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120th out of 126 books
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How to Cheat at Everything: A Con Man Reveals the Secrets of the Esoteric Trade of Cheating, Scams, and Hustles
by
Simon Lovell
Gambling is more popular than ever, with multi-million dollar poker tournaments on television, gambling themed movies like Rounders gaining in popularity, and casinos opening in just about every state of the U.S. How to Cheat at Everything is a roller-coaster ride through bar bets, street hustles, carnivals, Internet fraud, big and small cons, card and dice games and more....more
Paperback, 456 pages
Published
January 1st 2007
by Running Press
(first published December 31st 2006)
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I was delighted to discover a reference to my favorite musical, Guys & Dolls, as I was devouring How to Cheat at Everything. In the play, Sky Masterson says that his dad warned him that a man would come up to him with a new, sealed deck of cards and bet that he could make the joker pop up and spit on him. The father said, “Do not take that bet!” and goes on to express that as surely as the sun rises, the joker will do just that. Before reading this book, I wondered how one could rig a “sealed de...more
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I found this to be an evil book. It rubs me the wrong way, a book on how to cheat at everything. Tips on how to scam your grocery store for money back on a meal made with sour milk from their store. The trick: put lemon juice in milk and show manager curdled milk, cry about ruined birthday party to boost sympathy points and score free coupons. Low and weak.
I got the book for free. This is the only book I have destroyed and thrown away so others would not read it.
I feel...more
I got the book for free. This is the only book I have destroyed and thrown away so others would not read it.
I feel...more
Simon Lovell is a magician, former con man, and professional card cheat. Currently he stars in the one-man Off Broadway show Strange and Unusual Hobbies. He is the author of seventeen books, has produced fourteen videos and five DVDs on the subject of cheating, and has lectured to both police and casino operatives on the subject according the back of How to Cheat at Everything: A Con Man Reveals the Secrets of the Esoteric Trade of Cheating, Scams, and Hustles, a book which showed up on the new...more
Saw this at Borders while shopping for other stuff and decided to check it out if available at lieberry. I read almost half of it in a couple days while in Connecticut on business.
big COMPLAINTS
#1: Horribly edited. Could be so much better with more clear descriptions of events and rules and such.
#2: The photos are laughably unhelpful though they could be a *huge* benefit to the reader.
Nevertheless, it's quite interesting reading as well as educational--almo...more
big COMPLAINTS
#1: Horribly edited. Could be so much better with more clear descriptions of events and rules and such.
#2: The photos are laughably unhelpful though they could be a *huge* benefit to the reader.
Nevertheless, it's quite interesting reading as well as educational--almo...more
Lesley
marked it as abandoned
October 20, 2011
How to cheat at everything....... Made it through about 40 pages.
First of all, it's clear from the start that Mr. Lovell is not a writer. Calling me stupid and an idiot right out of the gate is not going to get you any marks.
Secondly, you call your book "how to cheat at everything" and then constantly repeat the fact that this is not a book telling you how to cheat at everything because if you use any of the scams listed here you WILL...more
How to cheat at everything....... Made it through about 40 pages.
First of all, it's clear from the start that Mr. Lovell is not a writer. Calling me stupid and an idiot right out of the gate is not going to get you any marks.
Secondly, you call your book "how to cheat at everything" and then constantly repeat the fact that this is not a book telling you how to cheat at everything because if you use any of the scams listed here you WILL...more
This is basically a textbook on how to screw people in countless situations, from bars to the office to the street (literally! There's a bit on how to get out of a speeding ticket by running a scam on the arresting officer). It's all interesting to a point, but gets numbing after 20 pages or so.
Interesting book about the number of ways a poor sap like me can get cheated. Heavy on the card/dice cheats, but with a few way cool chapters on how the carnivals are rigged and how people rip off restaurants and the like.
I am happy to say I only found con that I've fallen victim to- the well-dressed older guy who's just been mugged & needs to get to his sister in the hospital.
The card/dice chapters are full of odds and mathematical tables I think would be interesting o...more
I am happy to say I only found con that I've fallen victim to- the well-dressed older guy who's just been mugged & needs to get to his sister in the hospital.
The card/dice chapters are full of odds and mathematical tables I think would be interesting o...more
Don't listen to the title. This isn't a manual for the aspiring cheat, but rather a collection of classic cons. (Not that I was planning to rip folks off, but you never know when such things might prove useful.)
And while the cons themselves are interesting enough -- I particularly liked the explanations of precisely how the booths at the carnival midway are rigged -- the writing frequently gets in the way of the material. Lovell's jokes often fall flat, and his typos (and occasional ...more
And while the cons themselves are interesting enough -- I particularly liked the explanations of precisely how the booths at the carnival midway are rigged -- the writing frequently gets in the way of the material. Lovell's jokes often fall flat, and his typos (and occasional ...more
A very fascinating book -- mostly about how not to get taken for a ride in various situations, how to spot cheats, and how to protect yourself from con artists, not quite what the title suggests; it's not a how-to manual. The organization is pretty good and the stories are fun and funny, but typos (and typos that occasionally change the meaning of a sentence!), heavy-fisted humor, and the semi-frequent descent into utter incomprehensibility make it impossible for me to rate it higher. Still, it'...more
I'm always fascinated by scams and cons, so I'm hoping this book will feed that interest.
I haven't actually read this book per se, but after picking it up in the store, I'd call it a valuable reference. It's very large, and nearly every page is packed with the secrets of conmen and grifters through the ages. Just flipping through it, I felt like I was getting corrupted. Next thing you know, I'll be out on the street running my own shell game. Please write to me in jail, everybody. Thanks!
This was an interesting read, it's really more of a guide on how to prevent yourself from getting swindled, than a book on how to cheat. If there's anything you'll learn from this book, never underestimate how much time and effort someone can put into a scam, nothing is coincidence, everything is scripted.
Not a book to read all they way through. Anyone who has ever worked in the casino, carnival, or vending business will love this book. The book gets repetetive at times, but he does a great job talking about the con itself and who to actually con.
There are quite a few distracting copyediting and style choices, and the section on cheating at cards really gets bogged down, but mostly, this is completely fascinating.
I am in a sleight of hand phase. Funny thing, caught Nicholas practicing 'walnut and pea' all on his own the other day...step right up, ladies and gentlemen!
Told in an annoyingly snarky manner. I guess I picked up some tips. Next time I'm in Vegas or AC, we'll see.
Punk
marked it as find-and-read
Always wanted to know how to run a con. Four stars from Erica.
A little too gambling-centric.
good read
Kriss
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