Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions by Ben Mezrich

Even if you don't have a wee obsession with gambling like some people, this is a great book. I loved it even though they talk about math a lot, which usually makes me pass out in self-defense. I just love this kind of shadowy underworld stuff. For a minute, I even thought of teachiong myself to count cards and recruiting a team to go to Vegas...but then I realized that "counting" be defiunition involves "math" and I would be one busted criminal if I realied on my math skills to save the day. Still, excellent book. I read it in an afternoon.

Comments

[Ben]

Interestingly enough, my fiancee's brother was a student at MIT while this was going on and apparently travelled in the same circles as some of the people involved. He didn't know at the time, though, and when he found out he got upset that they didn't ask him to join in the fun.

[Proprietor]

Ooh, I would have been mad too. But then, I never would have been at MIT because that part of my poor brain never really lived.

[Richard]

Reading your blog, I saw you enjoyed Ben Mezrich’s Bringing Down The House. I agree it is an entertaining book.

I recommend checking out my memoir, AMERICAN ROULETTE: How I Turned the Odds Upside Down---My Wild Twenty-Five-Year Ride Ripping Off the World's Casinos (St. Martin's Press). Unlike Mezrich, I lived the actual experience of beating the casinos (and unlike the MIT guys, I bent the gaming laws a bit). In this respect my book is more like Frank Abagnale's Catch Me If You Can, except no authorities were ever able to gather proof of my activities or prosecute me. The details of my adventures and confindence schemes against the casinos only came fully to light upon publication of my book.

Also, check out my blog, www.richardmarcusbooks.com/blog.htm. Like most blogs it is filled with my thoughts on items of the day, in my case tending to focus on casino related news items and events. The most notable element are periodic updates from my former casino cheating partners, who are still out there "working", cheating casinos today.