Real-life all too rarely offers stories that are quite as satisfying as fiction. Bringing Down the House is one of the exceptions. Cheating in casinos is illegal; card-counting - making a record of what cards have so far been dealt to enable the player to make some prediction of what cards remain in the deck - is not. But casinos understandably dislike the practice and make every effort to keep card-counters out of their premises. Bringing Down the House tells the true story of the most successful scam ever, in which teams of brilliant young mathematicians and physicists won millions of dollars from the casinos of Las Vegas, being drawn in the process into the high-life of drugs, high-spending and sex. Bringing Down the House is as readable and as fascinating as Liar's Poker or Barbarians At the Gate, an insight into a closed, excessive and utterly corrupt world.

Real-life all too rarely offers stories that are quite as satisfying as fiction. Bringing Down the House is one of the exceptions. Cheating in casinos is illegal; card-counting - making a record of what cards have so far been dealt to enable the player to make some prediction of what cards remain in the deck - is not. But casinos understandably dislike the practice and make every effort to keep card-counters out of their premises. Bringing Down the House tells the true story of the most successful scam ever, in which teams of brilliant young mathematicians and physicists won millions of dollars from the casinos of Las Vegas, being drawn in the process into the high-life of drugs, high-spending and sex. Bringing Down the House is as readable and as fascinating as Liar's Poker or Barbarians At the Gate, an insight into a closed, excessive and utterly corrupt world.

Thomas Austin Preston. Six foot four, skinny as a rake. He's played poker with two US presidents - and drug lord Pablo Escobar; made a million dollars by the age of nineteen; and driven a golf ball a mile. Thomas Austin Preston - who is he? The world knows him better as the greatest gambler of all time: Amarillo Slim. Raised in Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo Slim has lived the most daring, exciting and profitable life of any man alive. Sent overseas just after World War II to give billiards exhibitions for the US army, he ended up running the biggest black-market operation in Europe. Back home, he returned to his first love, cards, and won the World Series of poker in 1972. Now a living legend and member of four Halls of Fame, he's been celebrated in songs and movies, and his picture hangs in City Hall, Las Vegas. Because, most of all, Slim's a man who loves to gamble. He'll bet on anything - if the price is right. He's ridden a camel thourgh the fanciest casino in Marrakesh and beaten Evel Knieval at golf (with a hammer), but that was just the small stuff. In his finest hour, he took on the Chinese table tennis champion at his own game. Slim, of course, got to choose the bats. The choice? Coke bottles. The result? 21-0, 21-0, 21-0. Slim was a very happy man. In the most entertaining book this year, Amarillo Slim will tell you the story of his extraordinary life - and the secrets of his even more extraordinary success. From Vegas to Colombia, Texas to London, welcome to the wonderful world of Amarillo Slim!

A magnet for bullies at school, Jon Finkel grew up heckled and hazed until he discovered the trading-card game Magic: The Gathering. As Magic exploded from nerdy obsession into the mainstream, the teenage Finkel emerged as its first world champion. The young shark - now known to his friends and rivals as Jonny Magic - moved on to storm poker rooms, from the underground clubs of New York City to high-stakes tables online, until he landed on the largest card counting blackjack team in the country, taking Vegas for millions and becoming one of the biggest players in town. Finally, they took on the biggest game of all - the World Series of Poker...

Thomas Austin Preston. Six foot four, skinny as a rake, wears a snakeskin Stetson. He's played poker with three US presidents - and Pablo Escobar; made a million dollars by the age of nineteen; and driven a golf ball a mile. Thomas Austin Preston - who is he? The world knows him better as the greatest gambler of all time: Amarillo Slim. Born and raised in Amarillo, Texas, Amarillo Slim has lived the most daring, extraordinary, exciting and profitable life of any man alive. Sent overseas just after World War II, he ended up running the biggest black-market operation in Europe. He went back to his first love, cards, and was one of the very first winners of the World Series of Poker. He's had songs written about him and appeared in movies, and his picture hangs in City Hall, Las Vegas. Because, most of all, Slim's a man who loves to gamble. He'll bet on anything - if the price is right. He's ridden a camel through the fanciest casino in Marrakesh and beaten Evel Knievel at golf, but that was just small stuff. In his finest hour, he took on the Chinese table tennis champion at his own game. Slim, of course, got to choose the bats. The choice? Coke bottles. The result? 21-0, 21-0, 21-0. Slim was a very happy man. In what will be the most entertaining book this year, Amarillo Slim will tell you the story of his extraordinary life - and the secrets of his even more extraordinary success. From Vegas to Colombia, Texas to London, welcome to the wonderful world of Amarillo Slim!