After finishing this book, I felt that it left a lot to think about, and a lot of questions to be had. But not necessarily in a good way... I felt that the author didn't give you enough information to give you a cliffhanger, or to establish any REALLY good points for discussion. It just ended too quickly, which is hard to stop for non-fiction books, but considering how well-written it was before, I was expecting more. On the other hand, I really enjoyed the book as a whole and this feeling might just be because it ended and I wish it just could have kept going.

With all of that aside, this book had a few good points of discussion, like how he had to use his morals to overpower the "American Dream" of getting rich quick when he knew it would end up badly for him. He was wanting to, but he understood that it would just end up badly for him.

I think overall this book was a really good read, although the ending left much to be desired. I think that I would give it a 6/10 because I was hooked on it for a while and then the end just extinguished a bit of my relish for it.

The end of the book really talked a lot about the American Dream. A group of college who are extremely smart go by with day to day work. Like Kevin they wanted excitement. Something different than what their parents wanted. Being on the team gave them and more. The American Dream now is more towards having a lot of money and living a good life. In the story that is exactly what they did. They took Vegas for all they could get before someone learned of them.
But, with the continuous gain of money the team had gotten created greed and no trust between the members. Because the team split apart into two groups and went their separate ways. This shows in the end that with the gain of money there also comes greed. In the book Fisher was greed and Kevin was the moderate. Fisher was also getting money but, he was the one who wanted more. He was the one kicked out the teacher who knew everything about Vegas and he was also the one who wanted to take a specific few with him who would put their all into the system. Kevin who had one foot in and one foot out didn't really need to gamble because he had a job that paid well. He was the one just wanted to have fun and not take it as seriously. This book takes the American Dream and puts it in the perspective of a college student just wanted more excitement. He found his American Dream just by gambling and making a good amount of money.

The end of this book definitely puts a damper on the current "American dream" of getting rich quick. In the end, the big players of the team get busted, the team falls apart, and there is distrust and a lack of loyalty among the team members. I feel like this reinforces the original concept of the American dream for these kids. If they are all so smart and talented, they should be working regular jobs and helping to better society, rather than living it up and making millions in Vegas. The later will inevitably come back to get them, whether it is police, people at the casinos, IRS audits, robberies, or their own team members betraying them. If they had made the most of their talents and gotten a lot of money, that would be fine, but they needed to know when to put an end to things before everything went sour. The card counting lifestyle also lead to tension in Jill and Dylan's relationship and they eventually got a divorce. What I feel like the end is telling us is that card counting and quick money is fun for a while, but eventually it will all come to a grinding halt, and can lead to some pretty big problems too, so the best way to go is with the get and education, a career, and a family American dream, because that will last much longer.
One thing I found sad, but also quite true, about this book is the lack of loyalty to others, and how it made friendship to seem like a false hope. First they booted Mickey from the team, and then Kevin. As soon as someone becomes too controlling, or they don't care enough, they're gone. Friendship seems irrelevant, and the only ones who are your friends are those who are useful to you. That is the only reason that Kevin, Martinez, and Fisher became friends with pit bosses and those kinds of people at the casinos; to use them. It was also alarming how (comparatively) little money it took someone to sell out all of their friends and team members to the casinos. I just thought it was kind of sad. Once again, if they had all just made a decent sum of money and then called it quits, they could potentially still be friends with each other.

