The Knockout The Real Hustle

This is the Real Hustle - Celebrity Scammers.

In this series, the hustlers carry out scams that are bigger, tougher and more devious than ever before.

With the help of their celebrity friends, hustlers Alex, Jess and Paul

pull off the riskiest scams of all.

Long cons -

intricate webs of lies and deception designed to separate the unwary from their money.

On tonight's show, Strictly star Brendan Cole

is off the dancefloor and on the ropes...

Now, over the top!

..Paul proves he's got some bottle...

-That's amazing.

-It is cool, isn't it?

..and Alex takes this car dealer for the ride of his life.

Came back outside, the car had gone.

The hustlers have invited celebrity friends

to help them carry out their long cons.

They'll be thrown in at the deep end. No training and no practice.

Just straight in to the scam.

This week's celebrity guest hustler is New Zealand ballroom dancing

sensation and star of Strictly Come Dancing, Brendan Cole.

I'm quite excited because I love to watch the show.

I love the different things, it plays with everybody's mind.

I'm not the best liar in the world. I can't lie.

I have tells. I don't know what they are, but I do.

But I have no idea what you boys and girls are up to,

so I'm going to just take it in my stride and see what happens.

Brendan has been told to turn up at a private-hire club in East London.

He's got no idea what will be expected of him today.

But that's about to change, as he gets his hustle briefing from Paul.

All right. This is the deal.

-We're going to play a really old scam, a real classic, but a very dangerous one.

-All right.

-All right?

You've got a really big role, but like all good con games, it starts with a card game.

-OK.

-All you have to do

-is palm a card.

-Right.

-Then you have to show it to everybody

and convince them that you found it.

-And we're going to think someone's been cheating.

-OK.

-Sound interesting?

-Yeah. Cool.

After that, it's all going to turn into a boxing match.

-Oh, really? All right.

-You'll see. Ready?

-Done. Let's do it.

Let's check it out. Come on.

-You lead.

-Again?

This is The Knockout.

Some potential marks are due any time now,

so Brendan only has minutes to meet fellow hustler Alex and get himself

into character for the first part of this scam - the poker game.

Just in case they may know you, we're going to call you Woody.

Woody, all right.

- Yeah, you're now Woody. - Also, you work for me.

-OK.

-I organise boxing fights and you're one of my trusted

trainers in the corner. A bucket man in the corner.

OK? You don't like me.

The marks arrive. They've been targeted by the hustlers

and invited along for a game of cards.

Hello, gents.

The whole set-up is actually to rope them in to a bigger scam happening tonight.

ALL EXCHANGE GREETINGS

All right, come along, Rob, let's play some cards.

They soon get to know each other across the poker table.

Alex is Ian Steele - a loudmouthed sports promoter

who has more money than sense.

Paul is Rob Marks,

a gambler who likes nothing more than taking money from Ian.

And Brendan is Woody, a boxing trainer that works for Ian.

You guys like boxing?

-Yeah.

-So Rob, I've got you seats tonight

and you can bring guests if you want.

- All right. I'll call you. - Yeah?

Sounds like Alex is organising a big fight tonight.

I'm covering all the bets in the house, so, Woody,

all will be forgiven if my boy wins tonight.

Your boy...is on track.

You don't have to worry. That's why you pay me the good dollars.

Brendan's big moment is coming up.

He needs to hook the marks in by making it look like Alex is a cheat.

Put your money where your mouth is.

Alex lays the groundwork by throwing his money about

and being as obnoxious as possible.

Every time I play with you, you lose!

You lose!

Oi, watch your mouth!

Bit different from online, isn't it?

Call a bet. Call a bet. Call-a-bet.

Moneybags, you in?

Yeah, what do you want?

All right, OK.

I've got to go, dudes. One of the guys at the gym...

I've got to replace a fighter for tonight's fight.

Alex is about to leave

and that means it's time for Brendan's big moment.

Before the game started he was given an ace from the deck,

which he hid inside his sock.

