shell game 
noun North American
1 another term for thimblerig.One way they can achieve this is to have their friend Ron play a variation of the familiar shell game by hiding a pea under one of three walnut shells, numbered 1, 2 and 3....
- Finding the company's real revenue-as opposed to reported revenue-was akin to locating the hidden bean in a shell game.
- Usually, when you see him on television, you get the impression that just minutes before, he was fleecing the tourists, running a crooked shell game in the alley.
1.1A deceptive and evasive action or ploy, especially a political one: he played a shell game, misleading the tax department about his real worth...
- They've played this shell game and this terrible game for years and again, I think we need to call them on it.
- But we should also say this is a bit of a shell game.
- His vision of national pride seems a shell game.