Rating: 
Summary: A true story full of excitement, intrigue
Review: A fascinating, almost unbelievable story about five MIT students (some were dropouts) who took Las Vegas casinos for three million bucks over a five year period They did it by counting the cards in Blackjack shoes, never once revealing what they were doing. Just reading their story makes it sound easy, but it was far from that. The participants, mostly engineering majors, were young, energetic, supersmart, and willingly accepted a lifestyle of rigid personal discipline. Although they did have some fun interspersed with intense periods of rugged concentration at the gaming tables, their "gambling" junkets from Connecticut to Las Vegas were serious business. Probably not many are aware that for over twenty years, there has been a Blackjack Club in existence at MIT. A few years ago, a team of Blackjack players was assembled from among Club members. The team elected to spend their spare time studying and playing the game of Blackjack, aided by exhaustive computer analysis. Their goal was not to get the best Blackjack hand, but to beat the dealer. Why Blackjack? Over an extended period of time, Blackjack is the only card game that is beatable. It is subject to continuous probability meaning that the cards you see will affect the cards you are going to see. Winning at Blackjack is a matter of figuring out how to take advantage of the game's continuous probability, but to do so, it's necessary to have enough money to withstand severe swings of the game against you. Using what were then, many advanced strategies, the team played Vegas casinos for five years, with never a losing year, and never earned a return of less than thirty percent playing high-stake tables. Their actions were perfectly legal because they didn't alter the game, change the nature of the game, or alter the rules. They discovered, however, that the casinos finally did catch on to what they were doing. They, of course, could not be prosecuted, but casinos have other ways of dealing with patrons who beat the house... Considering the heavy personal discipline of mind and body the players went through in the course of the five-year junket, it would seem they earned their money. After five years of play and over three million dollars later, there is a surprise ending to this gambling saga. A true story full of excitement, intrigue, and a revealing inside look at America's gambling industry.
Rating:
Summary: Would make a great movie!
Review: I was totally intrigued with this book, to the point of not being able to put it down (even during the holidays!). After I finished, I couldn't help but think what a great movie it would make. Sort of blend between "Ocean's Eleven" and "Catch Me if You Can." Bring it on, Hollywood!
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Summary: I should have done this with my Math major...
Review: If you like to gamble and have always wondered how the underdogs (especially the blackjack team from MIT) really "beat the house", this book is for you. In 1996, I first heard about this story. One guy at a bachelor party I went to in NYC mentioned his brief stint at MIT on one of these teams. This intrigued my interest in this topic. I agree that some of the scenes in the book may appear to be almost fictional or surreal. However, I was on the edge of my seat for the majority of this book. Never a dull moment. Thanks for the read, Ben!
Rating:
Summary: Great Non-fiction
Review: I usually don't care for non-fiction, but this is a great read.
Rating: 
Summary: A good yarn, delivery could use some work.
Review: Good story, made more compelling because it's true. The author is a tad melodramatic, though this false sense of tension isn't what kept me reading. The flaps and the intro tell you more or less how things are going to turn out.
Rating: 
Summary: Good book to read on a plane.
Review: I found this book to be an adequately written, exciting read. The author does a great job of expounding upon the virtues of living in the moment and injects the story with a creative flourish that serves the subject matter well. If you need a book for a flight - pick this one up - it may not be Tolstoy but it's definitely fun and engaging.
Rating: 
Summary: Fiction parading as non-fiction
Review: If you read lots of gambling/blackjack books, this probably belongs in your library. However, if you read lots of gambling/blackjack books, you might be disappointed with this book -- you'll recognize much of the information Mezrich presents from other sources. He quickly tries to get all of the "standard" card-counting information presented in the book for those that don't know much about card-counting.....but he tries to convince the reader that he had actual conversations with key people in the book where he learned this information. It comes off feeling very fake. Then, he changes the names of places, people, private investigators/agencies.....without offering a caveat or expaining that he will be doing it. And why should I/we believe anything else that he has written? He has added a lot of fiction to what is supposed to be a non-fictional story.....and done a very poor job of it at that. His style is pitiful -- but, again, if you read a lot of gambling books, you'll be right at home here. He gratuitously mentions landmarks in Boston, again & again & again, just to prove that he knows the city & to try to lend credence to the story. Based on all the positive reviews here -- I wouldn't be surprised if some of these reviews aren't the "fictional" work of interested parties -- I was hoping to find a well-written gambling book about an incredible interesting topic. Instead, I found another poorly-written gambling book. It's not difficult to stand out in this genre; the competition leaves much to be desired, so it doesn't surprise me that many have praised Menrich. If you buy this book, understand that you are not getting the "inside story" -- you are probably getting 60% fiction, 40% non-fiction; you are getting three hours worth of reading, and you will have to wade through a lot of crap just to reap what little value there is in the book. It's too bad someone hasn't written the real "inside story" about the MIT teams. There's something I would happily pay $.. for. If you are considering purchasing this book, search the web for other reviews outside of Amazon. I believe that the Boston Globe published one that comes much closer to the "real deal" than the ones posted by Amazon users thusfar.
Rating:
Summary: Nice and EZ
Review: I read this book during la long fly from Chicago to Lima, Peru.
Ben Mezich told us an interesting history of one of the MIT's blackjack team. The only problem is that most of the history is Kevin Lewis history one of the members of the team. One thing that I didn't like to much as the abuse of blackjack situation.
In summary, this book is good reading in a plane. A great alternative to this book is "the music of change" by Paul Auster.
Rating:
Summary: Entertainment -- not a "How To" bore
Review: This was definitely an entertaining book. The author takes the reader on a thrill ride of the stress and danger of pitting yourself against the casino industry. The premise is that a group of exceptionally smart Math students form a team to win a LOT of money from casinos around the country. Their approach is legal -- but that doesn't mean the the casinos are necessarily happy about the approach. The students use acting, disguises and a lot of sheer guts to win big money. The author intertwines the story with present day interviews of the "team" members and stories of himself attempting the tactics. The overall book was very entertaining. I was afraid that this would be more of a "how-to" book on the process of playing winning blackjack -- and while that is included in small part, the books focus reads more like an exciting fiction novel. This could easily have been a Crighton or Grisham novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Good story, badly told
Review: While Mezrich certainly had the makings of a great story (which really would be a wonderfully engaging movie, if he's not involved), he's awfully impressed with himself as a writer. I thought the chapters scattered in the book that tied the author to the story were really egotistical, and added very very little to the story. And we learn so little about these MIT students as either students or people that the dichotomy of their lives isn't as engaging as it perhaps should be. A story like this is entertaining to read, which earned it a star, and is almost too good to be true, which earns it another star. But whatever interest you have in this subject matter will be hardly satisfied by this book. Wait for the movie, they'd be stupid not to make one.
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