I thought that was a myth that might need exposing. Dancers and friends will sometimes comment that I'm too smart or too experienced to get conned by a pro. I always shake my head and say that isn't true at all. I could play safer to eliminate the risk to pretty much zero, but to me that is far worse than getting taken occasionally. The lost opportunities for me, mean more than saving face or money by avoiding a suspect con or even changing the structure of the transaction (I may pay a dancer upfront because it is worth the risk to me rather than insist on a safer structure).
Also, normally if the con is so good that she actually has me fooled then she is doing her job extremely well. :)
Probably the most common con that I get taken for is the dance overcount. Now, I could be a "man" and take a very hard line and that is one course of action. Usually, I'd rather just pay and hopefully be done with her. Another option would be to pay her in advance or after each song. Neither option is very appealing to me. I could ask her to tell me the count after each song and with some dances this works perfect. The downside is with those dances who forget to let you know at the end of each song, but still expect to paid. Normally, I will pay if the count seems about right.
Another con is turning the table into a lap dance at some point without the dancer asking first. One dancer said oh, these are $10 chairs. Absolutely NO shame on her part. I didn't pay the extra $5 per song and she didn't give me dances in the future. Another dancer tried that nonsense shortly thereafter. She at least came clean that she was just trying to earn a little extra money. That scam seems pretty dead, but the one where she morphs the table in a lap has staying power unfortunately.


Just wanted to elaborate a little on why I don't always stand up to a dancer whose been dishonest. One of the main reason is I don't want future issues with the dancer or her friends. Besides there is always the very slim chance she was just mistaken. And, I view my future business as valuable and that loss, imo, is usually enough for me to feel that "justice" has been served. Another reason, and it may just be a problem that I have, is that if there is a conflict I tend to get very down and might slip and take out my unhappiness on some nice person without even fully realizing it. For me I feel much better just thinking in terms of cutting my losses short.
BTW, it was a dispute over a mere $20 that lead to the death of one good young man and life sentence for the other young man (I heard that he also supposedly was a good guy). Yes, that could happen anywhere. However, in the club you've got young guys who are getting all worked up and the emotions can definitely be at higher levels; critical thinking tends to diminish in the club as well. If by your code of honor it is worth it, then by all means go for it. :)