BOOK NOTES by Dr. Joan Ruddiman
What do geeky MIT kids do for fun?
They take Vegas for millions.
"Bringing Down the House" is Ben Mezrich’s first work of non-fiction. But this New York Times Best Seller reads like a wild action thriller, full of gaming coups, Vegas girls, and tough guys galore.
Then there are the geeks.
Mezrich, a Harvard man himself, was introduced to "Kevin Lewis" by mutual friends. "He has a story you’d love."
In chapters that move from present time, back through Kevin’s four years as a card counter, Mezrich captures the thrills and extreme chills of how MIT brains work the blackjack tables.
First lesson: blackjack can be beaten.
Second lesson: card counting is not illegal.
Third lesson: don’t try this unless you have an MIT brain.
Lewis was the perfect mark for Marty’s special club. He was a standout among extraordinary minds at MIT, drifting along with an engineering major that wasn’t that challenging. He kept himself busy monitoring the numbers in the lab, swimming fiercely for the team and his own sanity and visiting Mom and Pop out in Weston.
When he learned of a group of MIT kids who were into card counting tricks, he was intrigued. In the darkened classroom under Marty’s intense tutelage, his math mind was fascinated. After the "test" in a clandestine Chinatown casino, he was hooked.
Kevin, with about six others, formed a successful team that spent weekends in Vegas and weekdays on the Boston campus. After he graduated, Kevin got a real job, but continued the gambling junkets with the team.
In one night he could make rent on his apartment for a year. He had so much money he stashed it under clothes in the laundry basket, fearing a major change in his lifestyle or financial holdings would alert his father to his nefarious doings.
But the money wasn’t the draw. Beating the dealer with six decks in the shoe was the thrill.
In alternating chapters set in present day, Mezrich interviews Kevin’s old acquaintances and gets behind the scenes of how casinos track the players and their money. With a hint of things to come, Mezrich interviews an odd recluse who designs some of the high-tech weapons aimed at players like Kevin. The Eye in the Sky has become an increasingly sophisticated system of computerized cameras, one with facial recognition software.
"Pretty soon they’ll be scanning every face that comes through the front doors, and matching them with even bigger data bases. They’ll know if you’re a high roller, a frequent guest, a wanted criminal or a cheat."
Then there’s thermography. Every face gives off a distinct heat image. And gait. How a person walks is as identifiable as fingerprints.
Ironically, the designer of these new casino toys is a math geek like Kevin.
As much has he loved the high life, the comps for the 4,000-square foot suites, tickets to the fights, attention of gorgeous women, Kevin never gave up his day job to the dismay of Fischer and Martinez who did play for real. Card counting was their only means of support. (It needs to be noted that both Fischer and Martinez dropped out of MIT.)
As the double life started to wear on him, Kevin became more aware of the problems in the team and their system. Though card counting really isn’t illegal, the casinos are vigilant in rooting them out. Once barred, a counter is done with that casino and others. The casinos, they learn, share information.
To avoid detection, the counters work in teams. One member starts at a table and keeps a count not of every card but a general running count of highs and lows. When the laws of probability (ah, math!) suggest the low cards are out and high cards are coming, a signal to the floor spotter brings another player to the table. Wild behavior, drinks in hand, tell the dealer this is just another crazy casino nut betting wild.
But the kid wins. A lot. "Hey, what luck!" he exclaims as the chips are scooped up, with no one the wiser that the drunken kid knew exactly what he was doing.
The team, besides all being math brains, was of mixed ethnicity. Kevin, like several others, is part Asian his mom a mix of Irish and Taiwanese. Each member of the team created an array of aliases different names, family histories, styles and accents. How they could keep it all straight was a mighty feat in itself.
It seemed only a matter of time before they were outed and then what?
"Bringing Down the House" is too much an action thriller to give away the ending. The high life Kevin enjoyed comes to an end. But you know that from page one (of Chapter Two actually) as he "gives it up" to Mezrich. But you’ll want to know how he gets there and how he walks away.
The wild ride and crash ending make for a great story, and quite a modern moral tale.
Joan Ruddiman, Ed.D., is a teacher and friend of the Allentown Public Library.