Razzle (game)

Razzle (or Razzle-Dazzle) is a scam sometimes presented as a gambling game on carnival midways and historically, in the casinos of Havana, Cuba.

[2] This generic name of Razzle is seldom known to players, as it is generally presented under a name such as Football, Baseball, Ten Points Win, Mo-Co, Indian Poker or Cajun Bingo, selected to generate interest for the locals.

Significant prizes can be on offer, valued in the hundreds of dollars,[4] but they can be won only when a player has reached a particular point or yard total.

[5] After complaints from the American embassy about tourists losing money in the clubs of Havana, President Fulgencio Batista ordered the game to be shut down.

In practice, boards are not equivalent to fair dice, and instead contain a lot more 3s and 4s than other numbers, meaning that the odds of a scoring roll are even worse than the gambler might assume.

[citation needed] The physical nature of the board itself also works against the player, with nearby marbles likely to fall into pairs that total seven.

[9] At Havana's Sans Souci Cabaret nightclub in the early 1950s, one American tourist reportedly lost $30,000 in a single night (equivalent to $344,000 in 2023).