MovieChat Forums > The Mob (1951) Discussion > drop a penny in the cup and win a free b...

drop a penny in the cup and win a free beer

posted 10 years ago by armoredinf
7 replies | jump to latest

in one scene in a bar or some place like that. on the counter is a glass jar filled with water and on the bottom of the jar is a small shot glass. the jar has a cover with a small slit in the center. and a sign that says drop a penny in the cup and win a free beer. several guys try and fails, the penny flips and slides but doesnt go in the cup. one guy even removes the cover and still fails. does anyone know what the game is called and why the penny doesnt land in the cup. is there some trick to get the penny in the cup or is the game rigged.

[–] ady996 10 years ago

I think it's just simple hydrodynamics. A flat object like a coin will always sway back in forth on its way to the bottom and it would definitely take a few tries to get it in the cup. If I ever have a bar, I will have on of these sitting on the counter for sure!

"The Mob" was a pretty good movie too, I enjoyed it.

[–] zoerpit 10 years ago

I guess the movie's suggestion is that the game, like some other things portrayed in the movie, is rigged--maybe with a hint that the guy who set it up is also involved with rigging the other things.
Or, since even the customer who pulls the cover off still can't make it work, maybe there's an allegorical moral that you can't do any better by cheating than by not cheating.

[–] vpilutis 10 years ago

Never saw this or anything like it in a NYC bar, one place on Flushing & Knickerbocker had a curse jar.

See some stars here
http://www.vbphoto.biz/

[–] zoerpit 10 years ago

Pardon my ignorance, but what's a curse jar? (I guess I haven't spent enough time in bars to come across one.)

I do seem to recall seeing something like the game shown in the movie, but I can't think where (and it wasn't necessarily in a bar).

[–] vpilutis 10 years ago

Errr don't wish to start a flame war, but r u kidding?
Very simple anyone who uses so called CURSE words like damn, hell SOB etc puts 25 cents into the jar each time and when its full they have a party for the regulars

See some stars here
http://www.vbphoto.biz/

[–] rp69 10 years ago

Taco Bell restaurants had a game very similar to this on their counters for years. Some of the older stores still have them bolted to the counter, but with no water in them anymore.
They are not rigged, just very hard.

[–] sludgehound 9 years ago

Maybe they add some thickish clear liquid like cod liver oil or such. Wouldn't take much to change viscosity enough to throw off trajectory of descent.