ben mezrich

I think that at this point we can probably say that the two breakout stars of the 2006-2007 television season are America Ferrera (Ugly Betty) and Masi Oka (Heroes). And for Masi, that is starting to pay dividends. From The Hollywood Reporter comes word that he is in talks for a gig in the Robert Luketic film 21.

Based on the Ben Mezrich book "Bringing Down the House: The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions," the movie will also star Jim Sturgess.

The book tells the story of the MIT Blackjack Team. Organized by a former math instructor, and backed by anonymous investors, the team used a system of card counting, disguises, and secret signals to take Vegas for nearly $4 million before they were found out.

Pro poker player Annie Duke is taking a gamble on primetime television. Or, she'll be trying her hand at acting. Yeah, you get the idea: the sassy princess of poker gets a cameo on Numb3rs next month. She and Ben Mezrich, poker expert and author of Bringing Down the House, will be part of an episode on Friday, January 13. The episode starts with a murder at an LA card club where a card counting scheme is unveiled and several college students' lives are in danger. Duke plays a card dealer and Mezrich plays a player. The episode is based, loosely, on Mezrich's book, which is about a bunch of MIT students who figured out how to win millions of dollars at card games in Las Vegas casinos in the 1990s. In fact, two of the scheming true-life MIT students, Jeff Ma and Matt Lau, even have small roles in the episode as blackjack players.

And, no. Nobody "drowns in the river".

[Via The Futon Critic]