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Thread: Blackjack tournament

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    Blackjack tournament

    Hey everyone! I just got mail about a blackjack tournament at one of my local casinos. I really don't know anything about them but it's free to enter and could win some serious cash if I do well. It says it's for 7 hours on a Friday, players are issued 25000 in chips and play 10 hands head to head with the dealer. Does this mean that 10 hands are only being played by each person that enters? What would be a good strategy if there is only 10 hands being played? I don't imagine this is how blackjack tournaments are usually structured?

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    Quote Originally Posted by tjr5259 View Post
    Does this mean that 10 hands are only being played by each person that enters?
    yes
    Quote Originally Posted by tjr5259 View Post
    What would be a good strategy if there is only 10 hands being played?
    I will defer to Gronbog on this one but you want to win enough to get cash as quick as possible or bust out trying. Not making the money and busting out are the same thing. The chips you have don't mean anything if you don't make the money.
    Quote Originally Posted by tjr5259 View Post
    I don't imagine this is how blackjack tournaments are usually structured?
    It is a common format for weekly promotional tournaments open to almost everyone that has a players card. Other tournaments will have elimination rounds were you either need to finish in the top so many in the field or at your table to reach the next round. Often the earlier rounds you play against the field and when the field is pared down some then you play against your table.
    Last edited by Three; 01-14-2015 at 04:29 AM.

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    Ask the dealers/staff what the typical minimum to qualify.

    You'll probably want to all in until you hit the minimum
    Maman died today. Or yesterday maybe, I don't know.

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    Quote Originally Posted by tjr5259 View Post
    Hey everyone! I just got mail about a blackjack tournament at one of my local casinos. I really don't know anything about them but it's free to enter and could win some serious cash if I do well. It says it's for 7 hours on a Friday, players are issued 25000 in chips and play 10 hands head to head with the dealer. Does this mean that 10 hands are only being played by each person that enters? What would be a good strategy if there is only 10 hands being played? I don't imagine this is how blackjack tournaments are usually structured?

    I've seen that format quite a few times when they have to churn a lot of players out for the big promotion type events. Your best bet is to figure out what an average "winner" makes, set that as your goal, and think really hard about your bet scheduling to be able to profit the most. On the up side, most guys I know will go all in or 50% right off the bat and take a beating, but I often see guys waiting too long to bet into a hand and end up with way too few "chips" or "points" to carry on or place. The few that I've been involved with and done well in, I did some kind of combination of bankroll management, progression betting, and counting simultaneously. Each tournament will vary though, so finding out as much information as possible is your best bet here. For some odd reason in the handful of tournaments I've been to, I've noticed that most of the guys who win, make their money in the "Middle" of their hands and either min bet out, or essentially go with a sort of "press/progression" method for the last few hands as soon as they land a winner. I watched one guy, one time, flat bet through his first 5 hands (15 hand tournament) and then press for 6 or 7 hands before he withdrew and min betted his way to a final round seat. It was crazy, he ended up crushing the competition on his qualifying round. Of course, I don't believe there was any real "method" to his madness, aside from raising his bets based on "house" money and then pulling it down when he had banked "enough".

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    Quote Originally Posted by muckz View Post
    Ask the dealers/staff what the typical minimum to qualify.

    You'll probably want to all in until you hit the minimum
    Maybe half all-in, or 1/3 all-in. You're giving up significant EV by not splitting and doubling.
    The Cash Cow.

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    Quote Originally Posted by moo321 View Post
    Maybe half all-in, or 1/3 all-in. You're giving up significant EV by not splitting and doubling.
    Being there are only 10 hands (in this case), all in is probably best because of the slim chances for doubles and splits in ten hands of play. Any idea of opponents tendencies can be quite valuable and can play in to these decisions, as well.
    Bet correlation can be quite valuable in tourneys.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Exoter175 View Post
    I don't believe there was any real "method" to his madness, aside from raising his bets based on "house" money and then pulling it down when he had banked "enough".
    That was the method to the madness.

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    There are a couple of other threads here on this topic. Do a search fro the word "tournament".

    To summarize though, the optimal strategy for this kind of event where you have only a few hands and are playing against the rest of the field, is simple: Find out how much you need to end up with (the most important part of this) then bet max or all-in until you reach the goal or go broke. Some of the threads you will find will have ideas for estimating your goal and for using progressions once you're within 1/3 or 1/7 of a max bet of the goal.

    Don't worry about being embarrassed by busting out, even if it's on the first hand. As Tthree said, all degrees of failure are equal here. Maximizing the chance of success is all that matters.

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    Don't disagree Gron, but what you need to end up with can be quite a variable number. That's why opponents tendencies (if known) and correlation betting have so much value. I've witnessed accumulation events at times when the "balls to the wall" method wasn't needed and, was in fact, detrimental.

    muffy

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    True, muffdiver, but that will be revealed by your research into the goal, which includes finding out past results and observing the players. I think that you and I are agreeing that the estimation of the goal is the single most important task you face in these events.

    I have heard of events where all you have to do is to maintain your starting bankroll in order to advance/cash. In this case you have already reached your goal before starting, so you bet minimum. But if your research says you need to make money in order to advance, then you are still best off going max until you are within range of a single progression than you are by trying to sneak up on it or by giving yourself extra chances. This is true for all negative expectation games.
    Last edited by Gronbog; 01-16-2015 at 09:58 AM.

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    Yeah bud, we're on the same page.
    I've been hoping our mutual friend "Monkeysystem" would chime in on some of these tourney threads. Like you, he would be another good asset here.

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    Agreed re: Monkey adding his 2 cents and grateful re: your kind words for me. Monkey has been very quiet lately both here and at Ken's blackjack tournament site.

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