He now has to get it out without the marks seeing,

and make it look like Alex has been hiding it.

Right, so... And you boys, you can come to the fight.

Alex has the marks looking away from the table.

Will Brendan seize this moment of distraction

to retrieve the card and drop it?

He's a smooth mover, even off the dancefloor.

No, I've got to sort this guy out.

Yeah, come to the fight and you've got to put a bet on,

cos I want some of that money back, all right?

-I'm not

-BEEP

-joking!

Now for the crucial part.

Brendan needs to hook the marks in.

Can he choose the right moment to make the surprise discovery

and make it look like Alex was cheating?

Pretty harmless.

That's impressive...

-No

-BEEP

-way!

BEEP.

-He's a cheating

-BEEP.

-Check.

-Eh?

-That boy's such a cheat, man.

What are you talking about?

LAUGHTER

-I'm glad he didn't take any money cos that...

-He's the worst cheat I've ever seen!

They seem convinced.

-I tell you what, that boy has got to learn the

-BEEP

-hard way.

I tell you what...

Enter two new characters who will offer them a chance to get their revenge on the cheat.

Oh, give us a sec.

This is Jess and her boyfriend Darren,

one of the boxers fighting tonight.

-Did you get my text, yeah?

-I did...

Sounds like there's a plan brewing.

-Take a seat, guys. Let me speak to them. I'll be right back.

-Thank you.

Paul and Brendan now need to rope the marks in and make sure

they'll come to tonight's fight.

It's an unlicensed match, yeah?

But it's basically a gambling set-up.

We want to put a bet down but because

we've done this before and we have taken him for quite a bit of cash,

it would be quite handy if someone else could put the money down.

Do you know what I mean?

I mean, I would give you the cash, you put the bet on. Simple as that.

There's our buddy over here.

-This is Darren. He basically outclasses everybody in there.

-Right.

If we bet against him, we've got a chance of getting some odds.

-Do you know what I mean?

-Got you. Yeah, yeah.

But why would Paul and Brendan the trainer want to bet against the favourite?

But he's going to take a drop in the third round.

Because he's agreed to lose the fight on purpose.

If you guys are up for it...

-Yeah, that's fine.

-All right. Suzy?

< Yeah?

These guys are going to put the bet on for us, so we're OK. We're perfectly covered.

-Also, if you guys want to put some of your own money in as well...

-Yeah.

We're just going to screw him over.

The marks are only too happy to help Paul, Brendan and Jess cheat Alex out of a tidy sum of money.

After all, he just cheated them.

-He what?

-He was cheating.

Is it not a bit too obvious if we go to the bookie

and, like, you know...

-Well, she's the bookie.

-I'm the bookie. Don't worry.

So if she says it's you guys that won, he'll be fine.

He'll just want you to come back again.

- Cool. - That's the way he works.

-Do you want us to just take a seat here?

-Just take a seat there.

It sounds to the marks like a sure-fire winner.

They may even want to use their inside information

to make a little bet against Alex themselves.

-Hi.

-All right.

-How are you doing?

-Yeah, good.

-Good.

But of course, trying to hustle a hustler could be a very bad idea.

Move your feet!

-Come on, ref!

-Here it comes.

When hustlers go out, they don't bring money.

They go armed with prop bets.

The customers in this bar are about to be made an offer that's hard to refuse.

Win or lose a drink over a simple wager.

Right...

But a prop bet only has one rule...

Do you give up?

That the hustler always wins.

To the bar!

-Drinks, please!

-Oh, no.

Here's the deal.

I reckon...

there's one more glass left in that, yeah?

Natalie, pour out every last drop into the glass.

Really upend it so every last drop goes in there.

And wait until they stop. Is that it?

Maybe one more. All right.

Here's the question.

How many more drops do you think I can get out of that?

You can even have the glass of wine right now.

Maybe three, four.

Three or four?

Nothing else.

Nothing else at all? OK, nothing.

-One.

-One more drop?

-So the most was three?

-Yeah.

So what do you say, one drink for me, pool your money together, for every drop over three?

