FLAPlayer: LV Hilton May tourn.

FLAPlayer · 03-13-2003, 01:18 PM

Any advice for a beginner playing in tournaments? I am thinking of playing in the May LV Hilton tourney- $1000 entry, includes 3 nights room, winner gets $20K 9-16 get entry fee back- limited to 200 players. How much does luck and how much does strategy play into winning? Any comments would be appreciated.

Norm Wattenberger · 03-13-2003, 02:17 PM

Luck and skill both play major parts. Counting is essentially useless. Skillful end-play is critical. Wong's Casino Tournament Strategy is the standard text on the subject. You will be up against a lot of experts in the Hilton tournament. (In fact, two of the features added in CV V3 were at the request of players in the Hilton tournament.)

BJStats

FLAPlayer · 03-14-2003, 06:53 AM

Can you explain how counting is useless? Is it just basic strategy that is employed? I will review the book- thanks Norm

Also, on CVBJ what is the setting I should use for this tournament or do I need to upgrade the software?

Norm Wattengerber · 03-14-2003, 07:42 AM

> Can you explain how counting is useless? Is
> it just basic strategy that is employed? I
> will review the book- thanks Norm

There just aren't enough hands for counting to have a real effect. Of course that doesn't mean I'd ignore the count on 16vTen. But the main difference between tournament and non-tournament play is that you are playing against the other players instead of against the house. It doesn't matter how much you win or lose - you just have to end up with more than the other players. Ending up $1 ahead still gets you the prize. In the last hands all normal rules go out the window. Splitting sixes against a ten, doubling down on hard 18 or a BJ, making 100 unit bets on a negative count can all be valid plays in certain circumstances. And those circumstances aren't that rare.

> Also, on CVBJ what is the setting I should
> use for this tournament or do I need to
> upgrade the software?

I don't have the rules handy. You could call the Hilton. The additions to CV V3 are the ability to see the other players' chips during play in tournament mode and the chip counting drills. Determination of the other players' bankrolls is critical.

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