Mar 24 2004

Book Review: 24/7

by Megan Edwards

24/7: Living It Up and Doubling Down in the New Las Vegas
by Andrés Martinez

On April Fool’s Day in 1998, Andrés Martinez took $50,000 out of a bank in Manhattan and headed for Las Vegas. Martinez was not a high roller—at least not yet—but he had succeeded in selling a publisher on the idea of taking a big wad of cash to Las Vegas, gambling with it, and writing about the experience.

This makes Martinez yet another of what Las Vegas locals call “carpetbaggers” or “parachute journalists.” They swoop in, spend a few days or weeks, and then pontificate about the “real Las Vegas” in whatever rag they represent. In many cases, the only truths they reveal are their own preformed opinions, jazzed up a little with condescending remarks about Elvis impersonators and lap dancers.

Happily, Andrés Martinez is not that kind of carpetbagger. And although he did spend a goodly portion of his time in Las Vegas playing everything from blackjack and baccarat to poker and roulette, he also made an impressive effort to experience the city and talk to people who live and work here. He spent time with a taxi driver, for example, and the superintendent of the Clark County School District. He went to a Gamblers Anonymous meeting, renewed his marriage vows at a downtown wedding chapel, and attended church. Even though Steve Wynn wouldn’t talk to him, he managed to rack up an impressive list of interviewees.

The great thing about his book, however, is not the obvious effort he put into it. It’s his delightfully engaging writing style, which makes you feel as though you were tagging along on a slightly nutty adventure with a guy who describes himself as “a boyish (though now out-of-school and out-of-shape) Richie Cunningham.” He learned how to play blackjack from a book called The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Gambling Like a Pro on the airplane from New York, and as he began to risk his publisher’s cash, he figured out how “comps” work, what it takes to be considered a “high roller,” and what sort of people play baccarat. All of this makes for fascinating and often hilarious reading.

“You’re my favorite carpetbagger,” oft-quoted Vegas authority Hal Rothman told Martinez at their final meeting, and those are my feelings exactly. In 24/7, Martinez deftly avoids stereotypes to paint a fresh and insightful picture of the phenomenon that is Las Vegas.

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