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Bringing Down The House, Ben Mezrich
Arrow Books
Reviewed by Hal Williams (Courtesy of Taranaki Daily News)

Ben Mezrich appears to be a bit of a phenomenon in publishing terms. He graduated from Harvard in 1991, and in the interim has written six novels and two non-fiction books.

In this, the first of his non-fiction efforts, he recounts the story of a group of MIT students who form a card-counting syndicate and hit the blackjack tables of Las Vegas.

It's a bit complicated to explain here, but blackjack (pontoon or 21 to non-gamblers) is supposed to be the one casino game that's "beatable" if you keep track of the cards. The students do just that – and bite MGM Grand, New York, the Luxor and the rest on the bum.

Their success is extraordinary – and so is the reaction of the casinos. Card counting is not illegal, but casino bosses don't like people who tamper with the established "place your bets – gee, too bad – better luck next time" formula. Winning consistently is seen as cheating, no matter how much skill is involved.

Vegas is soon too small for Mezrich's young heroes, and sure enough the whole thing eventually falls apart. But not before the MIT students make a killing, and Mezrich jumps on their coat-tails to ring up a last few dollars.

Mezrich's second non-fiction effort, Ugly Americans, was reviewed in The Daily News before this debut effort. The order is unimportant, but to read one Mezrich non-fiction book is to substantially devalue the pleasure that can be derived from the next.
This is an author who writes to a formula and takes care not to stray from his safe little recipe of "what works".

It's effective, in a slightly bland way, the first time around. The second time is deja vu at the cookie factory – plop ... here comes another one. Americans are quick to spot success and tend to bottle and preserve it before it escapes. They have yet to realise that to bottle and preserve something, you have to kill it first.

But if you haven't already sickened of the Mezrich flavour, and have an interest in blackjack or dreams of breaking the bank at Vegas, this book is worth a read.