Bringing Down the House is a nonfiction story that reads like a modern-day adventure. Its appeal to programmers and engineers is undeniable: how often can a bunch of math geeks metamorphose into celebrities, playing high-stakes blackjack every weekend and walking away with millions? If the story weren’t true, it wouldn’t be nearly as interesting, because nobody would believe it.
The book’s author, Ben Mezrich, published an adaptation and preview in Wired last year: Hacking Las Vegas: The Inside Story of the MIT Blackjack Team’s Conquest of the Casinos
Blackjack team? Now that’s a productive extracurricular. I spent most of my college years in the marching band; I got blisters, bloody knuckles, and back pain. I got to travel to rural Pennsylvania by bus. I don’t think anybody is basing real-life adventure stories about it. Oh, also, I didn’t make a million dollars.
Mezrich’s book is a great, quick read. If it doesn’t turn into a big Hollywood movie, I’ll be surprised; it has the requisite elements: scrappy underdogs, sinister casino staff, paybacks, greed, sex.
Some reviewers (e.g. at Amazon) complain about the “pulpy” writing style, both diction and characterization. I am sensitive to lousy writing, but nothing here bothered me. I’m sure Mezrich took license in his recreation of events. I don’t consider that “news.”
Some people might want to read this as a how-to manual on gambling. Although the MIT Blackjack team’s method seems to be clearly explained, I doubt the Vegas casinos are vulnerable to such attacks any longer. Mezrich explains some of their counter-measures, e.g. continuous reshuffling machines. The MIT team’s approach was genius, in that it targeted a specific vulnerability, but now that that vulnerability has been exposed, it’s unlikely to be exploitable again.
I recommend the book to anyone who reads escapist fiction — this is escapist nonfiction, and somehow more thrilling for it.
Patronize these links, man:
posted to area: Non-Fiction
updated: 2004-08-09 14:48:38
