I can't say I've ever been shut out of The Big Game, typically because Toledo has no such thing. And the Can't Miss Concert is usually some no-longer-relevant '80s rock group at the county fair. No problem getting in there, either. But for bigger cities, the "SOLD OUT" sign basically shoots down the high hopes of fans and concertgoers alike.

A man aliased "Max Deale" looks at a "SOLD OUT" sign the same way he sees "MENS ROOM" or "EXIT" or "NO SMOKING" signs. He expects them, and just continues into the venue without any hesitation. In his how-to/first person account Sold Out, So What?, he shares the tricks and gambits he's used over the years to get in cheap and sit down close.

For example, our protagonist wanted to see Pink Floyd's Roger Waters in concert. He could have paid $125 for nosebleeds through a ticket broker or $275 on Craigslist to sit close to the front. Instead, he sat behind the soundboard for $46. (I actually don't know what a "soundboard" is, but I'm assuming it's closer.) And he got those tickets the day of the show through the box office.

And you can too! Or something!!

The book goes through all the strategies (he calls them "plays," because it sometimes pertains to sporting events - he couldn't come up with a good metaphor for all the music fans) on how to handle scalpers, ushers, and everything that jacks up the price of going to a big event.

Obviously the book hits the sweet spot of the problem — dare it be called a crisis — of middle men gouging the prices of tickets just because they got to them first by paying India's finest to zip through web forms and CAPTCHA prompts. Face value price is very hard to pay. So the book can help the individual or small group sit way closer.

Of course, the obvious realization is that Deale's plays are comparable to stock tips. If everybody gets this book, studies the tips, and puts them to use, at what point do they become obsolete? Or worse... illegal? (Some towns already have minor laws against seat switching. Auburn Hills, Michigan, home of the Detroit Pistons, is the example he gives.) I could see the cat-and-mouse game of fans vs. ushers go 'round and 'round much like the card counters and blackjack tables did.