The challenge is for Paul to get more than three drops

out of this empty wine bottle.

Every extra drop that appears equals one free drink.

We'll use this to count the drops, OK?

I also need a toothpick.

Ready?

Toothpick goes right there, like that.

-I wasn't expecting this.

-And here we go, watch.

Oh, one. Oh, god. Here we go. Two...

Look at that. Now remember, we haven't even been near this.

-Now, that's four.

-No...

Five, six, seven, eight,

nine, ten,

11, 12, 13, 14...

-I thought it would stop at three!

-..15, 16, 17...

18, 19, 20...

-Please stop.

-21.

-21 minus 3...

-Oh...

..is 18.

I reckon you could probably get 18 shots out of a full bottle of whisky.

So what do you say? There you go.

Even though the last drop seems to have been poured out,

there's still liquid in the bottle.

The toothpick acts like a sponge, drawing the liquid out of the bottle

along the toothpick and on to the plate.

-That is amazing.

-Yeah, it is, yeah.

-It is cool, isn't it?

Four out of five cars sold in the UK each year are second-hand vehicles,

many from dealerships such as this one.

The hustlers are here to demonstrate that even the most seasoned car salesman

can be taken for a ride. This is the car dealer con.

Jess is out shopping for a new set of wheels,

something high-performance and expensive.

An eagle-eyed salesman is quick to spot his potential next customer.

Hello. All right, thank you.

How are you?

Good.

I'm after a car.

A nice one.

Yeah. Convertible, maybe.

Whereabouts?

A little sporty number might be just the thing.

Oh, I like the red.

-Yeah.

-That's pretty.

Oh, I do like that.

Yeah, I'd love that. Thank you.

How much?

Haha! Love that face!

Have a look first!

Can I have...rev it up? Can you get in with me so I can...?

-Yeah.

-Thanks.

Not that I don't trust myself or anything.

Can I turn it on?

ENGINE STARTS

Jess is clearly impressed.

-You like?

-I like it a lot.

But she's not one to jump at the first thing she sees.

Can I maybe have a look around a little bit more?

Just to make sure,

she wants to see what else is on offer.

There you go. Can you show me some more over here? Thank you.

What about this silver one? Yeah.

Oh, no!

Ooh, a little coupe.

-Oh, no, I don't like the inside.

-You don't like it?

-I'm quite taken with... SAM was the number plate.

-Yeah.

Seems like her heart's set on the red convertible.

Yeah. That sounds dodgy though!

They go into the dealership office to talk money.

Thank you.

Yeah, that'd be great. Thank you.

But before the salesman can even name his price,

Jess gets a text and suddenly needs to be somewhere else.

Can I come back in about half an hour to bring my dad with me?

Thank you.

It sounds like she's coming back but she isn't.

Because Jess knows that the sporty red convertible that was out front two minutes ago...

is gone.

The salesman can't believe his eyes.

His boss doesn't look too pleased.

The car, worth around £15,000,

has vanished from right under their noses.

And what's more, he's still holding the security tag key.

Yeah, I was just showing a lady a car,

it was about a five-minute procedure.

I was showing her. I sat in the car with her.

She gave me the key back.

I went inside just to get some documents to show her.

Came back outside, the car had gone.

We tag all our keys, yeah.

Registration, this is our tag, red tag, yeah.

Of course cars don't vanish into thin air.

Let's look at what really happened.

Jess didn't come on this mission alone,

because that man, cunningly disguised

in a hat and glasses, is Alex.

Still me.

He was also on the forecourt, keeping a low profile and closely watching Jess.

Can I have a...rev it up?

First, she asked for the keys to start up the engine.

..So I can? Thanks.

Can I maybe have a look around a little bit more?

Next, with the car blocking the salesman's view,

she switched the real key

for an identical looking tagged key that was in her pocket all along.

Key goes in, fake comes out.

Then she made a big deal of locking the car with the fake key,

but she was actually pushing the button on the real key,

now in her pocket.