An overview of bringing down the house.
          I think that this has been said a few times already, but what really makes this book so great is that if I was told that this book is completely fiction, I would have believed it. Its the fact that the events laid out in the story actually happened make it so exciting and enjoyable to read. It renewed my confidence that with will and ingenuity, the world is for my taking. If I apply my skills and make use of opportunity, I can excel and live a comfortable life. It won't be easy, but it can be done. The book gave that kind of vibe, up until the ending. I feel that the ending of the book was really sudden and left a lot of questions unanswered. Who betrayed the team? How long did the other teams play before they got in deep trouble? Who robbed Jill? The ending just didn't fit in the story, it didn't have the same intensity of the rest of the book. .In the ending I still see a modernistic message. In modernism there is a sense of being trapped in this world for 80 years then you die a lonely death,  no exceptions. In the end I think that this message comes across clearly. The PI firm Plymouth researching into them and eventually banning them from every casino they set foot in, as well as the IRS audits really have a depressing tone compared to Kevin's previous events. While trying to live the american dream, there are others above you who will hold you down by force to make sure they secure their own fortune. Its like a few groups have made the american dream impossible by stepping on the heads of achieving individuals, and those powerful groups will not be easily unseated. There is also an underlying message to know your place in the world. A group of 20 some year old kids shouldn't be sucking Vegas dry, they belong in the working class, and if they stray from that position, there will be a price to pay. The book really shoots down the American dream in the end.

         

I thought it was interesting how cavalier Kevin is throughout the book. Even when things go downhill for the team he still is addicted and won't stop he thinks he is invincible. Even though he keeps telling himself to be careful and views himself as the most level headed of the team he still acts really without much thought. I think this tells us a lot about human nature and how we view ourselves. It is a lot like in "To Build a Fire" because the man in that story also is unconcerned with his survival simply because he's a man (in the human sense of the word rather than gender). Where as Throueau might say that humans genius is the only thing we have to survive I think based on this book it shows that really human's instincts are flawed and should not be followed. Every thing in our book is calculated and set up, planned weeks in advance and thats when it works but whenever someone deviates from the plan or acts on instinct thing go aery. Another connection I made from the book was in the whole is the american dream a false hope or not question. Basically the entire concept of the book goes against the american dream, kids going to a weekend of partying in Vegas to get rich, completely the opposite of working hard to get rich. Not only that but Kevin even turns his back on his family to pursue this path. Kevin deals with this for a bit by keeping his job but even then his real love is for the cards. It seems that the american dream has really morphed from work hard to get rich to just get rich, however you can. While what they are doing is a moral dilemma I personally agree that it's totally just. The students are just using their skills to get what they want they aren't changing the game at all. It's just the same as other "careers" it's like being a model not everyone can be a model its a matter of genetics, not everyone can be a genius some people are just born with a math or science brain so why should they be barred from using their abilities? That being said I think the MIT team is incredibly stupid. It's such an old thing for people who start getting rich get a little too cocky and then it all goes wrong and that's exactly what happens! If they had been slightly more careful they probably would've made a ton more but of course they get greedy and it makes them stupid. Which once again goes back to human nature, humans are naturally greedy which makes us stupid and unable to trust our "genius".

Falsies: not mascara but hope

Honestly I usually hate books assigned for school (partially because they're assigned and also because they're usually less than exciting.) But this one is actually good. It makes me want to learn to count cards, anyone with me? Let's start a club at city shall we? I was kind of confused at first when the author was talking about getting off the plane because I wasn't sure if he was himself or Kevin but I really enjoy how he doesn't tell the story from Kevin's perspective he tells it from the outside because it makes me feel like I'm apart of their elite circle. I like how he gives us just enough information on card counting to make us feel like we could actually go out and do this without making it too "mathy" or a how-to book. It's a story, not a black jack guide which keeps the audience captive and interested. There is, however, an element of teaching. Which I like because as I said before it gives you enough information to make you think you'd understand. It's kind of like the way they describe Vegas, where the house gives you just enough to make you think you could win, but you won't. The book gives you just enough information to make you think you could count cards but you can't.
This kind of relates to the ideas of modernism because we talked a lot about false hope: people thinking they have a chance when they don't. That is the basis the casinos have, let you win just enough to make you think you can and then beat you down lower and take all your money. It's odd then that the book has the same effect, it makes you think hey maybe I could do this, I could count cards while not giving you really any useful information. I feel like the whole book is kind of a sham in this way. It's a black jack book with very little about black jack. While there wasn't all that annoying symbolism that we usually have in lit circle books I felt like a lot could be learned about human nature in this book.