Ben Campbell is a young, highly intelligent student at M.I.T. Wanting to transfer to the Harvard School of Medicine, he learns that he cannot afford the $300,000 for the tuition. Then Ben is introduced into a small but secretive club by his math professor, Micky Rosa. The club has four other students: Jill, Choi, Kianna, and Jimmy; and they are being trained by Mickey in the skill of blackjack card counting. Intrigued by the desire to make money, Ben joins his new friends on secret weekend trips to Las Vegas where, using the skills of code talk and hand signals, Ben makes hundreds of thousands of dollars winning blackjack at casino after casino. Ben wants to make only enough money for his tuition and then to back out of the group. Ben's greed and arrogance put Micky, as well as the group, on the radar of a brutal casino security enforcer named Cole Williams. Cole holds a personal grudge against Micky which threatens to undo everything the students have learned and earned.

Based on the book: Bringing down the house / by Ben Mezrich. Originally released as a feature film in 2008.

Special features: "21 : the advantage player" (the cast explains the game of blackjack and card counting) -- "Basic strategy : a complete film journal" (making-of featurette) -- "Money plays : a tour of the good life" (Featurette that explores the clothes, luxuries and locations shown in the film -- optional audio filmmaker commentary.