The Mark Inside.

Excerpted from The Mark Inside, by Amy Reading (2012)

Blonger's big con fit into its time like a missing puzzle piece. His organization outperformed Chase;s because he required both his marks and his crew to act like businessmen. He created a corporation with bureaucracy, hierarchy, and bookkeeping, and he created in his marks an appetite for gambling that was itself corporate instead of aleatory. Rather than casting bones and exhorting the gods to send luck their way, Blonger's marks mimicked Blonger's own labor: they patiently cultivated their capital and nourished its natural tendency to grow under their expertise.

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