Others say...

"Not that great"
Technically, this is not a sequel to Bringing Down the House. The characters are different, and they are not card counters. Yet this story of MIT kids who used a new system to gain an advantage (and millions) playing blackjack feels very much like Bringing Down the House II. There's the genius leader, the beautiful girl, and the brilliant kid who's the main character in the story and writes the afterword. There's blackjack, Vegas, Atlantic City, and even a trip to the Caribbean gone awry.

Obviously, Mezrich found a winner with his previous bestselling book and here he simply tried to duplicate his successful formula. Unfortunately, the result feels a little like painting by the numbers -- unoriginal and uninspired.


"A good tale"
If you like cards and are looking for a book that will keep you turning the pages, look no further. Don't even worry about how much is fact or fiction, just enjoy the ride.

Centered around a group of MIT math whizzes who decide to take Vegas, Atlantic City, Monte Carlo and other casino hotspots for a ride, this is a great look at the allure of of beating casinos at their own game. Some of it seems a bit unbelievable, but that doesn't mean it's not true. First and foremost in this writer's mind, however, is to keep the reader engaged, and he does that with a tale that reads like a movie.

Everyone knows gambling favors the house, and anyone who gambles loves to hear tales of the house taking a hit. Here are some of the greatest hits those casinos have ever taken. And yes, the techniques are revealed. Do they work? Only if you have the guts to try them.

"A fun book"
This was my first experience with Ben Mezrich and won't be my last. This book was fast-paced and the "based on a true story" part of it definitely helped.

The only problem I had with it was when Mezrich attempted to make himself a character and wrote about his exploits meeting the books main character. These chapters are unnecessary and I'm unsure whether he did it to add lenght or to make himself appear cool.

Other than these few incidents, this book is well-structured, fun, and definitely worth the $5 for the hardcover. I also enjoy playing cards, so that aspect obviously attracted me to the book.

Overall, a great read.

"Bust is right"
Ben Mezrich has made a career of glamorizing geeks as they go from nerdy ivy-league academic overachievers to boyz with toyz (girls, guns, and cash). Along the way as he crafted his page-turners, folks suspect that his earlier career as a novelist is informing or overshadowing his latter career as a Tom Wolfe-journalist of hidden subcultures.

In "Breaking Vegas" (BV) he continues with his well-honed formula, but as transparent as Mezrich's style and agenda may be, he writes a great book. BV follows the arc of the career of Russian émigré and MIT student Semyon Dukach as he and his team mates deploy three probability enhancing strategies over "basic strategy" (Blackjack's -2% probability equivalent optimal strategy). Along the way they meet thugs, casino "hosts," Police, prostitutes, and druggies, making the whole thing as atmospheric as any memory of Vegas you may have.

There are many irritating elements in the work: Mezrich's breast-fetishism for one (not a single female appears in the book without her breasts being described!). But the single most irritating is how much of a "math genius" Semyon is. It is an old literary trope...keep referring to your character as a genius, even if they do ordinary things...surround the character with folks who laud his/her genius...and eventually the reader believes you even if you haven't shown him to be genius. The techniques described in this work are no more genius beyond Statistics 102, and the skills employed are fully confessed to have been honed by sheer repetition, so where's the beef? A competent close-up magician of average intelligence could do this...genius it does not take.

But make no mistake, the book is a fun read. Those parts that are true are interesting and those parts that are embellished, compressed, or narrative devices are all forgivable.

"Feels like a companion-piece to "Bringing Down the House"; an incomplete story"
I thoroughly enjoyed Mezrich's first "Vegas" novel and couldn't wait to finally read this second novel, about the guy who came first and is supposed to have been the most successful of the MIT "Whiz Kids". From everything I have read and seen about Semyon Dukach, his story seems incredible and ripe for both literary and cinematic glory. However, this novel rushes past all of the good times and comped shows, rooms, tickets, etc and goes straight to the team getting busted and finally the inevitable breakdown of the team. The true story goes on with Semyon forming his own team and continuing to make millions with his "Amphibians" team, but this story just sort of ends before we get there; no mention at all of Semyon continuing to play. Mezrich also writes as if you have read Bringing Down the House (though I am sure most who read this will have), skipping a lot of details or just skimming over them as if you're glancing through a text book minutes before a test; you'll remember a lot from the first book, but feel like something was just....left out.

I know I spent this whole review bagging on the book, but it was a good read. If you enjoyed Bringing Down the House, you will enjoy