Gonzo memoirist Rick Lax (author of Lawyer Boy) was paranoid and terrified of being conned, so he bolts for Las Vegas, deception capital of the world, to learn the game and how to guard against it. There he meets deceivers of all kinds, from back-alley hustlers and poker pros to the biggest headliners on the Strip. During the course of his unconventional education, which includes passing himself off as an octogenarian, being exposed as a card counter, and picking up a hooker (inadvertently, of course), Rick gets closer to becoming a human lie detector… but at what cost? By the end of Fool Me Once: Hustlers, Hookers, Headliners, and How Not to Get Screwed in Vegas, you’ll know why seventh graders make better liars than college students, how to use a handful of rice as a polygraph, and how to bluff a poker pro. Above all, you’ll understand why some things in life are a lot worse than being fooled. Kirkus Reviews says “Plenty of cons and cheap hustles in this lively memoir of time spent on the seamier edge of Casinoland… An entertaining field guide to vice, but also one with a point.” (St. Martin’s Press)
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