Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a drunken spree of which one has no memory [may be gambling jargon or fig. use of sandbag v.² ].

1896

H. Blossom Checkers 51: He couldn’t remember a thing he’d done, except he started out on a ‘sandy’ after he left me playing roulette.

2. a trick, trickery [SE phr. throw sand in someone’s eyes].

1934		R. Sale ‘A Nose for News’ in Goulart (1967) 208: A fake, a pushover, sandy. It’s a frame.
1947		W.D. Overholser Buckaroo’s Code (1948) 43: I didn’t come out there to run a sandy on Fred.