21: Bringing Down the House Movie Tie-In: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

Written by Ben Mezrich

Narrated by Johnny Heller

THE #1 NATIONAL BESTSELLER -- NOW THE MAJOR MOTION PICTURE 21

The long-running New York Times bestseller that has become a cultural phenomenon, Bringing Down the House is an action-filled caper carried out by the unlikeliest of cons -- supersmart geeks. Gambling pervaded the M.I.T. campus, and genius kids with money and glittering futures were just as likely to be found in a Paradise Island casino as in the school library. A highly elite group of mathletes was recruited to join The Club, a small, secret blackjack organization dedicated to counting cards and beating the major casinos across the nation at their own game. As a successful ring of card savants, backed by a mysterious ringleader and shadowy investors, they infiltrated Vegas and won millions.

The Boston Herald acclaimed it as "a suspenseful tale that portrays the players as Davids going up against Goliaths." Filled with tense action, high stakes, and incredibly close calls, Bringing Down the House is a nail-biting chronicle of a real-life Ocean's Eleven. It's one story that Vegas does not want you to know.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Feb 1, 2008
• ISBN: 9780743570824

Ben Mezrich

Ben Mezrich is the New York Times bestselling author of The Accidental Billionaires (adapted by Aaron Sorkin into the David Fincher film The Social Network), Bringing Down the House (adapted into the #1 box office hit film 21), The Antisocial Network, and many other bestselling books. His books have sold over six million copies worldwide, and he is one of the world's leading business narrative writers. Breaking Twitter is his thirteenth non-fiction book.

Reviews for 21

[jennyo_587543 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I ripped through this book in less than a day. It's the story of some math whiz kids from MIT who developed a very sophisticated system for counting cards while playing blackjack. Now, counting cards, as long as it's done without mechanical devices, is not illegal, but casinos tend to go to pretty great lengths to discourage it.This book reads like a thriller. So much so, that I wasn't the least surprised to find out that Kevin Spacey is making it into a movie. I think it'll be a good one.Even if you don't normally read non-fiction, you might want to check this book out. It's completely engrossing, and you'll stay up late in order to find out what happens to these kids.

[dsd_9 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Bringing Down the House was a very enjoyable and easy read. It grips you from the first page with a nerve wrecking description of a mule's walk through airport security till it spits you out at the end after having shown you the various facets and history of Las Vegas' card counters. It's a book that definitely opens your eyes to the life styles of a select few and I don't mean celebrities or business/entertainment moguls. At the same time it covers the people involved in a very personal way which makes you identify with the characters very quickly. If you like strategy, suspense and a good story then you'll like this book and no doubt, the other book swritten by the author.

[shawnd_72 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I like this. A very quick and enjoyable read. Made me remember college days and some students. I'm not a gambler but made me wonder if I could be a professional gambler. A real life John Grisham!

[mortimerrandolph · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

Essentially a novel arranged around the wraith of a true story but prossing itself as non-fiction, it can?t even fare well as fiction.Its focus is off. Instead of depicting the MIT blackjack team as it operated, the book spends manifold pages exaggerating the seductions and the dangers of the trade. Too much space is devoted, also, to attempts to justify morally something few readers will find problematic to begin with.A book that should have been interesting instead bogs down in pitiful attempts to be grandiose and cinematic.

[hvymetalmg · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

If I had superior intellect and extraordinary mathematic skills I would take my gifts to help design something that would change the world. Yeah. Right! I would do exactly what these MIT students did and learn to count cards and rob the casinos blind! This is a great book based on a true story of the MIT kids who formed a gang of card counters and the consequences of their high stake exploits in casinos around the country. Written very well, this book makes you want to go out and learn how to count cards. Than you realize it is impossible and go back to playing $5 tables and losing your money before you get refreshed on that comped Jack and Coke. One can dream though...

[gabbyreelle · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good story that could have been made great in more capable hands. The writing was grandiose, if not melodramatic, and often a bit too cliche for my taste. Along with the writing, the story itself bordered on redundant at times.

[briandewey · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I bought this book in the Reno airport and finished it by the time the plane touched down in Seattle. (I had a long time to spend in Reno!) It's a suspenseful tale written in the easy-to-consume style of a modern detective story. I suspect that facts were liberally rearranged for maximum drama, so don't go reading this as a piece of history. Instead, read it as a fun Ocean's-11 style story that happens to be strongly based in reality.

[gobucks578201 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Reads like a screenplay. A little hokey, but an enjoyable read.