The salesman had no reason to believe the key she handed

back to him was a fake.

-What about this silver one?

-Silver one?

-Yeah.

Finally, with Alex watching, Jess found the perfect moment to drop

the real key for the convertible into the spare wheel of another car.

As soon as the coast was clear, Alex retrieved the key...

..unlocked the car...

..jumped in...

..and went for the longest test drive in history.

In fact, that convertible was the car the hustlers were after all along.

And here's why.

Knowing it was the kind of car a salesman might suggest

for a young lady, Alex had previously looked at the vehicle himself.

-Hello, mate.

-All right?

Is it possible to have a look at one of your cars?

There's a Mercedes out here, the red one, the convertible.

Yeah, sure. Yeah, no problem.

Do you mind if I turn it over?

-Brilliant.

-And with a button hole camera hidden

in his jacket, he got some close up shots of the car key and label.

Yeah, that looks good.

It was then a simple task to find a similar looking fake key

and security tag back at hustler HQ.

This is a particularly clever scam

because not only does the mark think he never took his eyes off

the keys, but in actual fact, he thinks the keys work

even after they've been switched.

Of course all of this is helped by the fact that he's dealing with Jess.

If you're a car dealer, then the advice is simple.

Never, ever hand anybody the keys to a car.

Now, if you have no choice, when you get the keys back,

lock the car yourself, so you know you're holding the real keys.

You know what card players are like...

Earlier today, Strictly Come Dancing star Brendan Cole

helped the hustlers rope in some marks at a poker game.

Playing the part of Woody, a boxing trainer, he planted

a card to make it look like fight promoter Alex was cheating.

-No

-BEEP

-way.

-Who are you talking to?

That boy's such a cheat, man.

Now, the marks think that they, Paul and Woody

are going to get their own back by betting on a rigged fight.

Boxer Darren works for Alex, but has agreed to lose on purpose.

He's going to take a drop on the third round...

All the marks have to do is put on a big bet against him.

Basically, we're going to screw him over.

How could they possibly lose in part two of The Knockout?

It's fight night. As this isn't the first time Paul's rigged

a fight behind Alex's back,

the marks have agreed to place his bets for him to avoid suspicion.

Here's my two grand, all right?

-The fight after this, we're going to put something down.

-Right.

Hi bud, these guys are with me.

As they walk in, a fight is already in full swing.

SHOUTING

There's Alex the promoter

and Jess the bookmaker.

Hey, boys, you made it.

And Brendan is doing his stuff as the corner man.

The whole scam rests on his shoulders.

The marks must not suspect that, until a few hours ago,

he had no idea he had to act as an experienced trainer.

I told you, you were going to win some money on that one. I told you.

BELL RINGS

There's one more bout before the rigged fight, but Paul reckons he

-has inside information on this one too.

-Put two on, put my two on Eric.

Right.

If you want to put it on, go ahead.

This was only meant to be a convincer for the big fight later,

but these guys are already getting their money out.

Off you go, boys.

Paul's betting tip was spot on.

He's doubled his two grand to four and the mark's 500 to 1,000.

BELL RINGS

Now for the main event - the rigged fight that boxer Darren

is going to lose on purpose.

OK, my man.

Yeah. Well...

We're on to Ben Day, yeah?

Putting some money down? OK, all right.

You all right?

I'm going to put like 200 quid on Darren.

Now convinced that they're on to a sure thing,

the marks get together the rest of their cash.

They're betting that Darren will lose.

Yes.

Another £900?

There goes all the money they've brought with them.

Meanwhile, Paul places a smaller losing bet on Darren...

I'm going to go for my usual 200 on Darren.

..to stop Alex getting suspicious.

Brendan is about to step into action.

And he won't just be mopping boxers' brows in this fight.

He's got a much bigger surprise in his bucket.

You guys make a bet?

But first, Alex wants to see if there's any more money left

to extract from these gamblers.

-A couple hundred on your boy.

-On my boy?

-Yeah, he better do all right.

These guys don't believe me.

No money down on my boy?

