Sometimes, the fact that a book is based on something that actually happened adds a bit more value to my read. May be because the twists and turns were not made up? This is a book that is based on the actual stories of the MIT blackjack team. The book moves back and forth between the events of the MIT team and the author's present day research. It deals you the behind the scenes reality of all the glitz and glamour of the Vegas nightlife. If you've seen the movie, the book is almost nothing like the movie and it has its own flavor to it. When I started the book, all I wanted was to play blackjack and I did too. But when I was done with the book, the harsh reality hit my face - You're always a loser eventually, when it comes to Casinos.

Before I really get into my review, I noticed the division in a few reviews below about regarding the authenticity of the book's contents. Some say the plot is based on real people while others claim that every aspect of it is a work of fiction. The only thing I have to say about that is this: I can understand the disappointment of discovering the true nature of a book whose plot you were fooled into believing was real, but Ben Mezrich's Bringing Down the House is a great novel regardless of its accuracy. If you are considering reading this book but are a little hesitant due to this debate, I suggest you read it for the story itself and decide when you are finished.
Now as for the actual novel, Bringing Down the House tells the story of MIT student Kevin Lewis from the author's point of view. Kevin is about to enter enter his final year of college when he curiously becomes involved with his roommates' money-making scheme: card-counting. A bright boy himself who was looking for a little more excitement in life, Kevin joins his roommates and a group of other MIT students in a blackjack club, making frequent trips to casinos around the United States, particularly Las Vegas. However, as Kevin hones his card-counting abilities, he begins to develop a kind of double life, leading him to multiple occasions where he must choose between the people he loves and the life he wants to live. I do not plan on giving away any spoilers for those who have not read it yet, but I will say that he does not always make the "correct" decision.
The first thing I want to discuss here is the author's writing style. As mentioned before, Bringing Down the House is written with Mezrich as the novel's narrator, but that is not the structure's only noteworthy characteristic. This particular novel is told in sets of flashbacks. Now I know this can be a major turn-off for some readers, but hear me out for a minute. I am a big fan of superhero movies and television shows, a few of my current favorites being Arrow, The Flash, and Daredevil. Any fellow fan of these can attest that they rely heavily on flashbacks, but they do so in order for the viewer to really understand where the characters are coming from and why they do the things they do. This is the same thing Mezrich is wanting to accomplish, but he does it with a sort of twist. Instead of telling the story mainly in present time with intermittent flashbacks, the plot is mainly told in the flashbacks with a few instances of current happenings. Since Kevin's story takes place in the late 90s, this was necessary for him to properly convey it to his readers.
Something else I really enjoyed about this novel was Mezrich's choice of diction. When one thinks of MIT, in the same way that one would consider Harvard or Princeton, one normally characterizes its student body as being prim and proper. However, this is not how Kevin and his friends are depicted in the slightest. Between the profane slang they use and the promiscuous activities they participate in while visiting Vegas, they are presented not as hoity-toity snobs, but as guys. Girls, alcohol, and money are huge motivators in this novel, not something uncommon for the general male population, especially college students. Doing this makes Kevin and the others more relatable, allowing the reader to feel more involved with the plot's development and overall outcome. I can personally say that I was engrossed in the novel after the first couple of chapters and when I was finished, I had a sort of "reader's hangover" where it took me a little bit to adjust back to the real world. A fair warning, if you decide to read it, you will most likely experience the same feeling.
Finally, the topic of the book itself is also quite interesting. The end of the 90s was a technology boom where those seeking high returns for their effort quickly got involved. Kevin, on the other hand, did not want this life. Sure, he wanted the luxuries and lifestyle that came with wealth, but he also wanted something a little more dangerous: difference. Ultimately, he sought to be different from those around him while still cashing out on as little work as he could possible put in. Everybody likes to think that there exists a way to be rich with little effort and this dream is what draws readers to this novel. The late 90s was also the prime time to overcome casinos' systems since it was right before the introduction of high-tech security cameras. Kevin had the brains, the drive, and the time period on his side and he took full advantage of them all.
In closing, I strongly encourage everyone to read this book, but NOT if you are expecting it to be like its movie adaptation. I have seen 21 multiple times - before I read its printed predecessor, in fact - and there are some major differences that make them almost completely separate works. Really, the only similarities between them are the general overview and Mickey Rosa, the rest being molded into a faster-paced show for the big screen. Do not get me wrong, I love Kevin Spacey's and Jim Sturgess' embodiment of the novel, but in the end, it cannot hold a candle next to the original.

