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Busting Vega$
by Ben Mezrich
The book tells the true story of a MIT whiz kid, Semyon Dukach, who brought the
casinos to knees with a couple of precise blackjack techniques. Semyon's student
life is a lot more interesting and different than most students', no wonder this
book was written. At moments it's a bit more like a thriller. There is sufficient
arrogance, fear, sex, love, drugs and statistics for a good mix of amusement.
If you want to know how to beat the casino at blackjack, the techniques that Semyon
and co used are discussed at a high level. I'm sure it will need a lot of refinement
and practice though, should you intend using them. None of the techniques involve
'traditional' card counting and can only be applied at land based casinos. The casinos
have obviously become aware of these techniques and are expecting them now. Groups
applying these techniques would need to be more subtle when applying them. Yes,
you need a group to get maximum return. I reckon if this group was less greedy and
just a bit more low key, they could still be using these techniques to make good
money. They were serious high rollers with a performance that completed their scam.
I call it a scam, they call it an honest way of beating the casino. I don't think
looking at the back card is honest.
Although the book is about Semyon and his experience, the master mind and leader
of the group is Victor. The book was obviously written under Semyon's guidance and
instruction, but I suspect he gets more glory than may be due to him and Victor's
role may be downplayed a little. Without Victor there would be no story to tell.
Even so, hats off to the entire group for committing to their system. They clearly
are all very talented and determined people. I couldn't draw many personal parallels
to any of the stories or characters, beside from having been to Vegas where I experienced
a different kind of luck. There was one thing that was all too familiar though -
the fact that you can plan as much as you like, to the most granular detail, but
it's the one little thing that you couldn't imagine in your wildest dream that will
sink your ship.
The author's storytelling ability is phenomenal, considering this is non-fiction.
This is a sweet read for anyone, except if your sole purpose is to know how to beat
the casino, in that case you would need to skip over the storytelling bits. You
need to know basic blackjack strategy and some casino lingo to get the maximum effect.
In the afterword, Semyon discusses the techniques and encourages us to use them.
I suppose it's his own little way of getting back at the 'evil' casinos.
About the Author:
Ben Mezrich is the author of eight books including the bestseller Bringing down
the house and Ugly americans. He lives in Boston.
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Sports Betting |
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