History Main / KansasCityShuffle

* [[https://1d4chan.org/wiki/Oinkbane Oinkbane the Were-hog assassin]], whose tactics (which are [[{{Battlecry}} too subtle for you]]) are nearly parodic versions of these. You'll know he's after you, you'll see an idiotically obvious ploy right in front of you, and right as you make a move to put an end to his shenanigans he'll get you from a different and utterly unexpected angle, and end you [[DropTheHammer with a giant mallet]]. As an example, he'll [[HighlyVisibleNinja hide inside a crate labeled "NOT AN ASSASSIN" whose contents are breathing]], and when you move to open the crate it'll turn out to pack a sheep; Oinkbane will then roll out from under your bed and crush your head into paste.

* Bob was having sex with his mistress. He noticed that he had stayed longer than he expected and got stressed. Took a piece of chalk, smeared his fingers and rushed out the door. At home, Alice was waiting for him. "Where have you been?" she asks. "I've worked overtime, you know" replied Bob. "Show me your hands," she exclaimed. She took one look at his hands and screamed, "you bastard, you spent the whole evening [[ConfessToALesserCrime playing pool again]]!"

** Someone badly disguised as a farmer tries this with a cart full of fresh grain in ''Literature/{{Edgedancer}}''. After checking for refugees and valuables, the customs official fines him for stealing and smuggling grain from fields abandoned by fleeing refugees.

Related (but distinct) cons include ViolinScam (where the grifter tricks the mark into trying to con ''them''). A mark who is TooCleverByHalf is likely to take the bait and be conned, while another who is TooDumbToFool may unwittingly evade the trap by not noticing the "bait" con.

Compare InfractionDistraction, where a similar ploy is used with offenses; MassiveMultiplayerScam, when engineered situations and several people are used in an elaborated con; and TwoRightsMakeAWrong. FeedTheMole may be a tactic done as part of this strategy. May involve ReversePsychology. Typically a BatmanGambit, insofar the plotter relies on the pawn's predicted reaction to a piece of misinformation, but may be part of a XanatosGambit instead if ''all'' reasonable outcomes are beneficial to the con-man, regardless of whether or not the attempt at a Kansas City Shuffle itself succeeds. May be employed by means of a RevealingCoverup. A key element of (most) {{Shell Game}}s. If the mark suspects that a Kansas City Shuffle is in progress, IKnowYouKnowIKnow may ensue as they attempt to figure out which outcomes the con artist has or hasn't accounted for.

* ''[[LetsPlay/LifeSMP 3rd Life SMP]]'': After Grian sets up a water elevator in Bdubs's castle on Day 5, Bdubs catches Grian with pufferfish and Grian admits that he'd tried to rig the elevator with it. Bdubs is happy that he caught Grian before the trap could be complete... and proceeds to burn to death when he goes up the elevator, realizing too late that Grian ''had'' rigged his trap — and that said trap was ''[[AMoltenDateWithDeath lava]]''.

!!Examples:

* The final antic in [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hg4OpLMqJRM Viva La Fegel]] has [[TheStraightMan Gunsche]] informing [[ButtMonkey Hitler]] that Fegelein is outside with something for Hitler. Hitler immediately assumes that he'll fall victim to the antic if he does so, and for all he knows, "[[TemptingFate a fucking piano" will fall on [him] out of nowhere]]. [[GilliganCut Guess what happens]].

The Kansas City Shuffle is an old established name for a con game that depends on the mark believing (correctly) that the con artist is trying to con them, but being ''in''correct about how it's going to be done. There's a reason it's called a "confidence trick", after all. RightForTheWrongReasons manipulated to benefit the con artist.

* ''VideoGame/XenobladeChronicles2'': Moebius is doing an excellent job defending the charging Annihilator Cannon, with the timer coming right down to the wire. It looks like Eunie, who's dealing with her own personal history with them, might get a shot past Moebius... only for him to prevent the hit connecting properly. Eunie's confidence shatters, and can only manage some ineffectual shots in her panic, all of them glancing off Moebius as he power walks toward her, gloating over how useless she is, until he's right in her face and Eunie [[spoiler:laughs in his face over he easily he was taken in. Taion then reveals they've been in his [[FusionDance Interlink]] form the entire time, using illusions to convince everyone, allies included, that Eunie was in control to sell the illusion. Those harmlessly deflected shots? [[ZigzagPaperTassels Mondo]] that Taion guided right into strategic points when Moebius had his back turned to pick on Eunie's (completely affected) fear. Taidon detonates the charms, causing the fully-charged capacitors to explode and bringing down the support column indirectly, right on top of Moebius'd head. The rest of Ouroboros are impressed both by Taion's thinking and [[HotBlooded Eunie's]] acting.]]

