Jim Smiley Cheating

Although it may seem Jim Smiley wins by cheating, it is actually him being clever. In the story there is no harm or spin to Jim Smiley’s bets, and usually when someone cheats they add some spin to rules to eventually win favor against the person being scammed, and win. Also Smiley never alters the bet deal which is another action cheaters take to win. In, “The Celebrated Jumping Frog of Calaveras County,” it says, “They used to give her two or three hundred yards start, and then pass her under way; but always at the fag-end of the race she’d get excited and desperate- like, and come cavorting and straddling up, and scattering her legs around limber, sometimes in the air, and sometimes out to one side amongst the fences, and kicking up m-o-r-e dust, and raising m-o- r-e racket with her coughing and sneezing and blowing her nose and always fetch up at the stand just about a neck ahead, as near as you could cipher it down.” Jim Smiley did nothing to cause harm to the other contestants or add some spin to the rules thus not cheating. …show more content…
Although Smiley did trick the contestants into letting his horse to have a two to three hundred yard head start, which can be argued cheating but ultimately is not due to it not relying on alterations to rules and threats to cause harm. More evidence that Smiley did not cheat is where the story says, “He ketched a frog one day, and took him home, and said he cal’klated to educate him; and so he never done nothing for three months but set in his backyard and learn that frog to jump. And you bet you he did learn him, too. He’d give him a little punch behind, and the next minute you’d see that frog whirling in the air like a doughnut see him turn one summerset, or may be a couple, if he got a good start, and come down flat-footed and all right, like a cat.” Smiley trained his animals to win, which is