[dvf1976 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

MIT nerds vs. Las Vegas makes for a compelling story. I'm itching to see how much hi-lo card counting I can use when I play.I thought the main insight this book gave me (and it's probably pretty obvious to most folks already) is that Blackjack is one of the (if not only) casino games that has a 'history'. What you've seen before can help you figure out what you're going to see.

[nekosohana · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The single best blackjack book I have ever read. It's so well written I would often forget that this was based on a true story.Also, it's an easy read. I read this on a flight home from Vegas in about 3 hours. Loved it the first time I read it, and loved it every time since then.

[emscape · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Mezrich has been given an inside look at a world few people will ever know. The world of high-stakes gambling. It's giddy, glitzy, and glamorous as well as kinda scary once you've been "made." Fascinating and fast-paced, the book races along to the inevitable conclusion, in which everybody gets caught, but still leaves the reader with hope that the casinos can be beat, which will probably be great for the gambling industry. I wish I wasn't so bad at math...

[tbc_5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed the book. It's an easy read. The story is engaging. But I question its veracity.If you want to read a gambling story that predates this book, search for localroger's "A Casino Odyssey" at kuro5hin.org. He tells a strikingly similar tale. Stikingly similar. If nothing else, the Web publication of localroger's story -- a year before Bringing Down the House came out -- makes me wonder just how much this author has in common with Jayson Blair.I read through all reviews (160 at this writing). I seem to be the first MIT alum to speak up (although "A reader from Cambridge, MA" is probably also familiar with the school.) I was there in the early 80's. There were rumors about undergraduates who earned their tuition counting cards at blackjack tables. I never met one. I did, however, know some of the authors of a bona fide MIT "hack" book: The Unix Hater's Handbook. "Hacking" (loosely translated as a "prank") is a core and longstanding tradition at MIT. Bringing Down the House smells like another hack to me, but I can't be sure.On one hand, several reviewers have pointed out what appear to be exaggerations and inconsistencies. On the other hand, The Tech, official source of MIT news archived on the Web, published an article titled "Card Counting Gig Nets Students Millions," which essentially confirms the author's claims. It includes quotes purportedly from the people potrayed in the book. On the other hand, The Tech itself is not immune from being hacked. On the other hand, I got confirmation from another alum that Micky Rosa is for real. OK, enough with the hands.There are other elements that leave me with questions. One detail that any MIT alum would include in his account is that MIT students aren't called geeks. We're nerds. N-e-r-d nerd. I realize the author isn't an alum, but he shouldn't have missed that -- he doesn't use the word "nerd" ONCE in the whole book. I was also surprised that googling for '"kevin lewis" MIT' doesn't turn up his real name. Are any of the portrayed characters traceable?To maximize my satisfaction of this tale, I would like to have more assurance that it is true. A fiction writer claiming to write his first non-fiction book simply isn't good enough these days. (Thank you, New York Times, for showing me how stupid publishers can be and for utterly destroying my confidence in writers of all sorts. :-)

[jess0124_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this book!! I couldn't put it down... I am really looking forward to seeing the movie. Makes me want to head to Vegas!

[ctmslimea · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Another title I happen to pick up due to its film adaptation. I read about 3/4 of the way through it and then I chose to, for lack of a better phrase " drop it ". So if you cant already tell i was a little disappointed with this book.Not that the author was bad or anything like that I just wasn't a fan of how it was written. The book is about the truly amazing story of a group of MIT students take the city of Vegas for millions of dollars, by counting card's and playing blackjack using mathematics to due so successfully. So the story did have me tied in from the start so you might be asking yourself " well all you have done so far is give positive feedback on a book yet you say you dropped it and gave it a 3 out of 5 stars." So here are the problems i found with this book. The way the chapters transit are each one has a date a location which are not always in order which can make the main story hard to follow. Another problem i found was character development in between the lines the main character "Kevin" seems to grow and adapt to the situations he finds himself in while other characters story lines seem to fall flat. Despite all of that my main problem with this book was how boring it could get. There are some parts that are fun to read about and that is were this books does shine, but these scenarios are short lived and and there are large portions of time in between them. So my final thoughts on this book is it can get boring and if you have any intention of reading this story, make sure you van sit through many long unneeded monologues that don't help the main story.

[djupstrom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Great nonfiction book that reads like a fast-paced action adventure. It was just a matter of time before they made it into a movie. Now if only this group of students could use its talents for the good of mankind...like erasing our national debt.

[deanna3d · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very interesting book. Haven't seen the movie yet, but interesting to see how college kids can beat the Vegas system.