* In ''VideoGame/BatenKaitos'', the Six Man Band suspect that there is [[TheMole a mole amongst them]] for quite some time. The player will probably assume it to be either Lyude (who is susceptible to brainwashing), Savyna (who is the MysteriousStranger to a T) or Mizuti (for dressing uncannily similarly to the BigBad, except with a CoolMask on). As it turns out, TheMole was ''Kalas'', whom the player (and the party!) would never suspect due to him being TheHero. [[WhamEpisode When the other heroes find this out]], [[DarkestHour they're completely out of]] [[IncrediblyLamePun cards to play]].

Compare InfractionDistraction, where a similar ploy is used with offenses, and TwoRightsMakeAWrong. FeedTheMole may be a tactic done as part of this strategy. May involve ReversePsychology. Typically a BatmanGambit, insofar the plotter relies on the pawn's predicted reaction to a piece of misinformation, but may be part of a XanatosGambit instead if ''all'' reasonable outcomes are beneficial to the con-man, regardless of whether or not the attempt at a Kansas City Shuffle itself succeeds. May be employed by means of a RevealingCoverup. A key element of (most) {{Shell Game}}s. If the mark suspects that a Kansas City Shuffle is in progress, IKnowYouKnowIKnow may ensue as they attempt to figure out which outcomes the con artist has or hasn't accounted for.

** One particularly tricky tactic, which may or may not be allowed by HouseRules, is to play more cards than are actually declared. For example, Bob bids "three twos" but actually plays four cards. If Alice calls his bluff and checks the top three cards (which are the aforementioned twos), she would be obliged to take the stack. Only if Bob is sloppy with his sleight-of-hand, or Alice is savvy enough to check the next card on the stack and find out that it's not what the previous player played, would he lose the bluff. HouseRules may either make that play illegal, and/or force a player to play the cards in front of them ''before'' adding them to the stack (giving a fair chance for the other players to call the bluff, and also making it easier to tell when a player has attempted this move).

* ''[[Webcomic/Qxlkbh]]'' names the trope outright in [[https://qxlkbh.github.io/124 124: kansas city shuffle]], which features a very meta shuffle. Andrew drives a bike to La Croix' house with a bag of sand over his shoulder; La Croix immediately suspects that a Kansas City Shuffle is going on, so they don't let Andrew inside. However, when La Croix walks back to their house, they see that it's full of sandbags which look like the one Andrew was carrying. This prank moved La Croix out of their home in Kansas City.

* ''Webcomic/Qxlkbh'' names the trope outright in [[https://qxlkbh.github.io/124 124: kansas city shuffle]], which features a very meta shuffle. Andrew drives a bike to La Croix' house with a bag of sand over his shoulder; La Croix immediately suspects that a Kansas City Shuffle is going on, so they don't let Andrew inside. However, when La Croix walks back to their house, they see that it's full of sandbags which look like the one Andrew was carrying. This prank moved La Croix out of their home in Kansas City.

** A love of Kansas City Shuffles [[InTheBlood runs in the family]], as ''Film/OceansEight'' has a similar trick. Tess Ocean organizes a team to steal the priceless Toussaint Diamond, set into a necklace, at the Met Gala. The cops and a private investigator familiar with her ways immediately suspect the truth and try to pin the theft on her...but as they're struggling to do so, [[spoiler: they fail to notice that Tess's ''real'' target was every single jewel from the Met's new Elizabethan fashion exhibit. Notably, most of Tess's squad also fell for this con--everyone but Lou (who pulled off the heist with help from Yen) and Amita (who made fake gems to replace the real ones) thought the Toussaint was the target, and are shocked when Tess reveals the scope of their scheme.]]

[[folder:Manhua]]
* ''Manhua/OldMasterQ'' have a short where the titular character walks into a casino, fully clothed, and then walks out with a BankruptcyBarrel, much to the amusement of passer-bys. But then he enters his apartment, all alone, where it's time for him to empty out his casino winnings - stacks and stacks of cash too much to carry in his pockets - out of the barrel.
[[/folder]]

** The place with a lot of doors mentioned in the previous entry--Kraagor's Tomb--is itself an example. Serini's Gate is supposedly behind one of the doors, but every door present contains a large number of high-level monsters, making this particular shell game not only difficult to solve, but deadly. [[spoiler:As it turns out, all the doors contain a dimensional portal leading to the monster dungeons--which is quickly spotted and (temporarily) disabled by Haley. What's really behind the doors is a large cavern with many exits, which contains a hidden path leading to Serini's hidden home. And that's not even the end of it; the Gate isn't even in the area with the large cavern--it's somewhere else entirely. After all, if a half-decent rogue can spot the switchovers and bypass them, it's not a particularly good hiding spot--as Roy and Haley had already both realized themselves.]]

* In ''VideoGame/{{Loom}}'', Bishop Mandible traps Bobbin in a cage, but doesn't take the magical distaff Bobbin carries. Big mistake, right? Not quite -- Mandible is actually after the [[MagicMusic Draft of Opening]]. He watches Bobbin cast the spell to unlock the cage and ''then'' takes the distaff.