Rating: 
Summary: Wow...
Review: People, this book is based on a "true" story, not a fiction. I really enjoyed the book.
Rating:
Summary: Bringing Down the House
Review: "And the money never seemed to run out..." The novel Bringing Down the House, is the gamblers ultimate dream. It tells how a young genius and his team started from the beginning, to finish at the end taking advantage of Vegas for more then three million dollars. It started as a team of six MIT college students playing blackjack in their dorm, and learning a way of "counting cards" called the hi-lo theory. They then took their skills to Vegas where they then met money and the trouble that goes with it. The author Ben Mezrich was able to get inside the group and get the inside story to make one novel that gets you from start to finish.
Bringing Down the House relates to anybody who has ever gambled or even thought about it. The book is even a little bit of manual on how to play blackjack, it even tells you how to count cards and cheat your way to the top. It tells you how far casinos go to bust you, and how you get treated in the "back room". It shows you how the "whales" treat the dealers, and how a thousand dollar tip is nothing to blink at. It explains how greed can effect anyone, and when you have it all, its just not good enough.
Rating:
Summary: A Good, Well-Paced Story, with Some Flaws
Review: You won't be disappointed by this book. It delivers on telling a very interesting story of how a group of nerds (and I use the term affectionately) figured out how to profit from a systematic method of counting cards in blackjack. I enjoyed the main character and his story, and several of the scenes are really gripping. No doubt about it--you will keep reading right through the exciting conclusion of the book.However, the book has a few flaws. One major premise of the book is never really proven, which is that the nerds were ever in any real danger. As a result, the drama is not as taut for me as the writer probably would have liked. Also, as a Boston native, a few editing gaffes really stood out for me. As an example, at one point in the book, Sudbury, MA is lumped together with several blue collar and urban towns. Anyone who knows Boston knows that Sudbury is leafy and wealthy. Such small errors may not bother some, but they drive me crazy. Aside from that, though, the book is worth a read if you are interested in the subject matter or nerds, or both.
Rating: 
Summary: million dollar blackjack, eudemonic pie retread
Review: I agree that this book is a amateurish retread of other 'beat the house' books. Ken Uston's Million Dollar Blackjack from the early 1980's (20 years ago!) was a lot more interesting and certainly more original. I didn't see Uston mentioned once in the book, whic is odd, especially in the tehcnical appendix by the team leader. If you like these kind of stories, you might want to try and find the Eudemonic pie (Thomas Bass, The Eudemonic Pie (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1985)) which is out of print and is again supposedly a true story about some santa cruz students who built embedded wireless roulette prediction computers that they mounted in their shoes. This was back in the 1980s! For me the writing is heavy handed. Perfect for a hollywood screenplay, like Crichton. Lowest common denominator.
Rating:
Summary: Fun read, but 99 % BS...says this detective
Review: Other reviewers have pointed out obvious problems with the account told here. I had to look at the page several times with the "football season" reference...as I could not believe the author had the NFL season backwards... But more than that, I can tell you, even in the 90s, the late-to-mid 90s at that, there is no way you could easily get such forms of ID that were PASSABLE at a major casino where you are cashing thousands of chips, checking in and out routinely. Can you get a cut and paste ID that could fool a bouncer at a local campus? Yes...but when you are talking so much money, they don't play around, if there are any questions, your ID will be scrutinized. No Casino would even DREAM of allowing "thugs" to break into your room. Regardless of whether you were an MIT "geek" "nerd" whatever, or a "high roller" from Boca, one thing is clear, they (the Casino) KNOW you have money. They would not put themselves in such jeopardy, criminally or as far as civil remedies. When you rent a hotel room in ANY state in the US, that is considered your HOME, your domicile, and you have the same rights (and requirements they have a warrant) as you would your home (with one exception, and that is "hotel/motel" ops, which verify that no other adult is staying in your room that is registered, but that is not an issue here). In his comments about Shreveport...again, no police departent is going to send out patrolmen to make sure those "nerdy" MIT guys got out of town with their cash...and never came back. The shotgun reference was classic overdramatization. If these guys got their money from the casino as they said, there would be no need for the police to get involved, or even be ASKED to be involved by the casino. I could go on, but there is a vast array of problems with this book, and overall, the players and all the "crazy, whacky stuff" they get involved in, don't really sound that (street) smart. For that reason, their apparent "cool" attitude going thru airports and dealing with dealers, pit bosses, managers, etc...seems incongruent from other aspects of their personality we get. The interviewing he does, is crappy and appears sporadic, and doesn't shed light on some of the biggest questions the reader might have. I picked the book up at an airport...it read like a poorly written script. It WOULD be a fun movie, IF it has a good script writer and decent actors. The couple in the book will be a nice melodramatic device giving the plot some more depth. I bet Vegas can't WAIT until it comes out and they get a fresh crop of 20-somethings (they can smell the 6-person bookings as I write this) who are going to really "take them down"...it all adds to the mystique and allure of a place like Vegas. The author will be liked by everyone but true card counters.
Rating:
Summary: Who knew geeks could be so cool?
Review: My favorite measure of the goodness of a book is how late I stay up reading it. Bringing Down the House was difficult to put down. Mezrich captures the glitz and glamour of high-stakes gambling in Atlantic City and Las Vegas, and his descriptions of the technicalities of card counting are not lost on inexperienced gamblers. Perhaps the best audience for this book consists of math fans or technical-minded people, but the personality of the characters shines through in Mezrich's writing, making it captivating for any avid reader.
Rating: 
Summary: Vegas, baby, Vegas!
Review: As an annual visitor to Vegas, it was interesting to see Sin City from a different perspective. Being one who is not even close to being a high roller, and one who has left his fair share of money with the casinos, it was really interesting to see how some others got revenge and lived the high life. I found the card counting method interesting, but the infatuation with the money and the lifestyle was just as riveting. Highly recommended for anyone who has been to, is planning on going to, or is just curious about Vegas.
Rating:
Summary: Hard to put down
Review: These M.I.T. "Geeks" refined the skill of card-counting to the tune of a cool $3 million. Using professor Thorpe's proven mathematical theory and a solid team system they assault the mega casinos in Vegas and throughout the U.S. Planning each invasion like a military attack, they carefully slice off their 2% advantage. This book has adventure, drama and mystery. You will find it hard to put down. Take the red-eye to the Strip, count cards with the rest of the spotters, call in the "Gorilla" and then party down. You've earned it!
Rating:
Summary: SOLID!
Review: Just finished this book...took a total of 4 days in between my BUSY work schedule. It's a very funny, interesting read that will keep you turning the pages...one of the better books I've read in a while, though the profanity was a bit much.
Rating: 
Summary: More Details, Less Atmosphere
Review: Breezily written reportage: MIT students use mental calculations and crony canvassers to beat casinos at blackjack. *Bringing Down the House* is long on slick characterizations and predictable descriptions of Vegas high life but short on details that would give profound interest and authority. "Kevin Lewis's" 5 page afterword is worth as much as the first 250 pages; refinements of strategy are more newsworthy than the tightening grip of surveillance or thuggery of casino goons. The details of face recognition software tantalize; I would have gladly read more about how it works. One would like also to have seen fleshed out ubermensch "Micky" or, if Ben Mezrich had real moral insight, the psychology of the dramatis personae. A decent read while waiting for the dentist. Otherwise stick to Pascal.
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