shell game

And cards with a 0% introductory rate usually claim that rate is also available on balance transfers, but that’s a bit of a shell game.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 16, 2026

But another explanation is that "the market sees it more or less as a shell game," O'Hare said of the policy.

From Barron's ● Sep. 9, 2026

"It's what we call a shell game," said McDonald, who drove one of the vehicles during the Bush administration.

From BBC ● Aug. 11, 2026

Every time I needed a single ingredient, I had to shuffle through a stack of identical, unlabeled bins, opening and closing them like a particularly tedious shell game.

From Salon ● Mar. 19, 2026

Each had a sea sponge underneath, like a rigged shell game.

From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri