sandbagger

English

Etymology

sandbag +‎ -er

Noun

sandbagger (plural sandbaggers)

1. One who sandbags (misleads about their ability level in order to win bets); a hustler.
   • 2004 May 1, Albert H. Morehead, The Complete Guide to Winning Poker, Simon and Schuster, →ISBN:

     The best seat is in front of players who open freely and raise freely, and behind any sandbaggers (players who pass strong hands and then raise when someone else opens). “Openers to your left, sandbaggers to your right.” This is especially true in a limit game.

   • 2008 May 5, Bill Pennington, “Where Fear Laps at Your Ankles”, in New York Times‎^[1]:

     Now I don’t wish ill will on any golfer — well, maybe that one sandbagger in my weekly league — but there’s something about watching players with perfect swings and the utmost talent intimidated by an expanse of water just like the rest of us.

   • 2011, Patricia Hannigan, Golf Girl's Little Tartan Book:

     The poker sandbagger would, upon being dealt a fantastic hand, delay upping the ante in order to lull the other players into a false sense of security.

2. (historical) A robber who sandbags (suddenly strikes, with a sandbag or other object, so as to stun) victims.
   • 1896, May W. Mount, Some Notables of New Orleans: Biographical and Descriptive Sketches of the Artists of New Orleans, and Their Work, page 103:

     The Day-Globe, Waco, Texas, July 5th., 1893, writing on "The Conscienceless Juror," says: […] 'Red Farrel' a notorious sandbagger and robber was on trial in Judge Moise's Court.

   • 2011 June 2, Jonathon Green, Crooked Talk: Five Hundred Years of the Language of Crime, Random House, →ISBN, page 124:

     The American sandbagger, like so many others (including the mugger), evoked the street robber's violent technique. It was from sandbag, to ambush or hit without warning: whether an actual sandbag ever entered the picture was irrelevant.