FREE BRINGING DOWN THE HOUSE: THE INSIDE STORY OF SIX MIT STUDENTS WHO TOOK VEGAS FOR MILLIONS PDF

Ben Mezrich | 320 pages | 06 May 2004 | Cornerstone | 9780099468233 | English | London, United Kingdom 21, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions In the movie 21an unorthodox math professor named Micky Rosa Kevin Spacey leads the team. The 21 true story reveals that the real MIT Blackjack Team was led by three individuals, none of whom were professors. Arguably, the most notable is Bill Kaplan, a Harvard Business school graduate who had also done his undergraduate studies at Harvard. John Chang and J. Massar were also very much the basis for 21 's Micky Rosa. Massar, and John Chang, the fact is there is little, if anything, that resembles either of us except that he started and ran the team and Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions focused on running the team as a business," says Bill Kaplan. John Chang graduated from MIT in with a degree in electrical engineering. An influential member of the original team, Chang would later re-team with Bill Kaplan as a co-manager in the early s. Massar "Mr. M" in the History Channel documentary Breaking Vegas was an MIT alum who had helped Kaplan manage the original team in the early s, shortly after the first casinos opened in Atlantic City. Jeff Ma, the real life Ben Campbell, came from a well-to-do family. One of the reasons I ended up not going to Harvard Medical School is because of blackjack and all the money I could make there. Former team leader John Chang said that the movie's scholarship interview is a plot device that "never happened" in real life. You know that Campbell never gets to keep what he made — otherwise, why would he be applying? The real Jeff Ma Ben from the movie says that his father is very much alive and well, unlike the character's father in the movie. His parents and his sister were his guests at the 21 movie premiere at Planet Hollywood in Las Vegas. Their Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions life counterparts, Jeff Ma and Jane Willis, were never a couple. In fact, Jane and her boyfriend, who were both "math geeks," were recruited by Jeff Ma in the early s. Jeff knew them and had been friends with both of them. Jane Willis and her boyfriend later married and divorced. Inshe got remarried to Rich Davey. Their wedding was held in a Catholic church located behind the Tropicana and across from the Mandalay Bay casinos in Las Vegas. The movie shows the characters talking on cell phones and playing blackjack at the Red Rock and Planet Hollywood casinos, which didn't open until andrespectively. The 21 true story reveals that the real MIT Blackjack Team, on which the movie was based, played in the early s. It was started by Bill Kaplan part of the inspiration for Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions Spacey's characterwho founded the team on the same business principles and practices that he had employed in starting and running a Vegas based team for the previous three years. One of the players we trained in late and was John Chang. In addition to presenting a variety of strategies for success at blackjack, it also includes Thorp's "Basic Strategy" chart. Learn how to use the chart to make decisions when playing blackjack. The movie falsely makes the team out to be an MIT only club. In reality, there were members from other schools, including Harvard and Princeton. In the movie, we're expected to believe that Micky Rosa Kevin Spacey provided the startup money for the team. In real life, the team leaders J. Creating a company allowed the team to recruit its players and raise venture capital as a legal entity. The money came from past players and the team leaders, including Bill Kaplan, who says that he also received investment capital from his former college roommate, a number of his Havard Business School sectionmates, and other friends and family. The company is further explored in the History Channel documentary Breaking Vegaswhich also examines the rigorous "checkouts" that the players had to endure. Masser "Mr. M" in the documentary required that players be able to play through 10 shoes, while only making a limited number of counting mistakes. Strategic Investments LP disbanded on December 31, as the result of banned players, long losing streaks, and a lack of time due to more profitable business opportunities in the real estate market Bill Kaplan. Shortly after SI was terminated, one of its former players, Semyon Dukach, created his own team, which employed 60 players in 5 cities. Semyon's team operated under the guise Amphibian Investments. The movie 21 and Ben Mezrich's book, Bringing Down the Housewere both based on a smaller team that was an offshoot of Amphibian Investments. The movie shows Ben using flash cards to practice the various code words, which were used to represent the count. The Spotter conveys the count to the Big Player by casually using the code word in a sentence. However, after this point, the odds are in your favor. It is okay to bet semi-recklessly. Thorp's book was the team's blackjack Bible. The book's "Basic Strategy" chart reveals a set of mathematically correct decisions to employ when playing blackjack view the "Basic Strategy" chart. Mike Aponte, who the Fisher character is based on, addressed this