Amazing black jack book. Definitely a must read.

A lot of bull**** in this book.

Much like Vegas, this book is a lot of flash but not that much substance. It's a clever read about a group of students that create a way to beat the casino system but then encounter a darker side to that system and it reads quickly but it's not necessarily a book that I'd recommend or pick up again and again. Good beach non fiction reading, perhaps.

Busting Vegas: A True Story of Monumental Excess, Sex, Love, Violence, and Beating the Odds by Ben Mezrich (William Morrow Paperbacks 2005) (364.172). A group of students from MIT bring a new system to town for beating the table in blackjack. This is a rags to riches to rags cautionary tale. But it's a fun and informative read. My rating: 7/10, finished 2/4/2010.

Thrilling

I checked this out from the library because I saw the trailer for a new movie coming out that is somewhat based on it (21 is the title). I figured I've enjoyed this sort of story in the past, so I'd give it a try.

This book is alright. Not great, but not bad either. The core story is pretty good, but I found the author's technique of inserting himself into the story (he devotes chapters to his "interviews" - which I am finding is a hallmark of his books) a bit pretentious and obnoxious.

Still and all, this was a book I read in an evening, and it's fine for what it is.

Great read with good pacing, great descriptive work, and insight into the character’s emotional states as the adventure unfolded.

Busting Vegas is the interesting true life story of a group of MIT students who developed a Black Jack system that allowed them to 'Bust Vegas'. Not only is it an interesting tale, but it is told in such a way that it actually reads like fiction, which has both pros and cons.

One of the main problems with non-fiction book is that it can at times get a little tedious and hard to read. A fiction narrative is usually much more engaging and easier to follow. Writing a non-fiction book to read like fiction helps with this. When you read this novel it is hard not to get invested in the characters, their relationships and the issues that they face. This helps to keep the pages turning, holds my interest, and makes the whole experience more pleasurable.

However, the problem with reading a book that reads like fiction is that it's hard not to think that it might actually be fiction. A lot of this book uses famous tropes found in fiction novels that depict this subject matter. It also comes complete with a will they won't they romance that has its ups and downs, characters whose relationships follow familiar patterns, and a general story-beat that is fairly easy to predict if you've watched or read anything regarding this subject matter before.

There are a few areas in this book, especially with the relationships on the team and some personal interactions, that I can't imagine being true in the way that they were told. I suspect that the author took some creative license with this which is all well and good, but makes you wonder where the author drew the line between fact and fiction.

However, that being said, this is just a suspicion I have and not an accusation. For now, I am content to just call it a mostly true story and leave it at that.

Speaking a bit to one of my issues with the story itself, it would be in the way the author glamourized the accomplishments of this group. The group are portrayed often as being one of the most successful groups to get one over on the casinos. However, the story is told over a very short time period in which they run into a great number of fairly serious road bumps, to put it mildly. This leads me to believe that this group can't be amongst the most successful groups doing what they do. I am sure that there must be people out there who are a bit more clever about how they go about it, people who have managed to win just enough without getting greedy and drawing the attention of the casinos; people who have been at this for years rather than just a matter of weeks or months.

However, this minor niggle isn't much of a downside. Overall, this is a fascinating story as well as a cautionary tale. It has been well written, it was engaging, and most of all, it was enjoyable.

It's an easy 4-stars for this book and I can happily recommend it.

This is the story of a different "advanced" MIT blackjack group by the same author as "Bringing Down the House." While it is not a sequel to the first book, it is an enjoyable novel. I didn't like it as much as BHtH because their system seemed to be too advanced and it was the same kinda of plot line as the first book. A fun book to read before a Vegas trip.

Hard to get past the badly written text.

This book was okay but I felt it wasn't any different at all from Bringing Down the House, which I read a few years back and loved. The dialogue isn't that great and while I found some chapters interesting I just couldn't help but find myself thinking, "I already read this book. This is basically the exact same book as Bringing Down the House." Kind of predictable as well. Maybe if you haven't read Bringing Down the House you'll like this more.

excellent. well written and fast paced. i have seen the movie 21 that was based on this book and this book was fun to read after seeing the movie. a good style of writing and informative without being too geeky/techno. made me want to gamble. highly recommend and i will be looking for more of his books immediately.