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Bringing Down the House : The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
  enlarge | Author: Ben Mezrich Publisher: Free Press Category: Book List Price: Buy Used: $0.01 You Save: $25.99 (100%) New (39) Used (76) Collectible (3) from $0.01 Rating:  427 reviewsSales Rank: 212427 Media: Hardcover Pages: 272 Number Of Items: 1 Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.8 Dimensions (in): 9.1 x 6.1 x 1.1 ISBN: 0743225708 Dewey Decimal Number: 364.1720922 EAN: 9780743225700 ASIN: 0743225708 Publication Date: October 8, 2002 Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Tell A Friend Add to Wishlist Add to Wedding Registry Add to Baby Registry | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Editorial Reviews: Product Description It's Friday night and you're on a red-eye to the city of sin. Strapped to your chest is half a million dollars; in your overnight bag is another twenty-five thousand in blackjack chips; and your wallet holds ten fake IDs. As soon as you land in Las Vegas, you are positive you are being investigated and followed. To top it all off, the IRS is auditing you, someone has been going through your mail -- and you have a multivariable calculus exam on Monday morning. Welcome to the world of an exclusive group of audacious MIT math geniuses who legally took the casinos for over three million dollars -- while still finding time for college keg parties, football games, and final exams. In the midst of the go-go eighties and nineties, a group of overachieving, anarchistic MIT students joined a decades-old underground blackjack club dedicated to counting cards and beating the system at major casinos around the world. While their classmates were working long hours in labs and libraries, the blackjack team traveled weekly to Las Vegas and other glamorous gambling locales, with hundreds of thousands of dollars duct-taped to their bodies. Underwritten by shady investors they would never meet, these kids bet fifty thousand dollars a hand, enjoyed VIP suites and other upscale treats, and partied with showgirls and celebrities. Handpicked by an eccentric mastermind -- a former MIT professor and an obsessive player who had developed a unique system of verbal cues, body signals, and role-playing -- this one ring of card savants earned more than three million dollars from corporate Vegas, making them the object of the casinos' wrath and eventually targets of revenge. Here is their inside story, revealing their secrets for the first time. Master storyteller Ben Mezrich takes you from the ivory towers of academia to the Technicolor world of Las Vegas, where anything can happen -- and often does. Bringing Down the House launches you into the seedy underworld of corporate Vegas -- deep into the realm of back rooms, ever-present video cameras, private investigators, and the threats and tactics of pit bosses and violent heavies. Equipped with twenty different aliases and disguises, the group of young card counters struggles around these roadblocks to live the high life -- until one fateful day when Vegas violently follows them home to Boston. Suddenly, there can be no more hiding behind false identities; the high life folds like a bad hand of cards. Filled with tense action and incredibly close calls, Bringing Down the House is a real-life mix of Liar's Poker and Ocean's Eleven -- and it's a story Vegas doesn't want you to read. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Customer Reviews: Read 422 more reviews... Interesting story, decent writing...I just wish it was true. December 29, 2008Tara Walker (CT) I thoroughly enjoyed this book, which I actually read after seeing the movie. I was not surprised that they made some changes and added and subtracted some things for the movie, but I have to admit that I was surprised at how much they went out of their way to make the movie bankable. It was a bit frustrating to discover that they literally made up huge chunks of the movie because they obviously didn't think the whole "overprivileged Asian kids beating Vegas" was dramatic enough. As for the book itself, I was surprised to find, after a bit of research, that there was hardly any truth to it whatsoever. I reference a Boston Globe article that so many others have in their reviews: [...] Although I understand the changes that were made the lies that were perpetuated in the movie for drama's sake, it frustrates me that Mr. Mezrich essentially fabricated so much of this book simply to make it more "interesting". I would have read it had it not ever mentioned these MIT kids being chased out of Vegas casinos or suffering beat-downs at a casino in the Bahamas. That said...it is still an interesting story and at least Mr. Mezrich did a decent job of telling it. It's a good read but anyone who picks it up needs to know that it is really more a work of fiction than of non-fiction.  Great book November 22, 2008Joel R. Gabelman (Chicago, IL) Pros: Great book about MIT students who use their brains for more than science, but to take advantage of inefficient markets. Well written, fast paced and exciting. Cons: None Summary: Fast read about a real story that's exciting and fun. Overall: 9/10 Interesting and Amazing November 12, 2008Mark D. Thill (Arlington Heights, IL) 1 out of 1 found this review helpful In Bringing Down The House, Ben Mezrich tells the true story of a group of MIT students who count cards in blackjack. The story focuses on Kevin Lewis, and how he came to be an expert card counter. At no time is this story dull or boring. It will keep you into it until the very end. The story itself is unbelievable, which makes the book even more amazing. Mezrich does a great job of describing the thoughts and actions that each student took during the book. He also does a good job on showing each character's growth and development during the book. Kevin starts off the story as a shy Asian kid who is not happy with his job at the lab. Once his friends Martinez and Fisher show him the amazing world of counting cards, Kevins life turns completely different. The Las Vegas highlife and huge amounts of money turn Kevin into a completely different person. His change during the book is smooth and very believable. This is the kind of book that you will pick up and wont be able to put down. It's an easy and a very fun read. It will show you a different side of Vegas and a different side of Blackjack. Mezrich shows how difficult card counting really is and how much hard work it is to master it. Kevin and his team went out nearly every weekend to Vegas to count cards. Their lives in Las Vegas completely overshadowed their lives at home. Not only did the team spend almost every weekend in Las Vegas, but they had to keep their double lives secret from all their family and close friends. The team counted for over a year. Spending that much time together, there must be some problems they encounter. If you read this book I can guarantee you that you will not be disappointed.  Tired of being lied to November 11, 2008Critical Reader 1 out of 1 found this review helpful Looks like Ben Mezrich can join the ranks of James Frey, Dave Pelzer and Kathy O'Beirne, who write fiction but call it non-fiction. After reading this book I decided to do some online research. Didn't take long to find this comment in Wikipedia "In 2008, Boston magazine and The Boston Globe investigated the accuracy of Mezrich's non-fiction, identifying occasions in his blackjack books where scenes were invented out of whole cloth." Very disappointing to discover another best seller that is so fabricated yet purports to be telling the truth. I enjoyed reading it until I did some background research November 9, 2008Neurofox 1 out of 1 found this review helpful Not sure what to say. There might be a kernel of truth to what happened, but it certainly didn't happen as described in this tripe. Anyone who falls for this sure is naive. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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