Busting Vegas: A True Story of Monumental Excess, Sex, Love, Violence, and Beating the Odds

This book is good but not great. There are so many hallmarks of a misadventure doomed to fail that the end of the story comes with more sadness than you'd expect. Semyon Dukach gets recruited into a group of students at MIT who learn techniques to use at blackjack tables for profit. He learns, he wins, and then he loses. I'm sure he was chasing his way to a semi-comfortable life, but the egos and faults of those around him prevent that. Mezrich's writing is pretty decent, but nothing above the style of a true crime or beat newspaper author. It's a quick read if you have an afternoon to kill.

The book opens with a girls’ lineup in a Nevada brothel. (That will get your attention.) He follows the chosen girl up to a room, 232, and there the girl leaves and he meets up with the Russian MIT student who had used a technique that would take millions from the casinos. It was the safest place to meet.

Forget counting cards that only increases your advantage slightly, this team, led by Victor (of whom we really learn very little), another MIT student, this team developed several strategies that involved knowing exactly how to cut cards and would seek out dealers who were just a bit sloppy during the shuffle. (I know nothing about Vegas or Blackjack but don’t they all use mechanical shufflers now? In fact, Mezrich suggests this show more change was a direct outcome of the casinos’ fear of the MIT strategy.) In any case, these techniques increased their odds to 30% or better, a huge advantage, and by knowing just when to place the bets and knowing when the dealer was going to bust, they could take in hundreds of thousands in just a few hours.

The casinos were not stupid and knew they were doing something (the kids had fake IDs and posed as wealthy businessmen or foreigners) but couldn’t figure out what. Not that they were doing anything illegal except that to casinos anything that doesn’t give them their guaranteed 2-5% edge is wrong and needs to be punished.

The book has been somewhat controversial with some of the principals reporting the events didn’t happen as reported in the book. So take it with a grain of salt. Nevertheless, it’s a good read, just assume it’s like a novel. I’m downgrading it a bit because it feels very superficial, more a recounting of what happened (certainly fascinating in itself) but without much analysis of the characters and their motivation.

Perhaps the great irony is that their strategies had little to do with math and probability (MIT students weren’t needed, the personalities were more crucial) and more with concentration, card control, and knowing how to cut decks precisely. In an interview at the end of the book, Mezrich insists he still uses the techniques successfully in Vegas. Bullshit. I don’t buy it.

Audiobook read by the author who does a creditable job. show less

I thoroughly enjoyed this book! This has surely got to be up there as one of every blokes dream - bleeding Las Vegas dry of its cash, women, and parties! Granted, the excessive threats of violence and beat-downs from the local bad lads is not something that makes an appearance in that dream, but what a ride nevertheless!

In typical Mezrich fashion, he's tweaked the truth a little to make it a little more Hollywood. After all, how excited would you really get about a maths geek showing off his number crunching skills? But who bloody cares! I've grown tired of these reviews I have read about Mezrich's books where people complain that he has bent the truth. He freely admits that at the start of his books, so if you don't like it, don't show more bloody read his books! It's like complaining that you hate EastEnders, but have a picture of Phil Mitchell as your screensaver (well, sort of!)...

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I had to wonder while reading this book whether the infromation was true ... or whether the author was attempting to cash in on his earlier success on this topic. I found the stories to be entertaining and outrageous, while striking a cord with the inner-criminal in the reader.

Good, but nowhere near as good as Mezrich's 'Bringing Down the House'. This is about an alternative gambling system that some MIT wiz kids develop to beat the vegas blackjack tables.

Still pretty good, and a nice light read, but if you have never read Mezrich's books, start with the original, you won't be dissapointed.

Another tale of counting cards and what can happen when casinos think you're getting too greedy. A lot like "Bringing Down the House" but with a different scheme, and a grander scale.

Not overly good - far too much violence and it felt like it was only written to make more money on the coattails of Bringing Down the House.