It remained a popular gambling house game throughout the 19th Century. It was also known as Mountebank or Monte Bank. It should not be confused with "Three Card Monte", which is nothing but a shell game, and not a true card game at all.

Players: 1 Banker, any number of Punters.

Equipment: 1 Spanish deck (remove 8s, 9s and 10s)

Play

The Banker deals two cards from the bottom of the deck and lays them face up on the table. This is the "Bottom Layout".

The Banker deals two cards from the top of the deck and lays them face up on the table. This is the "Top Layout".

The Punters then place their wagers on either Layout.

Then deck is then turned over so that the bottom card is face up. This card is called the "Gate" or "Port" card. If the Gate is the same suit as either of the cards in the Top Layout, the Banker pays out all bets on that layout. If the Gate is of the same suit as any card in the Bottom Layout, he pays off those bets as well. If the Gate is not of the same suit as one or both Layouts, then the money laid on the unmatched Layouts is collected by the Banker.

The deck is shuffled and another round begins.

Comments: As in Faro, Twenty-One and all other good banking games, the odds in this clearly favor the Bank, though at first glance, the Punter would probably think his chances about even. In the majority of hands, the Bank is paying off to one Layout and collecting from the other, and more-or-less breaking even. However, every few hands, the Bank wins big, and collects from both layouts. It is far more rare for him to pay out to both layouts.

Therefore, the game largely consists of the Punters passing money back and forth among themselves while the Bank remains relatively untouched; and then, every few hands, the Bank takes a bite out of the total pool of money being circulated by the Punters. Eventually, the Bank ends up with all of the money, and the Punters, providing they lacked the sense to get out when they were ahead, end up with nothing.