Need urgent help!

[Koz84]

Hey guys. I've found myself in quite an interesting position. I managed to win a seat to a tournament with a game called BaccPo (a hybrid Blackjack Baccarat game), with around 50-200 players competing, The winner of this gets a free $10,500 seat to the Aussie Millions poker tournament at Melbourne's Crown Casino!

Firstly, there is zero material out there on the game itself. It is played like Blackjack, in that each player gets 2 starting cards with the dealer getting 1 also. Players can then hit for one more card. The hands, however, are ranked like Baccarat. The best possibility is a 9. 3 card hands are greater than 2 card hands. Three 3s is the best possible hand, paying 3:1. Therefore the ranking is three 3s, any 3 card 9, a 2 card 9, 3 card 8, 2 card 8 etc. The dealer must draw to 6, the only exception being if they have two 3s, they will draw an additional card. If a player achieves a winning hand with any 7, then they are payed 1-2. I suspect this is where the edge comes from. Would anyone be able to perhaps run a simulation of some sort that identifies a kind of basic strategy akin to the one we see in BJ? Because as it stands, I'd be entering this tournament with little more than luck and a 'feel' of whether to hit or not.

Secondly, I've never played a tournament before and I suspect that it will be similar to tournament BJ in the way it's played. Do people have any tips for approaching tournament play? Good resources? I am very unfamiliar when it comes to betting/playing strategies based on your relative position to other players and stack sizing.

I'd like to come into this tournament with more knowledge of this BaccPo game than the rest and also better tournament strategy, also. A 1 in 50-200 shot of getting a free 10k poker ticket is too good an opportunity to waste, IMO.

Much appreciated.

[Coyote]

Right off the top, I'm thinking you would want to count normally but when the count is negative that is when it is good for you. There are more low cards for you to make a possible total hand of 9.

Just my initial thought...Best of luck to you Koz!

[TheHux]

Hello Koz84,

My name is Rob Huxley and I have done some consulting work the creators of this new table game and am aware of this promotion that Crown is offering.

First of all, glad you like the new game BaccPo©, I think it will make a big impression once all the additional features are added to it over the coming months. (Note - New features coming soon such as jackpots and other bonus bets)

Secondly, congratulations on winning your entry into the exclusive BaccPo© tournament coming this month. What you have won is a seat into a Peer 2 Peer tournament that will feature BaccPo© Poker, a P2P variation of the game you played to win the entry. The game you were playing was casino BaccPo©, and Crown are set to begin spreading P2P BaccPo© this month during the Aussie Millions. The promotion is a very easy way of winning your entry into the upcoming Aussie Millions, as Crown are offering the winner of the BaccPo© Poker Tournament complimentary entry into the $10,600 Buy-in Main Event.

BaccPo© Poker is played in a similar fashion to poker in that players play against each other and not the house. The aim of the game is to make the hand closest to 9 in the same way as the casino variation, with three card totals ranking higher than two card totals of the same amount. (A three card nine ranks higher than a two card nine etc) As in the casino version, BaccPo© Poker features 3 threes as the best hand (333) and with the additional hand rankings, the game is very easy to pick up and incredibly enjoyable to play even for those who have never really played poker before.

Below I have provided you with all the relevant info for the BaccPo© promotion as provided to me directly from Crown. I hope this helps, and good luck in the tournament.

BaccPo© Competition

1. Competition Period:
· Competition commences 6:00pm 22 December 2011 and will conclude at 5.59pm Saturday 14 January 2012.
· The Competition is only available in Pit 7 (Known as the Launch Pad and is right in the heart of the casino) during the following times on each day of the Competition Period, 12.00pm to 4.00am Sunday to Thursday and 12.00pm to 6.00am Friday and Saturday.

2. Eligible Patrons:
· All Crown Signature Club members who play in Pit 7 on the Main Gaming floor.


3. Promotion Mechanics:
· Members who play BaccPo© in Pit 7 located on the Main Gaming Floor during the Competition period and make a hand of three (3) card nine will be entitled to receive a coupon from the Table Game Supervisor allowing them to register for the BaccPo© Tournament held in the Crown Poker Room on Saturday 14 January 2012.
· Members must present their Crown Signature Club card to the Table Game Supervisor to receive the Coupon and be eligible to register for the BaccPo© Tournament.
· To register for the BaccPo© Tournament, the member much then present their Crown Signature Club card and the Coupon at the Poker Registration Desk from 6.00pm Thursday 22 December 2011 to 10.00am Saturday 14 of January 2012.
· Members can receive a maximum of one (1) Coupon during the Competition Period.
· There are two hundred (200) Coupons available during the Competition Period.

5. Prize:
· Major Prize

• • Entry into the BaccPo© Tournament for the opportunity to win a 1^st prize in the Tournament.
  • First prize in the Tournament is a seat into the Aussie Millions Tournament

[lurppis]

This pdf includes rules for BaccPo Poker. Apparently there are Draw and Stud variations. Also, it says that the game can be dealt from a single deck or up to eight decks. No mention is made of whether a CSM would be used in a multi-deck game of BaccPo Poker, but if Coyote is right and there's potential for counting, it's worth keeping in mind. Maybe you can find out in advance (somehow) whether the tournament will be single-deck. I haven't spent a lot of time in the poker room recently but I don't know of any tables down there that would have any reason to be set up with CSMs. Are there even any kinds of poker currently that use multiple decks? (This other pdf probably answers that question, if anyone's interested in looking through it.)