question by saying, "There are some parts in the book where I just scratch my head because obviously Ben Mezrich, the author, took artistic liberties. Martinez, [Jeff Ma] and I had a friend who was king of the Asian nightclub scene. On Chinese New Year, he invited us to a private party in Chinatown. When we arrived, we saw they had a few blackjack tables set up. It wasn't much, but they were playing for real money. Despite various voices on the internet coming out against the movie's mostly white, non-Asian cast some Facebook users have even called for a boycott of the filmthe real MIT Blackjack Team's former members were not offended. Mike Aponte, the basis for the Fisher character, says that they did carry most of the money on their persons when going through airport security. This is because cash was easily recognized by security through the x-ray machine. If they had a lot of chips, they stored them in carry-on bags. Mike says that security usually didn't realize the number of chips that were actually there BlackJackInfo. Ben Mezrich's book Bringing Down the House describes much more elaborate techniques that the players used to smuggle money. The methods include using fake umbrellas, laptop computers, plaster casts and hollow crutches. The author even quotes the book's main character, Kevin Lewis, whose real life counterpart is Jeff Ma. But Ma said that he never described such techniques to Mezrich, or knew of anyone using them. Jeff Ma said that the first time that he had heard of such cloak-and-dagger tactics was when he read Mezrich's book. In an interview with Quint from Ain't It Cool NewsJeff Ma, the real life individual on whom the movie's main character is based, said the following, "I realized it's not really a movie about me. It's not like an autobiographical documentary about my life. It's a cool movie about stuff that we did and a lot of the stuff that we did is very on point and true in the movie, but the storyline has changed quite a bit. I think what it does do well though is it captures the excitement of what we pulled off during our playing days. Mezrich's book has faced scrutiny. Ben Mezrich began his literary career writing techno-thriller fiction. Students Who Took Vegas for Millionson which the movie 21 is based, has faced scrutiny for its embellishment and massaging of the facts that make up the MIT Blackjack Team's true story. Mezrich attempted to defend such accusations by saying, "Every word on the page isn't supposed to be fact-checkable. In the movie, Ben's weekends as a high roller nearly cause him to lose his two closest friends, who no longer want him to participate Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions them in a robotics competition. Former MIT team leader John Chang responded to this scene in his blog by saying, "Starting from the part where Ben loses control at the Red Rock and loses K, the movie takes off on a tangent that has no resemblance to reality. Our players were far too disciplined to even think of doing something like that. As I see it, that entire scene is a plot device to end the movie - create a conflict between Campbell and Rosa that leads up to the switcheroo finale. In the movie, Cole Williams Laurence Fishburne is a casino security expert who investigates the team. Fishburne's character was not specifically based on any single real life individual. The 21 movie's true story reveals that the real MIT Blackjack Team was investigated by Griffin Investigationsa security agency that had been used by casinos worldwide. Andy Anderson, a tall silver-haired man who worked for Griffin, followed the team for four to five years and played a major role in exposing their strategy Breaking Vegas. As a result, several Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions the MIT team members were black-booked Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions Griffin. Their faces landed in the Griffin Book, a dossier of photos distributed to casinos around the world Breaking Vegas. These players are usually allowed on the casino floor, but are forbidden to go near the blackjack tables. Similarly, in Ben Mezrich's book Breaking Vegaswe find the Fisher character beaten bloody in the bathroom of a Bahamian casino. Mike Aponte, the real life Fisher, says that he was never beaten up in a casino anywhere The Boston Globe. John Chang, part of the inspiration for Kevin Spacey's character, said, "You might wonder, are the books true? Put yourself in [book writer] Mezrich's place. He wants to sell books. If he makes up a few lurid details, well, who's going to object? So, let's beat up one of the players. In fact, let's make him swallow a chip. In the book, Micky is the one who comes up with the idea. In reality, it never happened at all. Who in their right mind would do that? John Chang says players did not party in the middle of a trip. No, at least not like we see in the movie, where characters use such vices to celebrate a big night. John Chang, one of Micky Rosa's real life counterparts, said that, to clarify the MIT Blackjack Team's true story, the players did not "drink, visit brothels or strip clubs, or play slots in the middle of trips. Our time was too valuable, and our focus too intense to bother. You'd be considered such a losing sucker if you did any of that. Mike Aponte, the real life Fisher, stated that "in contrast to what the book said, there was only one time that we, as a team, went to a strip joint. Typically, we were all business in Vegas, but after that record win we had to go out on the town and celebrate. Real MIT Blackjack Team - 21 Movie True Story

