Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich - a Book Review

Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich is an exceptional novel. It is about Kevin Lewis, a smart kid from MIT in Boston. His roommates come up to him one day and ask him to join their team, but they don't tell him what exactly their team does. They take him to Atlantic City, and when they arrive, his roommates (Martinez and Fisher) are treated royally by the hotel staff. They go up to their rooms, then meet in the casino at the hotel to hit the tables.

When they all meet up, Martinez leads Kevin into the high stakes section of the casino. They sit down at a blackjack table, and Martinez is dealt a hand. Kevin just watches. Martinez bets the minimum of the table for a while. Once the deck is shuffled again, he begins betting a bit bigger. Kevin seems to notice that he only bets big on the hands that he wins. Kevin sits down and is dealt in. Martinez tells him when to bet big, and when to hold off. When they leave, Martinez has won about $8,000. Kevin has made just over 600 dollars. Kevin asks Martinez how they did that and Martinez says that he was shuffle tracking. Shuffle tracking is when you watch as the dealer shuffles and track certain cards of interest. Martinez asks Kevin to join their team.

Kevin decides to join. The rest of the story is history. Kevin and his team all learn how to count cards, shuffle track, cut to aces, and basically... win.

This book is really interesting. It taught me to count cards, and I posted up a video teaching you. I really loved this book and would rate it a ten out of ten. This book should not be read by any person below the age of fifteen because of its foul language and immature comments. Though this book it good, it is not for everyone. If you are someone who knows how to and constantly does "beat the system" this is your book. If not, you probably want a different book. This book's dialogue is a bit complicated, and keeping track of times and dates takes a bit of effort. You never know when you are going to jump from the present to the past.

This book is good. If you like trying to beat the system, this one is for you. I loved this book, and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.