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Sub-titled “The Inside Story of Six M.I.T. Students Who Took Vegas for Millions,” this is a great, fast read. It chronicles the story of the so-called MIT Blackjack Team, a group of whiz kids who, with funding from anonymous backers, spent several years working as a card-counting team at casinos around the country.

Blackjack, it turns out, is one casino game that is statistically beatable. This is largely a result of the rules that govern the dealer’s play. Card-counters take advantage of these rules, and, through careful observation of the game’s conditions, can vary their bets to maximize their chance of profit. Unfortunately, an individual counting cards must work in a fairly well-defined pattern in order to win. Though counting cards is not illegal, casinos have the right to kick out anyone they wish. Casinos keep a close eye on players, and generally when they spot the behavior of a card-counter the player is asked to leave.

The team came up with a method of play that used several people, each handling one of the card-counting tasks. By splitting their behavior this way, it was much more difficult for the casinos to spot counting behavior. The team would head for Vegas, Atlantic City or any number of riverboats and Indian casinos each weekend, usually hauling a stake of $500,000 or more. Over several years they earned their investors a profit of more than 30%, even after paying the team members. The team members, in the meantime, lived the life of high rollers, treated to free rooms, free meals and shows by the casinos, who viewed them as big-time players - while it lasted. The team viewed the casinos as large corporations, and so never feared punishment, but they did eventually learn to what extent casinos would go to protect their profits.

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Parker Palmer is an educator, speaker and researcher who has spent most of his adult life thinking about community. His latest work begins with a discussion of the necessity of individuals living lives of integrity, of being true to your inner self. He contends (and I agree) that there is a price to be paid for living a divided life, a life without integrity of purpose. Community wholeness, Parker points out, can only come after the wholeness and happiness of individuals.

The second part of the book explores ways that communities of people can support individuals. Drawing from his years of living in Quaker communities, Palmer explains the creation of “circles of trust”, discussion circles that can help individuals to explore their inner self. Members of these circles do not offer advice to one another, but rather serve the role of probing questioners, helping to guide each individual to their own decisions. While we all probably have a best friend who plays that role for us, the Quaker and other communities in which Palmer has lived offer a more formal process.

I’d highly recommend all of Palmer’s books. He’s an insightful thinker and a talented author. Reading one of his books is like sitting down for a one-on-one chat with someone who’s given a lot more thought to life than you have. Click here to see a list of Palmer’s on Amazon.

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Keith Ferrazzi has been writing a column for Fast Company Magazine, sharing his networking secrets. A master networker who counts Bill Clinton, Jack Valenti and countless other powerful people as members of his network, has some good tidbits to share. I meet a lot of people in business who believe that networking is about finding people who can do things for you - finding sales targets. Mr. Ferrazzi repeatedly makes the point that true networking is finding people for whom you can do things, with the knowledge that all of business is about give-and-take. In my opinion this is a point that can’t be made often enough. Networking is about a long-term investment in people. You have to truly care about people to be a successful networker.

Mr. Ferrazzi’s company is Ferrazzi Greenlight, http://www.ferrazzigreenlight.com/.