Uh-oh, it looks like your Internet Explorer is out of date. For a better shopping experience, please upgrade now. Javascript is not enabled in your browser. Enabling JavaScript in your browser will allow you to experience all the features of our site. Learn how to enable JavaScript on your browser. NOOK Book. Chapter One It was ten minutes past three in the morning, and Kevin Lewis looked like he was about to pass out. There were three empty martini glasses Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions the table in front of him, and he was leaning forward on both elbows, his gaze focused on his cards. The dealer was still feigning patience, in deference to the pile of purple chips in front of the martini glasses. But the other players were beginning to get restless. Hell, hadn't he won enough? What was a college senior going to do with thirty thousand dollars? The dealer, sensing the mood at the table, finally tapped the blackjack shoe. You've had a hell of a run. Are you in for another round? Truth be told, his name wasn't really Kevin. And he wasn't even slightly drunk. The red splotches on his cheeks had been painted on in his hotel room. And though thirty thousand dollars in chips was enough to make his hands shake, it wasn't something that would impress the people who really knew him. They'd be much more interested in the ratty duffel bag beneath his chair. Kevin breathed deeply, calming himself. He'd done this a hundred times, and there was no reason to think that tonight would be any different. He reached for three five-hundred-dollar chips, then glanced around, pretending to look for the cocktail waitress. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his Spotter. Red-haired, pretty, wearing a low-cut blouse and too much Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. Nobody would have guessed she was a former MIT mechanical-engineering major and an honors student at Harvard Business School. She was close enough to see the table but far enough away not to draw any suspicion. Kevin caught her gaze, then waited for her signal. A bent right arm would tell him to double his bet. Both arms folded and he'd push most of his chips into the betting circle. Arms flat at her sides and he'd drop down to the lowest possible bet. But she didn't do any of these things. Instead, she ran her right hand through her hair. Kevin stared at her, making sure he had read her right. Then he quickly started to gather his chips. He glanced at his Spotter again. Her hand was still deep in her red hair. In six months, Kevin had never seen a Spotter do that before. The signal had nothing to do with the deck, nothing to do with the precise running count that had won him thirty thousand dollars in under an hour. A hand in the hair meant only one thing. Get out. Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions moving. Kevin slung the duffel bag over his shoulder and jammed the purple chips into his pockets. The dealer was watching him carefully. Kevin was about to toss him a tip when he caught sight of the suits. Three of them, coming around the nearest craps table. Big, burly men with narrow eyes. No time for niceties. But he doubted they would make a scene. They were just trying to protect their money. Still, he didn't want to take any chances. Back rooms. Intimidation tactics. Sometimes even violence. No matter how many makeovers the town got, deep down, this was still Vegas. Tonight Kevin was lucky. He made it outside without incident, blending into the ever-present flow of tourists on the brightly lit Strip. A minute later, he was sitting on a bench at a neon-drenched cabstand across the street. The duffel bag was on his lap. The redhead from inside dropped onto the bench next to him, lighting herself a cigarette. Her hands were shaking. They came straight out of the elevators. They must have been upstairs watching the whole time. He was breathing hard. His chest was soaked in sweat. There was no better feeling in the world. Kevin smiled at her. My face is still good there. A little over one million dollars, all in hundreds: Kevin's bankroll, partially financed by the shadowy investors who recruited him six months before. They had trained him in mock casinos set up in ratty apartments, abandoned warehouses, even MIT classrooms. Then they had set him loose on the neon Strip. He was in Las Vegas, living the high life on a million dollars of someone else's money. Sooner or later, it might all come crashing down. But Kevin didn't really care. He hadn't invented the System. He was just one of the lucky few smart enough pull it off We beat the hell out of it. Author Ben Mezrich takes readers into the inner circle of the M. Using their unique system, this group of highly educated young men and women take Vegas for more than three million dollars. And it's all legal. Told from the perspective of amiable, attractive Kevin Lewis -- an M. Under the guidance of the mysterious mastermind and former M. Their success opens up a world where luxuries are comped and everyone -- whether a high-priced stripper or