Jason Fisch

Jason Fisch
Bringing Down The House
Ben Mezrich
Non-Fiction/Gambling
Just Right/Challenge
Just Finished 251

1. I just Finished Bringing Down the House, by Ben Mezrich. Kevin and Dylan are celebrating because they won fifty thousand dollars playing black jack. They are celebrating at a bar in Boston. After they left the bar, they headed back to Dylan's apartment and realized that his entire place has been vandalized. Dylan remembered that he had left the safe which was holding seventy-five thousand dollars, in his bedroom hidden behind the closet door. When he went to check on it he finds that it is gone. Both of them were freaked out so Kevin decided to double check on his apartment. Luckily when he gets there he sees that nothing has happened. Both Kevin and Dylan assume that the attack was made by a rival group, sending them the message that they better stop gambling. 
2. Ben Mezrich is an unfamiliar author to me, but the book was recommended so I thought I would try reading it. Prior to reading then book I heard many good things about it and was suspecting that I was going to like it. I also found out that my dad has the movie which made me excited to read the book. I thought that this was one of the best book that I have read. I thought it was interesting that the players of the game were able to count the cards in order to reduce the "houses" chance of winning. I like Kevin the best because he was really smart in all the gambling situations. 
3. The theme of this book is human nature. It is human nature to want a lot of many because people think that if you have a lot of money then you will live a happy life. If someone knows a way to gain a lot of money then why wouldn't they do that? Kevin plays black jack with his friends, Fisher and Martinez, who taught him how to count cards. They all begin to win a lot of money even though the casinos frown upon this way of playing. Throughout the book, the boys begin to win more and more money as they become professional card counters. Eventually, Fisher and Martinez become greedy and kick Kevin, Dylan, and Dylan's wife Jill out of the group. The theme is mostly seen through the characters.
4. My favorite character is Kevin because he is very good at communicating with his group of friends about their plans for counting.He also took charge when he knew it was important for the group to make moves in gambling. 
5. Fisher is my least favorite character because he was always negative in the book. He was also greedy and mean to the other characters. He kicked the others out of the group so he could make more money. When he doesn't get what he wants, he fights with others until he wins. 
6. The ending of the book was not what I thought it was going to be. I thought that they were all going to make a lot more money and then retire when they felt that they had enough. Everything seemed to be going fine since the group split up so it was unexpected to have them get robbed. Once they saw they were robbed, they quit counting cards and gambling as a group, all together.