[foof2you · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A facinating read of how a group of people went to Vegas and made money. Interesting how it was done eventually made into the movie "21"

[ctmsrybo · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

?Bringing Down The House by Ben Mezrich is the story of how a group of MIT students used card counting to take Vegas for all the money it had. The book is centered around student Kevin Lewis, who is going about his college duties, studying and working for his degree. Then one day, Kevin is asked to come to a MIT blackjack team meeting by Fisher and Martinez after one of his swim practices, and he complies. Kevin is then asked by legendary blackjack player Micky Rosa to join MIT?s blackjack team. Kevin soon agrees, and goes through rigorous training to eventually learn the game inside and out, and be ready for Vegas. When the time comes, Kevin gets ready and sets off for Vegas with team. Kevin can?t believe the amount of money to be made through card counting.Throughout the next few years, Kevin and the team go on to terrorize Vegas, taking millions from casinos and striking it rich. Eventually however, the casinos catch on. They don?t like card counting, even though it is legal. Will the team continue to rack in the dough, or will their new partying lifestyle in Vegas go up in smoke?Bringing Down The House includes a very exciting, action-packed, and on the edge storyline told by Mezrich himself. The thrill of winning huge sums and the life of partying almost every weekend is almost paradise for Kevin Lewis. This thrill, told very thoroughly and expertly by Ben Mezrich is filled with a great deal of action some of it good, some of it bad. The MIT team eventually runs into issues from casinos, such as being forced to leave, being privately confronted, or being threatened to have their money taken away. This excitement, as well as the problems cre ate a great storyline that leads to a shocking ending to Bringing Down The House.Another aspect of Bringing Down The House which I enjoyed was the theme, or moral of the story. The theme really and truly is saying not to push your luck too far, especially in Vegas. In the book, the MIT blackjack team earns lucrative cash, as well as endless luxuries in Vegas, that is, until the casinos start to catch on to their card counting. In our lives, we can take risks financially and physically, but eventually they will start to catch up with us. This is a great moral on life, as it can be proven fairly easy. There are also other parts of Bringing Down The House which I enjoyed, such as the layout of the chapters, and the character personalities. The layout of the chapters went so that the story always resumed on a certain date, summing up what happened in between and skipping right to the key parts to the plot. I really enjoyed this, as the story was spread over a long period of time and you really get to see all of the ups and downs of everyone. The second thing I enjoyed were the differing character personalities, which really played a role in how Bringing Down The House played out. This is shown in how each of the characters acted different while in Vegas, some more cocky, while some laid back, which eventually led to them being caught for card counting. Now, they have to try to escape the authorities and continue to card count.Overall, Bringing Down The House is a story of gains and losses, exactly what happens in real world Vegas. I have decided to give the book a 4-star rating out of 5. The storyline of the book is very interesting and action-packed, and really takes some unexpected turns. The theme of ?don?t push your luck? is also very good, and true to life as well as real world Vegas. The personalities of each character really contradict each other, and make a difference in how their card counting scheme works out. I also really enjoyed how the book spanned multiple years, making the whole card counting adventure seem like an endless party. I would certainly recommend this book, especially to any adventure seeker in a book, as it will keep you on your toes.

[jpsnow · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Applied statistics turn into a page-turning thriller that is the basis for the currently popular movie, "21." The underlying mathematical assessment of blackjack is interesting in its own right, but the suspense comes from this true story about the scheme these students used to beat the house. Mezrich subtley overlays observations about the effects of the Vegas culture and the impact of the whole experience on Kevin Lewis.

[miche11e_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Apparently, MIT has a long history of student participation in an underground blackjack "card counting" club. If you can remember what cards have been played, you can calculate the probability of good cards coming up. When the odds are in your favour, you increase your bet. When the odds are against you, you decrease your bet. And if you work as a team, you can beat the house.An easy interesting read, highly recommended.

[kashakona · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Disappointing. Great story, poorly written.

[skinglist · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I really enjoyed this book. I know next to nothing about card counting and had only vaguely heard about the MIT teams. Fun, but not over technically work.

[skokie_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I couldn't put this book down. A story of how a group of talented students were used by some savy investors to make a lot of money playing blackjack. The author takes you behind the scenes of this story, while giving you some insight that could only be provided by one of the cheaters themselves.

[Luke · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Really enjoyed this book! What a lifestyle, wow. Thanks for all the time and effort writing and making an audio book of it.

