Now that's history!
Wendell Casino's has come to England, and its owner, Marcus Wendall, recounts the history of the casino company, who catch grifters and cheaters in the act. Albert is looking to take down a photo of his grandfather, who was accused of cheating, and makes a bet with Marcus to play on the original wheel from his story. Now all the crew have to do is con the person with all the knowledge of the grifters trade...
Tropes:
- Bait-and-Switch: This entire episode is one big one for Marcus. The wheel the crew made and prepared to be rigged was done to fuel his narrative he'd tell his grandkids. The gang fully expected him to have spies to watch over them, and played along. The gang devised a con to go along with what Marcus envisioned of taking the gang down. It's not until the last ten minutes of the episode where Albert reveals the original Wendall wheel is also rigged, as Marcus' great grand-parents made it to make more money off of innocent people, and when Charlie, Alberts grandfather, caught onto their scheme, they set him up, and made him a member of the wall of shame at the casino.
- The Bet: Albert bets he can beat Marcus on a roulette wheel, while Marcus takes pride in banishing all of them from casino's, gentleman's clubs and clubs the world over if he Albert loses. The driving force is because Albert wants to take the photo down of his grandfather that marked him as a cheat.
- The Casino: The Wendell London casino is where the bet takes place.
- Criminal Mind Games: What Marcus expects, and while Mickey obliges, he does it to make him believe they'd con him, not use an already rigged wheel from the past.
- Hated by All: A variation in that Wendall's personality is so self-righteous that he comes off as an absolute bastard, and he is ruthless at sticking to his stance on cheaters, even if people are innocent. When Albert reveals all, he becomes more of a Tragic Villain, as he wasn't aware the original roulette wheel was rigged, and spent a good deal of time not believing it.
- Hoist by Their Own Petard: Marcus Wendell aims to ruin the team by exposing them to the world as cheats by beating them on the original Wendell Wheel. Except he's unaware the original owners (his ancestors) were crooks themselves, the wheel was rigged, and the Hustlers know how to exploit it because of Albert's grandmother's tale. By buying it and insisting the team play on it, Marcus essentially takes himself down, with the team just having to play along enough to make him think he's outsmarting them. If he'd been less arrogant and gone along with the fake wheel the team created, their victory would have been far less certain.Mickey: Don't look so sad, Marcus. You've got your story, and it's a good one. The mark who roped himself, played the inside himself and stung himself.
- Invincible Hero: The team faces casino owner Marcus Wendell, who is built up throughout the episode as a Knight of Cerebus, and a Worthy Opponent who knows who the team are as he has a dossier on all of them, therefore knows all their tricks and is determined to bring them down. The stakes have supposedly never been higher, as loss means Wendell will out them to their entire world; gentleman's clubs, casino's, they'll be barred from all of them - then at the end of the episode it's revealed the team had an inside edge all along, as The wheel was rigged right from conception, and were never even remotely in any danger.
- Kansas City Shuffle: The gang take on Marcus Wendell in a personal bet (whose ancestors had ruined Albie's ancestor), to play a game of roulette on his family's wheel (which unbeknownest to Wendell was rigged and could be manipulated using a sheriff's badge, which Albie's ancestor had pickpocketed from Wendell's). However, knowing that Wendell was expecting the gang to try and con him, they set up a plan where they sold him a rigged copy of the wheel and let him find out so that he would think he'd beaten them, only to switch gears at the last minute.
- You Have No Idea Who You're Dealing With: Both Marcus and Emma say variations of this to one another.
- Very Loosely Based on a True Story: Something Marcus has to learn is that his global casino empire is based on the lie that his great grandfathers were catching conmen, when in fact, they were no better, and were setting people up to make money from anyone, even innocent people, while looking like the hero's of the casino industry.
- Villainous BSoD: Marcus has one when Albert wins, and when he reveals all, Marcus refuses to accept the truth that the wheel was rigged, and that he blames even the staff before his forefathers. He finally submits when he see's the original plaque, and becomes more subdued and devastated as a result. And while he never apologises to Albert, he does make good on the deal.
- Worthy Opponent: Played with. Despite having inside knowledge than renders them basically untouchable, Ash comments the team treated Wendell with the assumption he was smart enough to work out their ploy and planned accordingly. Wendell didn't show them the same respect, and suffered as a result.
