What they got wrong with 21

Though you should know this via the link you probably followed to get here, this page contains SPOILERS for the 2008 film, 21. If you got here by accident and just want to read a review of the movie, you can return to my review. You've been warned, proceed at your own risk.

This movie makes mistakes on two levels. First, it changes story elements compared with the book it is based on, Bringing Down the House by Ben Mezrich. These can easily be overlooked, as most books don't easily translate to the silver screen. But the second class of mistakes it makes, those in the mechanics of card counting, are unforgivable. I won't go in-depth into every change from the book since the movie isn't a documentary: it's just a story based on a true story. But I will touch on several of them.

First off, the protaginist wasn't recruited by a girl on the team, but by two friends who were already members of the team. Also, his mother wasn't a single parent, his father was alive during the course of the story. Also the main character was Asian, not caucasian. There are other benign changes, but they're not really worth mentioning.

In the film, they break with the professor and arrange for him to get caught by casino security. In the movie it's hinted that security just wanted to beat him up because they hated him. What kind of B.S. is that? Card counting isn't illegal. The worst they could legally do is throw him out of the casino (though in the book one member is beaten up by security). In reality, "Ben" and some of the other team members do break with the professor, but don't try to get even with him. Anyways, they'd have to drop off the team eventually anyway, since they wouldn't be MIT students forever. The book says that the professor regularly rotated members of the team in and out as new students arrived and others graduated.

The hotel security is portrayed as a private firm that has casinos as "clients". They keep losing clients as new biometric software gets put into use. This is totally contrary to how Las Vegas really operates. All casino security teams work together to catch cheaters: they'd be less effective if they didn't cooperate. Portraying this one firm as a seperate entity is just pure fantasy: it doesn't work that way.

In the movie, Fishburn is shown pummelling at least three members of the team as they are tied to a chair. Casino security, no matter how much they hate you or card counting, can't beat you up. That is illegal (and card counting isn't). Oh, they can try to scare you and take your photo, but they can't even do that without your consent. The worst they can do—legally—is throw you out of the casino and bar you from playing there. In the movie, casino security is portrayed as having a lot more powers than they actually do.

However these story changes are fairly benign: cosmetic, if you will. But the real doozy is how they portray counting. They did get several things right, which impressed and surprised me. Hollywood getting anything right? Wow! For example, adding one to the count when low cards are dealt and subtracting one when high ones are dealt is absolutely correct: that is exactly what they did (and is probably what contemporary card counters do). They also used keywords to communicate what the count is at a table (so the arriving big player can pick up the count). For example, the word "eggs" is used in a benign sentence to relay that the count is 12 (twelve eggs in a carton). But then the producers completely lost it in the execution of the "take."

This is going to take some explanation first. The way the gig works is they have one "big player"—a player with lots of cash—and several counters at different tables in the casino. Each counter places the minimum bet for the table and counts. When a deck gets "hot"—meaning it has lots of high cards—he signals the big player who swoops on over, places a few high bets until he wins big, and then he leaves. This is key, he must place just a few big bets and then leave. Otherwise, it'd be easy to spot him and realize he's counting and throw him out. If he just comes up to a table, bets, and leaves, it looks like he's just getting lucky and doesn't draw attention as a counter.

Also, after the big player arrives, the counter passes on the count to the big player (with a crafty sentence like, "I hope my sister remembered to throw out my eggs") and then leaves; staying at the table would diminish the big player's chances of winning.

However, in the film, the big players come to a table when signaled, but then just stay there. They park there for the night. This makes absolutely no sense, on two levels. First, it makes them a target for pit bosses and others who are watching. If they're playing and consisently winning big at one table, they're going to suspect they're counting whether they are or not. Second, tables don't stay hot. Shoes empty, decks get reshuffled, counts change. Why stay at a table that's gone cold? Additionally, the counters stay at the table when the big player arrives, which would diminish the big player's chances of winning.

While running this system, it is vital that the counters and the big players don't seem to know one another. But it goes even further than just on the floor: the players can't check into the hotel together and can't be seen going into one another's rooms—the casinos have eyes everywhere. If they play their parts perfectly on the floor, but then are seen visiting each other's rooms, it's obvious they're co-conspirators and could easily be banned from the casino. Even if they don't play at the hotel/casino they stay at, they can still be placed together since all the casinos' security cooporate with one another.

In the film, however, they don't seem to care that people see them together. In fact, from the film, it looks like they're all staying in the same suite. How stupid is that? Also, sometimes they seem to not know one another on the betting floor, but then promptly break character and start talking to one another in the middle of a game.

As I mention in my review, these inaccuracies were so glaring that even my wife who hadn't read the book was able to spot them. I guess Hollywood assumes our IQs are on par with that of gerbils.

So, don't use the movie as your education on card counting, read the book instead. Even better yet, read Busting Vegas, Mezrich's sequel to Bringing Down the House, where a Russian MIT student uses incredibly advanced techniques to win against casinos. Both are good reads.

External links

• More inaccuracies on Wikipedia