false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175443045m/514313.jpg 514313 21 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.<P>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.<P>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.<P>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. <I>Bringing Down the House</I> 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.<P>Filled with tense action and incredibly close calls, <I>Bringing Down the House</I> is a real-life mix of <I>Liar's Poker</I> and <I>Ocean's Eleven </I>-- and it's a story Vegas doesn't want you to read. 502278 8 10 2002 Bringing Down the House : The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions total:6044|5:1149|4:2737|3:1763|2:342|1:53| 6044 22719 7756 1012 1 5 false true Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Jan 23 10:55:40 -0800 2008 Fri Apr 11 11:38:06 -0700 2008
I'll grant that it's an interesting story. But you know what? It's a sufficiently interesting story that it doesn't need to be sexed up with outright bullshit. Even accounting fo...more...]]> 0 2 false false Mon Aug 11 13:20:04 -0700 2008 Fri Aug 22 11:21:50 -0700 2008 Busting Vegas, is the inside story of five MIT students who took Vegas for millions (although the lo...more...]]> 2 2 false false Thu May 22 11:08:21 -0700 2008 Thu May 22 11:28:51 -0700 2008
Admittedly I was captivated. It's an amazing story and Mezrich does a fantastic job as he re-tells the Vegas coup. And yeah, I love it whe...more...]]> 4 2 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu May 08 08:22:32 -0700 2008 Thu May 08 08:25:43 -0700 2008
I picked up this book because the trailers for the movie "21" (based on the book) intrigued me. I'm no speed reader but i finished this thing in two reading sessions less than 24 hours after getting it from the library. It's ...more...]]> 1 2 false false Fri Sep 03 00:00:00 -0700 2004 Sun May 04 10:03:21 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 28 19:02:26 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 2 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 08:04:49 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 06 08:33:26 -0700 2008 My husband's aunt used to be a dealer in Atlantic City so I've heard a lot of stories from her, but this book really ...more...]]> 1 1 true false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Apr 26 17:23:11 -0700 2008 Tue Jan 13 07:45:12 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sat Mar 08 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Mon Feb 25 17:37:08 -0800 2008 Sat Mar 08 09:51:23 -0800 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Sun Dec 30 10:04:33 -0800 2007 Mon Apr 28 12:56:51 -0700 2008
here's some examples of the ridiculous writing:

"Vegas was a juicy oyster, and Kevin was going to suck the motherfucker dry"

"He leaned back, kicked his feet up onto the table -- right on the go...more...]]> 3 1 false false Fri Apr 11 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 26 11:51:56 -0700 2008 Sat Apr 12 09:25:22 -0700 2008
Kevin Lewis was your average MIT student until one day when 2 friends took him to Atlantic City and introduced him t...more...]]> 3 1 false false Tue Apr 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Fri Feb 08 12:49:21 -0800 2008 Mon Apr 07 11:00:41 -0700 2008
The MIT guys had a pretty intricate system worked out for beating the casinos as Blackjack. It was funny to see how the system had to...more...]]> 4 1 false false Wed Mar 26 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 27 20:04:06 -0700 2008 Mon Apr 07 07:49:57 -0700 2008 I so want to beat Vegas...but I am not smart like these guys!
So I just finished reading this last night...and was very happy to see that at the end of t...more...]]> 0 1 false false Wed Feb 27 09:32:50 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 27 09:33:02 -0800 2008
...more...]]> 0 0 false false Mon Jul 20 16:17:29 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 20 16:21:44 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Jul 10 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 23:00:22 -0700 2009 Sat Jul 18 23:12:12 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Jul 13 10:52:32 -0700 2009 Mon Jul 13 10:53:04 -0700 2009 more...]]> 5 0 false false Wed Sep 09 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 05 15:59:24 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 18:42:07 -0700 2009 more...]]> 3 0 false false Sun Oct 25 21:11:20 -0700 2009 Sun Oct 25 21:27:02 -0700 2009
First of all, just for fair warning, after doing a little reading regarding this book, it evidently has...more...]]> 4 0 false false Tue Mar 03 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Feb 15 21:35:37 -0800 2009 Tue Mar 03 06:12:12 -0800 2009
The story is compelling and most people get caught up easily in the idea of fast money and the Vegas lifestyle. The MIT guys make it sound so e...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue May 20 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Sep 07 07:49:45 -0700 2009 Sat Sep 12 04:39:43 -0700 2009
This book certainly seconds the notion. The story is full of intrigue and suspense, a lot of social issues like racism and fraudulent identity are discussed, and the main character was bold to reveal his true identity and write an essay on card countin...more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=514313