In the annals of deception, everyone has their favorite personal entries. That time you convinced your mom you were at church when you were at the arcade. That time you convinced your mom Columbus Day was a no-school day. That time you convinced your mom...well, you fibbed to your mom a lot.

But was it ever really worth it? A few extra hours on the Pac-Man machine, a few extra hours sleeping in, what kind of payoff is that? Especially if you got busted.

Now, as the upstanding, respectable adults of the world, all these hustles are long gone. But what if there was something worth the risk, something with a payout a 14-year-old could only dream about?

Enter Ditch Fridays at the Palms Pool – Babylon for truants and partiers everywhere.

When the Palms Casino Resort kicked off its weekly daytime pool party more than two years ago, they helpfully provided a list of excuses to give your boss, which set it apart from the get go. Most parties in Sin City don't require bending the truth for your boss until the following Monday morning, when you show up for work (or don't show up), tired and "sick."

But as David Sequeira, general manager of the Palms Pool, put it, Ditch Fridays – held, predictably on Fridays, during the daytime – is "an atmosphere for people to kick off their weekend party."

And while most people are working for the weekend, every Friday during the summer, a few thousand folks are working until Friday. (Sequeira said so far for the 2008 season, they've been drawing between 2,500 and 3,500 people at each Ditch party.)

Just what are they skipping work for? Pools, music, drinks, barely-there bikinis, the list goes on.

"It's a little bit more of a nightclub atmosphere," Sequeira said. "The music's loud and the drinks are strong."

There are signature fruity cocktails that the bartenders can mix up for you and this year, the Palms added misters to the pool deck and brought in DJ Skribble as Ditch Fridays' resident DJ.

"We kicked it up, spent the money," Sequeira said. "This year it's more of an epic party than it's ever been."

Plus, it's a little different every week, so it's not the kind of thing you can do just once. There's usually a celebrity "host" for Ditch Fridays, with Panic at the Disco and Playboy bunnies doing the duty at previous Fridays this season. Not to mention the celebrities that just show up to hang out.

"We get pretty hit with celebrities every day," Sequeira said.

On a recent Friday, Dennis Rodman, Seth Green and Tommy Lee were all spotted hanging out at the pool.

And then there are the Palms' partners on Ditch Fridays. Just like it takes a village to raise a child, it takes more than one host to raise a party.

In conjunction with Miller Lite and local radio station Area 107.9, Ditch Fridays becomes more than a simple day by the pool. Ditchers spotted drinking Miller Lite by the blue bikini-clad Miller Lite girls can have their party "upgraded." With the upgrade wristband (worth three free Miller Lites), guests are allowed access to the VIP area, which features a private pool and private bar.

Area 107.9 DJs also broadcast from the VIP area, which means the upgraded have front row seats for interviews with bands. At a Ditch Friday in June, the VIP area was treated to an interview with Vegas' native sons, Panic at the Disco.

When the band was done, they traipsed down through the VIP area into the heart of the Ditch Fridays party before taking up a cabana, so anyone, upgraded or not, could catch a glimpse, assuming that they weren't too busy with their own good time.

Even without VIP area access, guests can still party like a rock band with the cabanas. Scattered throughout the pool area, cabanas and daybeds can be reserved by anyone if they've got the cash. Sequeira said cabanas are usually sold out by Fridays, so it's best to reserve a week in advance.

For first-come, first-serve, free seating, there are Ditch Fridays lounge chairs. Although the party opens to the public at noon, guests staying at the Palms can get in as early as 9 a.m. and grab their chairs. Sequeira said ditchers are usually about 60 percent general public, 40 percent Palms guests, so it's worth it to do a little math when gunning for a lounge chair.

Although hotel guests may have had a sneak peek of the 64,000 square foot pool earlier in the week, just about everyone is surprised the first time they see it on Ditch Fridays, Sequeira said.

"Hotel guests come in on Thursday and it's so mellow," he said. "Then they come in Friday and are taken aback. People get a little more wild."

It's that wild, nightclub party atmosphere during the day, during the week, that makes Las Vegas a hotbed of truancy for the summer months.

But, to avoid confusion, make sure you give your excuse before the sun and all those margaritas go to your head. My dog ate my dead car battery sounds a little suspect.

-- Review by Jamie Helmick