This is one of my favorite books on Cons. Titanic Thompson was one of the world's greatest gamblers, golf hustlers and con men. Thompson spent most of his life courting and hustling celebrities with the biggest, most elaborate con games he could conceive. Besides making a lucrative living taking advantage of the naive and unsuspecting Thompson was a legend in his day and was the topic of conversation at gaming tables and golf courses all over the country. If you've never heard of him, just ask someone who's been around golf for 40 or more years.
Chances are they'll know a Titanic story.
Thompson was also a master with a deck of cards, a pool hustler and an expert pistol shot. He could offer you a proposition so foolproof that you'd be an idiot not to take the wager. That's when you and your money were soon parted. You get to read about all that and much more in Carlton Stowers' excellent biography of Titanic Thompson. Many movies and TV shows involving cons have borrowed stories from this book.