Black Jack Tournament

[Bones]

I have a free entry into a BlackJack Tournament. Anybody have any strategies they can share. Should I wimp along and hope others are eliminated or go all in first hand? Any help appreciated.

Bones

[heavy]

Couple of simple ideas. First off - the guy on the table who gets ahead early usually stays ahead and advances. Do your best to be that guy. That means getting a big bet out there and (hopefully) winning it in the first half-dozen hands.

Don't bother counting cards unless you just feel you have to, but after the halfway point in the tournament just forget about it. Everyone will be tossing out big bets trying to catch up. Hopefully you won't be the guy trying to catch up, but it you are than you have to toss out (repetition warning) big bets.

I've never had an opportunity to do this, since the guy who gets ahead early rarely rests on his laurels, but if the chip leader at the table bets small - you should be big - and vice versa. If he loses and you win - you catch up quicker.

My approach has always be to go big or go home early on. I'll take their free hotel room, complimentary meals and souvenir T-shirt and go play craps after I bust out.

[London Shooter]

Definitely consider splits and doulbe downs you wouldn't normally do as you are not there to grind, but like H says, try and outgun everybody early with some big bets and some silly bets which you would no do in a normal game e.g split 10s against a weak dealer card.

[mssthis1]

I play the opposite and try to stay within one bet swing of the pack. The last 5 hands are the important ones and in the early rounds two people from each table usually advance.

I've cashed in several and once I caught 3 tables in a row where the dealers were hot so I let everyone else bust out. One table we only played 10 or twelve hands instead of the usual 25 because everyone else had busted out already.

Judge your play by what the dealer is getting. If the dealer is busting a lot, you'll have to run and gun. If the dealer is getting 20 every hand, let everyone else go broke. if one or two players are getting lucky there isn't a whole lot you can do about that.

And London is right especially the last few hands. You may have to split 10's or double on a hard hand to give yourself a chance.

[Bones]

Great advice thank you Tournament is today at 1:30 at Hardrock Casino downtown Biloxi.

I'll give a a trip report.
Trying to think positive but I usually suck at Black Jack

Also have another free entry in December

[220Inside]

Good luck Bones!

[mssthis1]

Good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Bones]

Judge your play by what the dealer is getting. If the dealer is busting a lot, you'll have to run and gun. If the dealer is getting 20 every hand, let everyone else go broke. Mssthis1

Arrived hour early to watch the festivities I watched as one fellow could not win a hand and he was betting minimally. He went all in on last hand and was dealt black jack enough to win whilst others busted out. He advanced to next level.

I tiptoed in with a minimal $200 wager. Starting stack is 10,000. Everybody else bet large couple 1,000 dollar chips and dealer has Black Jack. whew.
I continued to bet small as others doubled up. The fellow next to me is dealt 88 and splits as dealer has 3 showing. He is dealt another 8 and splits again. Then he receives a four then another 8!!! He receives a 3 and doubles down and gets an ace the last 8 gets an equally dismal card. Dealer draws to 21. Holy crap. Poor dude is about wiped out didn't win any of his hands.

I continue as I watch as others are getting slaughtered then the tide shifts and dealer busts. I started betting a tad more winning some losing some.

Our chips are counted at hand#10 I have 12,000 fellow to my right 19,000 and gal further over has 24,000. wtf I was keeping eye on fellow to my right but never saw the lil lady piling up.

two hands left I shove all in lady goes 3/4 of her stack and chap next to me bets a couple of thousand. Im dealt 20 SWEET dealer has 5 showing.
gal doubles down ends up with 15 dude next to me has 11 doubles down ugh face card Dealer draws to 20 ugh ugh.\

gal is wiped out i go all in last hand but dude to my right bets enough to leave him with double my stack i'm dead in the water.

2nd place no cigar.

I get another chance next month.

[Irukanji]

Nice try. That's the hard part, no matter how much you plan your betting strategy, you are always at the mercy of the randomness of the cards. As they say ...luck of the draw. Good luck next time.

[Bones]

Nice try. That's the hard part, no matter how much you plan your betting strategy, you are always at the mercy of the randomness of the cards. As they say ...luck of the draw. Good luck next time.

Yes indeed Lady Luck.

This was a 12 hand tournament and the dealer dealt himself Black Jacks three times and he also drew to 21 three times. I also drew to 21 after doubling down only for a Push. It was all good as everybody else lost their wagers.

The dealer was on fire I was actually following the trend go figure.

[Irukanji]

Too bad blackjack doesn't have the equivalent of the dark side in craps. Lol!

[bobr]

Stanford Wong has a good book called "Casino Tournament Strategy." He basically recommends the conservative strategy others have suggested: bet small but stay within striking range of finishing, then play aggressively at the end if necessary. There is a lot to think about on those last few hands, though. It's not a short book!

- Bob

[Bones]

Stanford Wong has a good book called "Casino Tournament Strategy." He basically recommends the conservative strategy others have suggested: bet small but stay within striking range of finishing, then play aggressively at the end if necessary. There is a lot to think about on those last few hands, though. It's not a short book!

- Bob

I purchased this book and It was a very good read. My tournament was the best I’ve ever done though I didn’t finish in the money.

The first round final hand I was pretty far behind the other two remaining players but their chip stacks were similar however I was last to act.
First player goes all in keeps one $100 chip behind. 2nd player all in keeps 2 $100 chips I went all in keeping $300 behind.

Dealer gets 21 Life is good.

2nd round everybody advances except for one player fortunately one other player was unluckier than myself and was eliminated. On to the semi final round.

The semi final round only one advances to final table.

This round for me was brutal. Players on either side of me were each dealt blackjack twice I wasn’t getting crap. I was first to be eliminated ugh I played well and by the book the cards just didn’t cooperate.

Have another free entry this month just before I head off to Vegas.