high-rolling celebrity -- is cheering them on. But shadows begin to appear in their neon lifestyle in the shape of casino managers who want to talk to them "downstairs" and an investigator who always seems to be one step ahead of the team. Within the group itself, tensions build and betrayal surfaces, and Kevin learns that "the most important decision a card counter ever has to make is the decision to walk away. Do you see the M. When reading the book, do you root for them to succeed? Discuss greed and its role in our society. Do you think it contributes to, or detracts from, the "American Dream"? If Kevin values his father's approval so much, why is it that he becomes a card counter -- a profession Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions which his father would not approve? Do you think Kevin is rebelling against the Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions of the studious, straight-laced Asian? If so, is he helping to perpetuate a new Asian stereotype -- that of the Asian gambler? Have you ever counted cards at a casino? If so, did it work? If not, would you try it now that you've read this book? Before you read this book, would you have considered card counting to be gambling? Would you have considered it illegal? What is your opinion about card counting now that you've read the book? The fact that these club members are Asian and of college age is significant in helping them avoid suspicion and dupe the casinos. Bringing Down the House (book) - Wikipedia

Students Who Took Vegas for Millions. A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality study guides that feature detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, quotes, and essay topics. Transform this Plot Summary into a Study Guide. Although based on a true story, only one character in the book is actually based on a single individual. As the book opens, Kevin Lewis is apparently drunk as he contemplates a hand of blackjack at a casino. Jill, the spotter, a fellow student at MIT, soon joins him. Very smart, Kevin has always done well in school, especially in mathematics, but desperate to impress his father, he suffers a great deal of anxiety. Kevin swims laps at the pool to release some stress. One day, while swimming, he is accosted by his roommates, Fisher and Martinez. They tell him to get out of the pool; they have someone important he has to meet. Rosa tells Kevin that he recruits the smartest students to join the team, which specializes in counting cards and other techniques to win big at the casinos in Las Vegas. Previous teams have won astounding amounts of money, and he thinks Kevin would be an ideal addition to the team. Kevin expresses interest despite not being familiar with blackjack; he understands that Rosa is talking about math and probability. Rosa insists Kevin pass several tests to prove his capabilities, which Kevin does easily. Kevin quickly masters blackjack, and the team begins regular visits to Las Vegas to play. They win every time, and Kevin finds himself with a lot of money on his hands. He begins living a flashy lifestyle, enjoying himself, although he has to keep much of it secret; only other members of the team can be trusted. He feels this most with his girlfriend, Felicia. She has remained at home; in addition to growing apart from her, Kevin also feels guilty about lying to her, so he breaks up with her. The team begins to talk among themselves about how much more money they could win if they had more members. Without consulting Rosa, they recruit Andrew Tay to the team, an extremely bright sophomore. They Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions discover that Mickey Rosa has established another blackjack team without their knowledge. Fisher, elected the new leader of the group, begins organizing their trips. The team starts to get sloppy, taking risks and overlooking details. As a result, the casino trades out all its high-value chips for new ones, which means that if the team tries to bring their chips in all at once, it will be very suspicious. Their chips are worthless. The team recruits six women to each take some of the chips and cash them in, offering them a percentage. This way they at least get some of the money back. Sometime later, Kevin is forced to exit a casino for the first time, having been spotted counting cards—as has Martinez. The team tries to go to other casinos, but they are barred from one after another because they are known to be card counters. They attempt to wear disguises to continue playing, but Martinez is recognized and threatened. Other attempts to gamble are also thwarted. Tasked with cashing them in, Kevin is stressed as the casino makes him wait a long time. He gets the money but is told to never come back. Mickey Rosa informs them they have been betrayed by someone on one of the teams and suggests they simply walk away. Kevin decides Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six MIT Students Who Took Vegas for Millions launch his own team, as do Fisher and Martinez. They consider quitting again. Kevin races to his own apartment to see if he has also been robbed, but everything is in place. He notices a man talking on a cell phone outside his apartment. An epilogue reveals that Kevin disbands the team and retires, although he still gambles and even counts cards sometimes.