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

Front Cover
Simon and Schuster, 2008 - Biography & Autobiography - 288 pages
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." And Bill Simmons of ESPN magazine exclaimed, "This book made me want to gamble! Vegas! Vegas!" 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 read.
 

Selected pages

Contents

THREE
11
SIX Boston October 1994
44
Boston October 1994
53
Las Vegas Present
60
Weston MA Thanksgiving 1994
91
THIRTEEN Chicago May 1995
107
FOURTEEN
114
TWENTYTWO Las Vegas Present Day
183
THIRTYONE Boston June 1998
240
THIRTYTWO Las Vegas Hard Rock Present Day
246
HOW TO COUNT CARDS
253

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About the author (2008)

Ben Mezrich was born in 1969 and received a degree in social studies from Harvard University in 1991. He originally wrote fiction, occasionally under the pseudonym Holden Scott, before switching to nonfiction. His nonfiction works include Ugly Americans, Busting Vegas, Rigged, and Sex on the Moon: The Amazing Story Behind the Most Audacious Heist in History. Two of his books were made into films. In 2008, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions was made into the film 21 and in 2010, The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a Tale of Sex, Money, Genius, and Betrayal was made into the film Social Network. He appeared on Court TV in the series High Stakes with Ben Mezrich and has hosted the World Series of Blackjack.

Bibliographic information