It's a good thing I found this site. I learned my lesson on doing my homework. Here are my four stories from my first attempts at this sort of thing. In other words, here is how I learned things the hard way.

First time - a few years ago.
I met a provider at a bar in a Vegas hotel on the strip. After much debate between the "devil and angel" on my shoulders, I nervously went for it. $500 for an hour turned out to be $600/15 minutes. She wasn't very attractive, but I'm too nerdy to be picky. At the time I felt kind of ripped off, but looking back on it after later experiences, I found out how much worse it gets! Also in hindsight, I think she was on something - she was a little "off."

Second time - two years ago
I met a provider at another strip casino in Vegas. In hindsight the warning signs were there, but I'd had too much to drink. $300/hour turned into a strange bit of teasing. She'd spend a few seconds trying to arouse me, and then insult me for not being aroused yet. Then she'd stop and watch TV for a while, and here and there would tease me a little. I noticed some odd behavior where she was half off of the bed at times, but thought nothing of it at the time. She teased me some more, then left. The next morning - yup - she'd stolen all the money from my wallet (~$800).

Third attempt - last week
I don't know why I tried this again. I wasn't drunk, even though you'd think I'd have to be to try this again after the previous experience. We met just outside of a casino on the Vegas strip. She chatted with me for a while and she seemed friendly. I told her no thanks, but I asked for her number for later in the week. After I got back to my room I changed my mind and called her. $500/hour (it ended up being 20 minutes). She was cute, much more attractive than the first two experiences (probably why I went for it). The FS was actually...good! I've been unlucky in dating and the experience of actually being attracted to the woman I'm with is a rare one. She asked for a tip, I gave her $40 and she was on her way. A decent experience!

Fourth time - last week
Probably because of experience #3, I decided to try again. This time I met her and her friend at a bar in the same Vegas casino on the strip. We chatted for a while, and I bought her a drink. Most of the conversation was centered on the bad experiences I've had and how I didn't trust her. She gave me her card (something providers #1 and #3 did, but awful #2 did not). That helped a little. She tried reassuring me. Evetually after some flirting on her part, I went for it. She wanted her and her friend, but there was no way I wanted to try to watch two ladies to be sure neither one robbed me. Two seemed too dangerous, so I refused. We agreed upon just her, and $400 (like that ever matters). After she had the $400 in my room, she asked for $200 more. I told her I don't throw good money after bad. At this point I figured my money was lost and I didn't want to compound it by losing another $200, but se actually proceeded anyway! I had a decent BJ/FS experience. Afterwards  she kept asking me for $200 more until I relented. She fell asleep (she was a tad drunk). When she woke up a little while later, we went for another round. Then she ordered room service (another $55). After eating some of her meal she started harassing me for more money (for a cab). By now I had been up all night and I wasn't thinking about the bill breaker machines she could stick her $100 bills into to get smallerones, and so I gave her th last $20 I had. Total cost: $675. I guess for the time (1.5 hours maybe?) and the two rounds, that is good, but from what I'm seeing around here it's actually possible to find very attractive women who will be nice, stick to the agreed upon price, and provide a pleasant un experience without ll of the stress, so now I'm not so sure it was all that great.

So yep - I'm pretty bad at this. I should probably count myself lucky that I haven't been arrested or stabbed by now!