Honesty is the best policy but it must pay; if honesty does not work then does that mean it is ok to cheat?

An excellent example of faulty logic. Your first statement is incorrect.

The word cheat speaks for itself.

Honesty always pays, just not always immediately or in the one might expect.

Generally speaking, people are lazy, impatient, and selfish.  They want to get the maximum amount of results while putting forth the least amount of effort,  they want things to happen RIGHT NOW, and they like things to somehow benefit themselves.

Honesty isn't something that suddenly happens,rather it's a moral character that a person has to work at developing.  Honesty doesn't  always pay out monetarily.  "I did the right thing so pay me for it."     As they say, "honesty is its own reward". 

The end justifies the means, or so they say.

Depends on who you ask, I think. And how honest they are with themselves.