Bleeding Las Vegas
By Charlene Peters/ [email protected]
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Even after 85 years of legalized gambling, Las Vegas - home of the Hoover Dam, topless showgirls, Elvis impersonators and "quickie" weddings - offers new stories to tell.
On Sunday, Nov. 12, 5 p.m., as Jewish Book Month continues at the JCC in Marblehead, Ben Mezrich, author of "Bringing Down the House," will share his personal high-action adventures in beating the casinos at blackjack with a group of M.I.T. high rollers.
It all began during a Super Bowl party in 1999, when Mezrich, a Harvard graduate and Boston resident, connected with Kevin Lewis (a pseudonym), an M.I.T. prodigy who wanted to share his story of card counting and signaling in Las Vegas. When Lewis approached Mezrich to write about his experience, he asked the author to step into his shoes, at least partially.
Mezrich did what any good writer would do - he put himself in the place of his main character, stuffed $250,000 underneath his clothes ($25,000 taped to each thigh), and in adrenaline frenzy, walked through the airport terminal at Logan Airport.
The outcome of this experience, and then some, led him to write "Bringing Down the House," which is soon to be made into a movie with the working title of "21," directed by Robert Luketic of "Legally Blonde" fame and starring Kevin Stacey. The story focuses on a group of M.I.T. whiz kids who take Las Vegas and many other casinos by storm, legally earning close to $3 million dollars by the time the casinos banned them from playing any more hands of blackjack, the only beatable casino game, according to the author.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless you're Ben Mezrich
...more - (Dead link: http://www2.townonline.com/swampscott/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=605766)
By Charlene Peters/ [email protected]
Thursday, November 2, 2006
Even after 85 years of legalized gambling, Las Vegas - home of the Hoover Dam, topless showgirls, Elvis impersonators and "quickie" weddings - offers new stories to tell.
On Sunday, Nov. 12, 5 p.m., as Jewish Book Month continues at the JCC in Marblehead, Ben Mezrich, author of "Bringing Down the House," will share his personal high-action adventures in beating the casinos at blackjack with a group of M.I.T. high rollers.
It all began during a Super Bowl party in 1999, when Mezrich, a Harvard graduate and Boston resident, connected with Kevin Lewis (a pseudonym), an M.I.T. prodigy who wanted to share his story of card counting and signaling in Las Vegas. When Lewis approached Mezrich to write about his experience, he asked the author to step into his shoes, at least partially.
Mezrich did what any good writer would do - he put himself in the place of his main character, stuffed $250,000 underneath his clothes ($25,000 taped to each thigh), and in adrenaline frenzy, walked through the airport terminal at Logan Airport.
The outcome of this experience, and then some, led him to write "Bringing Down the House," which is soon to be made into a movie with the working title of "21," directed by Robert Luketic of "Legally Blonde" fame and starring Kevin Stacey. The story focuses on a group of M.I.T. whiz kids who take Las Vegas and many other casinos by storm, legally earning close to $3 million dollars by the time the casinos banned them from playing any more hands of blackjack, the only beatable casino game, according to the author.
What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas, unless you're Ben Mezrich
...more - (Dead link: http://www2.townonline.com/swampscott/artsLifestyle/view.bg?articleid=605766)