I am not a gambler. The gambling that I have done, involved a small amonut of money, ten shillings or 20 shollings, if it's too much.

I dont play cards. The little experience I have had with cards is not something to take back home. I have played the sipmlest version of poker and other childhood card games which is insignificant.

I have nevr taken time to learn the rules of even the little poker that I know. The rules, in my case depended on the oponent am facing, not to mention that I also have my own, depending on where I grew up.

Most of the time I used to loose, and the more I kept loosing, the more I wanted to play. Sometimes I could play to my last cent, and sometimes, I could go further and start playing on credit.

Now imagine playing for high stakes! This is where this book comes in, bringing down the house, where we meet Micky, Fisher, Martinez, Kevin, Kianna and others who join later.

All card games are collectively terned games of chance. But the technique employed in this book is scientific. In philosophy, it's deductive reasoning, in mathematics it's card counting.

Using this technique, the characters win a lotcof games and a lot of money until...

This is a book to watch out for if you haven't read it. It will take you to Vegas, the sin city, where you will see how the group liberate money from the oppressors as they termed it.

Highly recommended.

I recently read Ben Mezrich's, Breaking Twitter: Elon Musk and the Most Controversial Corporate Takeover in History and thoroughly enjoyed it. I also loved Bitcoin Billionaires: A True Story of Genius, Betrayal, and Redemption. Mezrich does a terrific job researching and weaving a narrative nonfiction story about people and business.

Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions was interesting because it's about MIT students who become experts at card counting and make many, many trips to Vegas. They branch out to other casino locations and it turns out that their luck changes in Shreveport, LA of all places.

I thought the book was okay but not as great as the other two books I've read by Mezrich.

it doesn’t help that I still don’t know how to play blackjack

the characters were hard to parse out until the end, with all of them sharing similar traits making it BORING

I know it’s about a person’s real life experience, and I don’t wish ill will on anyone, I promise, but I much rather read 300 pages of hardships versus 200 pages of exposition

I had watched the movie quite a few years ago (at least 8?) and had liked it at the time, albeit before I was legally allowed to enter a casino and before I played my first hand of poker. As someone who's more versed with gambling than their teenage self, I decided to revisit this work - this time in original book form. It had re-entered my mind under the recommendation of a few coworkers, and it seemed like the right time to give it a read. Enough of the movie had left my mind that quite frankly, this felt like a new book to me.

What I really appreciated was that Mezrich explains enough of the blackjack theory in beginner terms that any reader attains a solid grasp of the rationale and methodology behind the madness. In addition, the characters are portrayed with enough detail that you feel as if you knew them. The story is just the right length that I felt engaged at all times, never growing tired of the plot (which sometimes happens).

Honestly, I don't have much fault with the book at all. The only thing mildly confusing is when it swaps between Mezrich's and Kevin's point of views, just because I was using the audiobook and couldn't delineate until a bit into when the chapter actually starts (the timestamps give the best clue, I guess). Otherwise, I understand there are some factual errors (i.e. Terry's job and the actual NFL schedule does not line up, etc.) that might be actually intentional to disguise the identities of the players, or ease the storytelling. For instance, Micky Rosa is actually 3 people in real life. I understand there are quite a few considerations probably out of sight from the reader.

Final Review: 4.5/5. Honestly I haven't felt this engaged in a novel in quite a while, and it was a bonus that I was able to learn a bit about blackjack theory to go with it.