Right, I'll tell you...

-They're betting on Ben.

-All right, I'll tell you what,

if you want to bet on Ben, I can give you three to one on your money

-if you double it. How much have you bet?

-No, he put on a lot of money.

Three to one on your money.

All right, anyway. Good bet.

Unfortunately, all they have left is the bus fare home.

I'll stand them, if they're up to it.

-You want to stand them?

-I'll stand them.

But then, Paul kindly offers a line of credit.

What do you want to put down?

They jump at the chance to increase their bet.

-Are you good for it?

-Yeah.

Are you good for it? £4,100.

Yeah, can I add another £4,100 on there, love?

With Paul's loan, the marks now have six grand riding on the fight

and stand to win an amazing 18 grand.

Have a word with him. Have a word with him now.

Star fighter Darren clearly isn't making much of an effort.

Trainer Brendan is taking the flack.

I've got a lot of money on this.

-I know...

-I've got a lot of money riding on this.

As far as the marks are concerned, this is all going to plan.

Darren, take him down!

Now, over the top!

I've never seen him fight like that...

This is it, the third round where the marks are about to get 18 grand richer.

-Come on, Darren, remember what I said.

-Here it comes.

Because star fighter Darren is going to lose on purpose.

-Come on!

-Come forward!

But then...

CHEERING

..disaster.

What the hell was that?

Darren lashes out and the wrong boxer goes down.

Rather than winning a small fortune, the marks have just lost everything.

That's my boy!

This is the moment Brendan has been waiting for.

He's straight in the ring.

We need an ambulance.

-What?

-We need an ambulance. Get an ambulance, now! Get somebody.

Call an ambulance.

This is his job, to scare the marks into leaving the gym

as soon as possible.

Don't move him. Don't move him. Oi, you guys.

We'll be right back, all right?

Nobody wants to be around at this unlicensed boxing match

when the emergency services turn up.

-Right guys, out.

-Did you see the blood?

Go that way. I've got a car this way.

Not only have the marks lost every penny in their pockets,

they now also owe the hustlers more than £4,000.

Time for Paul to send them on their way.

As expected, the marks do a runner as soon as Paul's back is turned.

Shell-shocked and confused, they want to be anywhere else but here.

I don't know what to say. Sorry, I lost a bit of money tonight,

so I'm like, how did that happen?

I'm a bit worried now we might have been done over,

but the promoter said to me, if you want to put more money on at three to one...

I put extra money on and now I owe the promoter.

And I've got to pay him back now as well, so it's not going to be a fun journey home.

They've gone? You can get up now, Ben.

Inside the gym, the fallen boxer makes a miraculous recovery.

That's because everyone inside was in on the scam.

The moment the marks walked through the front door,

the whole show kicked off.

The fight was indeed rigged, but in the hustlers' favour.

And Brendan's big role was not only to cause commotion after the knockout,

he also had a concealed sponge in his bucket that he used to cover the boxer's face in fake blood.

It left no doubt that this fight was over and everyone had to get out.

Interesting to see them because I couldn't really look at them

while the fight was going on. So I was kind of

wanting to know what they're thinking and doing

but trying to be as involved in the fight as possible.

It was hard for me because I felt like a fraud.

I don't look like any boxing trainer I've ever seen.

I could never be a scam artist.

I couldn't rip people off. Dancing or scamming for me?

I think I'll stick to my dancing, I'm pretty good at that.

This is a classic con game that dates back almost 100 years.

And it's not just about making someone think that they're on to a sure thing.

It's also about making sure that they bet more money than they actually have.

So when the sting goes down, they don't just walk away from their

original bet, but they end up owing more money to the hustlers.

There's no such thing as a sure bet when it comes to sporting events.

By all means have a bet, but don't trust the word of somebody that you've only just met.

It's not a good idea to borrow money to gamble.

But if you're borrowing money from someone you don't know and that person turns out to be a criminal,

the methods that they can use to get that money back from you can be pretty terrifying.

And you can end up getting really badly hurt.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd

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