Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions

Ben Mezrich’s nonfiction book, Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions (2002), details the experience of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students who used card-counting techniques to beat the odds at casinos in Las Vegas. 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. Kevin Lewis is not his real name, and he is not drunk—it’s an act. Up $30,000, he is being pressured by the dealer to make a decision on the cards. Kevin looks across the room to his “spotter,” a young woman who signals him in specific ways. He is shocked to see the signal that he has never seen before: the signal that means “get out immediately.”

Kevin gathers his winnings and the duffel bag under his chair, making for the exit and just barely getting out before casino security catches up with him. Jill, the spotter, a fellow student at MIT, soon joins him.



The story flashes back to Kevin’s arrival at MIT. 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.

They introduce Kevin to Mickey Rosa, the wealthy man who founded the MIT Blackjack Team. 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 then discover that Mickey Rosa has established another blackjack team without their knowledge. Angry, the team tells Rosa that they don’t want or need him to run them anymore; they’re going independent. Fisher, elected the new leader of the group, begins organizing their trips. The team starts to get sloppy, taking risks and overlooking details.

One night at the MGM Grand casino, the team is doing well and has amassed $200,000 in chips. However, when Mike Tyson bites off Evander Holyfield’s ear in the fight hosted there, a riot breaks out, and people steal chips from the casino. 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.



The team discovers $50,000 in unclaimed chips. 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 to launch his own team, as do Fisher and Martinez. When both teams hit the MGM, Fisher tries to bully Kevin off, but Kevin keeps his team there. When Kevin returns with his team to their apartment, they discover a wall safe containing $70,000 has been stolen. 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.