing with a more "standard" street-hustler type monte, and also a little with the Michael Skinner Ultimate Monte, but have still found myself sticking with Color Monte. It never fails to get great reactions, and I can hand the cards out for examination (sometimes color changing ink is suspected) unlike Skinner's. I would like to do more work with a regular monte and see how I fare.

Kevin

I like doing the 3 card without gaffs. The gaff versions are cool too. They look cleaner but as we all know you cant pass them out. Learn the real way. there is a lot of better moves and add ons that make it 100 times better then any gaffs.

Hey Cris,
Just saw that you live in KC. So do I. Well back to the question. I prefer skinner's 3 card monte cause there are so many handlings possible w/ the gaffs.

'Steppin out with Molly' is an incredible routine I always perform when I lecture. I learnt it from the Jack Carpenter Video series.
be well,
JW

Gaffed - my favorite is Skinner's Monte
Ungaffed - Color monte or a real monte (in other words the same game that people play illegally on streets)

My favorite Monte routine goes like this:

I have 3 coloring books. One is colored, and the other two are black & white. I'll mix these coloring books around. Now, which one is colored?

Put me down for "Stepping out with Molly as Well" Great routine from Jack Carpenter


Kelly

The real work on 3 Card Monte is found in Whit Haydn's brilliant manuscript as mentioned by scafidi7. It is well worth the price.