Rating: 
Summary: Engaging but dated material
Review: The obvious question is "Why didn't I think of this first?" I guess the answer to that question is my lack of hubris to ask a publisher for a $50,000 advance to go casino hopping for a month. However, one lucky author did ask and subsequently produce a very engaging work describing the people, the casinos, and the city of Las Vegas.
As I booked my next trip to Las Vegas (this time for New Year's Eve), my next moves were, in this order, purchasing the newest edition of Bob Sehlinger's indispensable Unofficial Guide to Las Vegas and picking up this book for a re-read. As with the first reading, this book is hard to put down. You truly become involved in the work, cheering on the author during his gambling escapades, feeling empathy for the characters he meets, and trying to conjure up mental pictures of the experience.
Unfortunately, due to the fast growth and pace of Las Vegas, the book is dated. In a way, Chapter 2 doesn't exist anymore, as it's setting, the Desert Inn, was imploded October 23, 2001. His trip was before some of the Strip's defining megaresorts (Bellagio, Venetian, Mandalay Bay) were opened. (He does include a postscript about attending the opening weekend of the Bellagio.) An updated version is out of the question, as the book depends so much on the twist that he is making is very first pilgrimage to the city.
Therefore, the years have moved my current rating of this book from five to four stars. The book was written in a speculative time in the city's history, immediately before the rush of the forementioned megaresorts onto the scene, and Martinez reflects this uncertainty through open-ended writing. However, we now know the answers to his questions, leaving this work on the brink of irrelevancy. Nonetheless as the years pass, this book will be an interesting description of a moment in the city's history, even as more chapters of the book are imploded.
Rating: 
Summary: Lived a little, but rarely doubled down
Review: I purchased this book two years ago and forced myself to finish it only recently. Author Andres Martinez gets three stars just for talking his publisher into advancing him $50,000 for the simple task of risking it all in Vegas and writing a book about it. Many would love to have his job.
The problem with this book is it's 50 pages of fun, 50 pages of history, and about 200 pages of filler. He writes about and interviews everything he sees and everyone, and I mean everyone, he meets. From the blackjack dealers to the cab drivers, to the people sitting next to him at a show. You can easily picture him in the backseat of a cab, jotting down notes as he interrogates the guy who's just trying to drive him to his hotel. Frankly, not many of the stories were interesting.
Martinez is also an inept gambler. I understand he was playing the part of "Joe Tourist", but considering the amount of research he put into the history of the city, a little study in gaming theory would have made his gambling experience much more dramatic.
Finally, considering he received "free" money, you think he could have spent time playing different games. I, for one, would have loved to see how he would have fared in a poker room. Instead, he spends the majority of his time detailing his experiences in his settled favorite, baccarat, with only the occasional detour at the blackjack tables. This is only slightly more exciting than reading about someone pulling a slot machine lever for 30 days.
There are a few highlights which border on the surreal. His run-in with a minister working as a bathroom attendant in a strip club immediately comes to mind. I also chuckled as he spots high-roller and "virtue czar" William Bennett raging over the Jerry Springer show (but certainly not gambling). For the most part, though, you can find more excitement in a given weekend in Vegas than Martinez did in 30 days; even if you don't have $50,000 in hand.
Rating:
Summary: Great fun, not a history lesson
Review: 24/7 is a great book to read as an introduction to the city of Las Vegas (not just the gambling life), and is an entertaining jaunt through Sin City by a novice gambler. Martinez is an engaging writer, one who is informative and humorously entertaining at the same time. My only problem with this book is that for a book on Las Vegas, there really didn't seem to be too many chances taken by the author. What gripped me about the book was the excerpt in the back describing how the author had just lost over $20,000, and fretting at how he was going to tell his wife and his publisher. In the end, that was the most gripping tale in the book as far as gambling went. Martinez ultimately left Vegas only down about 10% from what he brought with him. It seemed like an unsatisfying trip, one where he never really got off the pot, so to speak. Ultimately, the closing sequence where much of his losses occur seem almost to be a frantic attempt to lose his nest egg to at least close out his book with a floiurish. It feels rushed and forced and didn't really do the trick. However, gambling aside, the book is still entertaining and informative. Much is shared about the people living in Vegas, the history of the town, and the development of the casino culture. Those are the true strengths of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: YAWWWWWWWWWWN
Review: As a certifiable Vegas junkie, I got a kick out of this book. The author takes a $50,000 bankroll supplied by his publisher as an advance to write the book, so he goes to Vegas to gamble (research) and write the book... with me so far? Not bad work if you can get it!
It's rather fun to follow the highs and lows of this gaming novice as he starts to catch on to the comp system, games offered (good and bad), and the general casino scene, all related first person.
OK, so the author doesn't have H.S. Thompson's biting sarcasm, but the prose flows smoothly, the anecdotes are amusing, and, to no ones surprise given his limited gaming knowledge, looses most of the advance. It's just so much fun having him tell it. Again, not a gaming "how to" book, not a "how to get comps" book, just a gool ol' wild west experience.
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