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Ben Campbell (Jim Sturgess), based on the real life Massachusetts Institute of Technology card-counter Jeff Ma, is an MIT senior who applies for the prestigious Robinson Scholarship, a full scholarship to Harvard Medical School. Despite Ben’s perfect resume, the official administering the scholarship tells Ben that his application essay must “dazzle” him in order to win it. In his non-linear equations class, Ben impresses his professor, Mickey Rosa (Kevin Spacey). One night while Ben is studying, Fisher (Jacob Pitts) tells him to come with him. He leads Ben to a card counting session led by Mickey. His team travels to Las Vegas every weekend to count cards and win money, which the members then split. Other members of the team are Ben’s crush Jill (Kate Bosworth), Choi (Aaron Yoo), and Kianna (Liza Lapira). Mickey tells Ben that he has a great mind and is able to get past his emotions, and that’s why he chose him.

Ben initially declines but after some persuasion, Ben joins the team to generate $300,000, the amount he needs for medical school. Life gets complicated; for every weekend he spends in Las Vegas, he ignores and lies to his friends and family. As Ben becomes the big player and makes the most money, former big player Fisher gets jealous. One night, Fisher joins the same table as Ben and screws up. Mickey is furious and sends Fisher home and kicks him off the team. Back at home, Ben’s friends decide to continue the 209 robotics competition without him after Ben gets the wrong microcontroller. Shaken from losing his former two best friends, Ben loses a massive amount of money in one night, and Mickey and Ben angrily part ways. Mickey tells Ben that he needs to pay Mickey back the $250,000 he lost that night. Ben decides to take over the team and make the money back, but Mickey reports them to casino security. After being caught and brutally beaten by Cole Williams (Laurence Fishburne), the sinister “head” of the casino security team, Ben returns to MIT. He finds that Mickey has revoked credit for one of his classes, and Ben cannot graduate from MIT. Upon entering his dorm room, he finds his room trashed and all the money he saved for Harvard Medical School gone. Finally, he asks Mickey for a second chance to make his money back.

In disguise, the team arrives in Vegas for their last run. Ben and Mickey are winning big, but Cole Williams arrives. Ben and Mickey split along with Jill, deciding to separate. Mickey convinces Ben to throw him the bag with the winnings and they will meet up later. But Mickey decides to just leave and runs to the limo and asks the driver to go to the airport. But he has been tricked: he finds that the bag is actually filled with chocolate dollars, and that the driver of the limo is actually Williams’s partner. Ben’s secret plan is to trick Mickey as revenge for stealing his savings. That night, Cole Williams made a deal with Ben that he would not be hurt if he could bring Mickey back to Vegas. When Mickey asked for the bag with the winnings, Jill had already switched the real bag with another bag in her purse with the fake chips. Mickey is caught by casino security while Ben is let off the hook. Ben pays off casino security with that night’s winnings, returns to MIT, and “dazzles” the Harvard dean with his Las Vegas adventures.

Well acted movie even if Kevin Spacey didn’t enjoy his time in Vegas. Scenery was good and acting was well above average. Jim Sturgess is turning into quite a versatile actor. Highly recommended. The movie moves quickly and it is an all around good time.

Rating: 4.8 our of 5 jalapenos