Bringing Down The House never failed to excite me. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. During the book, it mainly follows the character, Kevin Lewis. Kevin is a student at M.I.T. and is very smart. Just looking at Kevin, you would never think he has a brain of the power that he does. Even when you think there is a calmer more relaxing part of the book you get hit with a twist. For example, the book starts out with Kevin sitting at a blackjack table in Vegas. He had already made $30,000 that trip, and he couldn’t decide whether to pack it up and head back to Boston or put in another bet. But at that moment he receives the most dreaded signal he could get from his spotter. She ran her right hand through her hair. That meant, “get out, and now!” I don't know about you, but I was not expecting something that intense in the first chapter. In another Goodreads review, I saw Joe thinks that if casinos don’t want people to count cards, they should use an automatic shuffler or shuffle more frequently than they are now. I completely agree with this because counting cards are not illegal in any way and they should not be punished in any way. I am very surprised that Kevin goes through all of this hard work and taking so many chances to count cards. If you think about this, he doesn’t have to do this. He is very smart. If he graduates from M.I.T., he could get almost any job he wants, but he chooses to go to Vegas every weekend and risk his future. This fact just baffles me. This book isn’t for everyone. If you are someone who is uncomfortable with drugs or alcohol, I wouldn’t recommend reading this. I wouldn’t recommend it because there are multiple points where they talk about Kevin’s alcohol and drug addiction. Other than that if you like exciting and suspenseful books, I would recommend this book any day of the week.

After learning that a business associate and expert witness was one of the actual gambling team from MIT that inspired this book and the movie 21, I was eager to read the inside account. Turns out, as others have pointed out, the story has been fictionalized and embellished. My colleague appears nowhere in the book (unless he was one of the three "nameless Asians" that Ben Mezrich dismisses in a sentence). Fair enough, the author wants a sexier story than a group of Asian statisticians might offer. But if you're going to go for glitz and danger, then go all the way and give us Casino Royale. Instead, we get the worst of both worlds: all the verisimilitude of a late night movie on the USA network, all the excitement and intrigue of a worn copy of Hoyle's Rules of Gaming.

It couldn't keep me interested which is why it took me a month to read it off and on. The last 50 pages went a little faster. Just shows genius doesn't necessarily come with good judgement.

Really enjoyed this book as Mezrich is an excellent story-teller. It was a bit wordy at times and read like a fiction book, but overall I really enjoyed it. Having now read the book, I wish the movie more closely followed the book as the story was more fascinating than what is depicted in the movie.

Excellent Book! Really enjoyed reading it! Fast moving action with chapters that really flowed, telling a great story and putting you right in the middle of the scenes.
From Boston and MIT to the Vegas strip numerous times with adventures to other casinos in Chicago, Louisiana, riverboats, the Bahamas.
a bit of dip into the underbelly of Vegas and gambling as things started to unwind as the team was being ID'd in numerous casinos. Obviously, there was communication between Casinos. The group then was risking more and more to try to continue- even bodily injury as it progressed, causing them to reevaluate where they were and how to keep going. Ultimately, leading to a divide and split in the team.
Again, I enjoyed it. Would recommend reading it! I don't think you need a background in or understanding of the gambling culture. That is kind of how Kevin Lewis got into it, too. Brings you a long as he is learning.

A very entertaining read about the escapades of a group of MIT students using their God-given gifts to take down the casino's in Vegas, and eventually elsewhere.

Ben Mezrich's writing is fast paced and puts you in the moment of the excitement of Vegas. Some GR's reviewers have indicated that pieces of the story are fabricated. I have no idea if that is fact, or just someone who has a grudge against the author, or key players in the book. It is apparent there are people out there who would have liked to seen these kids prosecuted. Too bad, for the casino's, card counting is not illegal. The only option open to casino's is to ban the player.

Fast paced, quick read-I liked it