Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took…

How do you make a book about sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll boring? This is how! Saw the film, enjoyed it. Read this, hoping to gain a deeper insight into what "happened". I'm also a bit obsessively interested with card counting and general numberiness so I was disappointed that took up about ten pages of the book and the rest was just a boring: "AND THEN HE WON MONEY. AND THEN HE LOST MONEY. AND THEN THE CASINO GOT UPSET."

Guh. ( )

“on Sunday, August 10, 2008 I wrote about this book:

What a great and interesting book. I do not know anything about black jack.
Okay I have played this game when I was young so maybe a bit, but this book was so exiting.
I could not put it down and read it in one fay.
Want to read more by this author. short and sweet

Casinos deserve whatever anyone can get from them. Card-counting is using your noodle, it is by no means a criminal activity, yet the casinos which say that gambling is a good sport we should all enjoy, don't act like good sports when others are enjoying winning (regularly). Nope, they then act like very bad sports indeed by getting these winners banned from each and every casino in the world.

Gambling in general and casinos in particular were very much in the grip of the Mafia until times not so long gone by. They might as well still be with their ways of ensuring that only they can win the big pot. They employ teams of people to spot the winners. No matter how many different casinos in any country in the world these winners are playing in, they will be identified, their descriptions circulated and eventually they will be stopped. Maybe they will merely be banned, first by one casino and then the next (sometimes before they can cash in their last-won chips), or maybe they will be taken into the 'back room' and various intimidating tactics used. This is legal. This is not the Mafia, this is not organised crime, it's organised gambling defending its right to make sure that only people who lose or at least don't win big bucks too often are allowed to play.

The M.I.T. students were all members of a professional gambling ring set up as a business. It was financed by investors, used computer programs to identify the most propitious card sequences and professors who coached the students who did the actually 'grunt work' (flying to exotic locations, staying in luxurious suites and gambling with the investors money) and who were paid a salary and commission. All they did was count the cards that had been dealt in Blackjack and then when it seemed the sequences were on their side, place a big bet. This is completely legal, there is not even a whiff of card-sharping or cheating, and what's more it isn't an infallible science, they might have won in the millions, but they lost more than a million too.

What the hell is wrong with that?

It seems to me that the casinos are bad sports. They only want losers and people who come on the occasional big weekend to see a Star Performer and win big so they can tell all their friends that they must come to Vegas and have a Good Time and Win Big. If you are a real winner, they will hunt you down and ban you. It's only for fun you see, you must only play for fun, just the luck of the draw and not win too much too often, it can't be a business, nor a career, nor a way to make money, nope, only the casinos are allowed to take gambling that seriously.

What is the difference between this slick and sleazy modus operandi and the Mafia? No concrete overcoats (I hope) is one? I can't really think of another.

Recommended for those who think that playing fair ought to be multi-lateral, not enforced uni-laterally by those who think it is only a slogan. ( )

Bringing Down The House by Ben Mezrich is the story of how a group of MIT students used card counting to take Vegas for all the money it had. The book is centered around student Kevin Lewis, who is going about his college duties, studying and working for his degree. Then one day, Kevin is asked to come to a MIT blackjack team meeting by Fisher and Martinez after one of his swim practices, and he complies. Kevin is then asked by legendary blackjack player Micky Rosa to join MIT’s blackjack team. Kevin soon agrees, and goes through rigorous training to eventually learn the game inside and out, and be ready for Vegas. When the time comes, Kevin gets ready and sets off for Vegas with team. Kevin can’t believe the amount of money to be made through card counting.Throughout the next few years, Kevin and the team go on to terrorize Vegas, taking millions from casinos and striking it rich. Eventually however, the casinos catch on. They don’t like card counting, even though it is legal. Will the team continue to rack in the dough, or will their new partying lifestyle in Vegas go up in smoke?

Bringing Down The House includes a very exciting, action-packed, and on the edge storyline told by Mezrich himself. The thrill of winning huge sums and the life of partying almost every weekend is almost paradise for Kevin Lewis. This thrill, told very thoroughly and expertly by Ben Mezrich is filled with a great deal of action some of it good, some of it bad. The MIT team eventually runs into issues from casinos, such as being forced to leave, being privately confronted, or being threatened to have their money taken away. This excitement, as well as the problems cre ate a great storyline that leads to a shocking ending to Bringing Down The House.

Another aspect of Bringing Down The House which I enjoyed was the theme, or moral of the story. The theme really and truly is saying not to push your luck too far, especially in Vegas. In the book, the MIT blackjack team earns lucrative cash, as well as endless luxuries in Vegas, that is, until the casinos start to catch on to their card counting. In our lives, we can take risks financially and physically, but eventually they will start to catch up with us. This is a great moral on life, as it can be proven fairly easy.

There are also other parts of Bringing Down The House which I enjoyed, such as the layout of the chapters, and the character personalities. The layout of the chapters went so that the story always resumed on a certain date, summing up what happened in between and skipping right to the key parts to the plot. I really enjoyed this, as the story was spread over a long period of time and you really get to see all of the ups and downs of everyone. The second thing I enjoyed were the differing character personalities, which really played a role in how Bringing Down The House played out. This is shown in how each of the characters acted different while in Vegas, some more cocky, while some laid back, which eventually led to them being caught for card counting. Now, they have to try to escape the authorities and continue to card count.

Overall, Bringing Down The House is a story of gains and losses, exactly what happens in real world Vegas. I have decided to give the book a 4-star rating out of 5. The storyline of the book is very interesting and action-packed, and really takes some unexpected turns. The theme of “don’t push your luck” is also very good, and true to life as well as real world Vegas. The personalities of each character really contradict each other, and make a difference in how their card counting scheme works out. I also really enjoyed how the book spanned multiple years, making the whole card counting adventure seem like an endless party. I would certainly recommend this book, especially to any adventure seeker in a book, as it will keep you on your toes. ( )

Witty. It's a very nice story considering the fact that it happened for real. It has a strong effect on me because after I read this I had the urge to play blackjack and try their card counting techniques. The feel of the story was kind of like Catch Me if You Can by Frank Abagnale. My comparison is not because they have the same plot, it's because they both have the awesomeness and coolness in them. ( )