[nbmars · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The title of the book pretty much summarizes its thesis. A small group of students from M.I.T. learn to count cards and play blackjack, taking ostensibly sophisticated Las Vegas casinos for millions of dollars over a short time. Actually, they returned only a little over 30% per year on their investments--pretty good, but a lot of sweat equity went into those returns. They probably would have made more working in a high tech industry during the relevant time period. The casinos made quite an effort to identify these kids and certainly pushed the borders of legality in discouraging them from plying their "trade." The kids used team work rather than rely on individual card counters. Some served as low betting counter/spotters, looking for tables at which the odds had turned against the house. The counter/spotters would then signal a Big Player, who would sit down at the table and start betting near the limit. The process worked for quite a while. One time, they were discovered at a casino when they had accumulated a large cache of chips. They could not cash in the chips, so they relied on their contacts among the local strippers and lap dancers (who often received tips in chips) to launder their winnings. An unimportant book, but a fun read.(JAB)

[ngennaro_4 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

4/2004 This is a great story, easy to read and not hard to believe. This is what I was expecting Poker Nation to read like but didn't. Excellent.

[mmillet_7 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

This book presented a really interesting look at the MIT 'club' that ended up winning millions of dollars playing blackjack at various casinos. Very fast-paced read for a nonfiction book and gave a good insight to the adrenaline rush and lifestyle these 'geeky' kids lived. Lots of language however and some descriptions of Vegas lifestyle so watch out gentle readers!

[kd9_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A thrilling, but lightweight, tale of several MIT students who discover that card counting in blackjack is more lucrative (and more exciting) than education or traditional businesses. Although card counting is not strictly illegal, it is hated by casino owners and their employees. Getting caught counting cards can lead to long hours in a dark basement. But winning is addictive and when your only friends are the members of your card counting team, leaving the action can be difficult. Now with new surveillance methods and facial recognition software used by casino management, the height of successful card counters is over and their tale can now be told.

[sweetiegherkin · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I wouldn't have necessarily picked this book up on my own but now that I've finished it (for a book club discussion) I'm glad that I read it. The book tells the true story of a team of highly intelligent, mathematically-inclined students (mostly from MIT) who use sophisticated strategies to legally win millions by playing blackjack. (On a side note, I really don't get the subtitle as the book describes a team of 12 players, not 6.) The writing is not top-notch, but it is fast-paced and works with the subject and setting (most of the major action takes place in Vegas). At the end, there's a short essay by one of the MIT insiders giving more detail on exactly how the team was able to win at blackjack, which was written to be understandable even to someone like me, who is not a math whiz to say the least! I'd recommended this book as a short, light read that opens up your eyes to a world you probably wouldn't know much about otherwise.

[capfox · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

So here's a classic story: team of underdogs find their way into a crack in the system and use it to attack the empire. Right? That's what we have here, in a sense. It's hard to argue that casinos don't represent a big power base - after all, they win at just about anything they allow you to play, in the long run. Except maybe for blackjack, and that's where this story begins.Blackjack is exploitable, you see, if you can keep track of the cards and you know the strategy, and Mezrich tells the story of a team of players from MIT who got together and, making use of the strategy of knowing when the odds come to favor the player in blackjack, as a team took the casinos for huge amounts of money before getting burned out. It's an intrinsically intriguing story, as Mezrich notes at the outset, watching the lead character, Kevin Lewis, get trained, take on a bigger and bigger role on the team, and enjoy the fruits of his labors. When the end comes, though, it comes almost too quickly.Here's the thing about this book for me: as enjoyable as the story is, there's not really much in the way of nuance to the telling of it; Kevin is shown having some doubts about the life he's leading as he's going along, but really, not too much. And maybe that's really how it was, but beyond the chapters showing other people being like "dude, you can't beat Vegas forever" to Mezrich, it's really a charge straight ahead kind of book. That makes it fun enough, and a fast read, but it's almost too slick; it feels unreal.And maybe that's really my main issue with the book: it really does feel unreal. This is really more of a movie-style "based on a true story" book, rather than non-fiction proper; it feels that way when you're reading it, and some of the principle people involved (including Mezrich) have owned up to it not all being true. Some of the events were made up for dramatic effect, but beyond that, as a reader of more wholly truthful non-fiction, it's hard to accept this style of extended dialogue and quotes, and such. No one was taping these conversations, and so it feels like this misrepresentation of the story when you're reading through it.I have a feeling I might have enjoyed this more if it had been billed as not being entirely real; it's still a good story, and it's slick, glossy and fast, much like Vegas, I guess. I enjoyed it, but I'm not giving it much more than a tepid recommendation. You could do worse for a plane ride, though.