21: Bringing Down the House is subtitled “The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions.” Author Ben Mezrich taps into our fascination with Las Vegas, and our deep-seated (though completely unfounded) belief that it is possible to outthink a casino game. Mezrich’s writing is high-octane and accessible — the movie script was already dancing in his head.

The book follows Kevin Lewis’ experience with an MIT blackjack team that played Vegas in the early 1990s. Lewis was part of a small group of card counters, using a system of signals to win big at blackjack in casinos across the country. There are enough details of the students’ card-counting operation to engage and keep us interested without requiring an advanced degree in mathematics or anything beyond a basic understanding of the game. The real draw is the exploration of Lewis’ remarkable double life in which he was an MIT student during the week, and a casino high-roller, with all of the accompanying perks, on the weekend. The paperback edition, issued as a companion to the movie 21, includes an interview with Jeff Ma, the real Kevin Lewis, and Mezrich’s principal informant

Mezrich has followed up 21 with Busting Vegas, Ugly Americans and Rigged, each of which takes the same biographical approach to exposing the inner workings of a complicated financial system, understood by few and manipulated for profit by even fewer. In addition, Kevin Spacey recently produced 21, a movie based on the book, starring Jim Sturgess (Across the Universe) and Kate Bosworth. The movie takes considerable liberties with the story, but is engrossing and worth a look.

For an intimate view of the thrill and dangers of counting cards to win big in Vegas, check out Ben Mezrich’s 21: Bringing Down the House.

John Jewitt – Savage Branch