Blackjack Tournaments with Elimination Hands

The Blackjack Page

Blackjack Tournaments with Elimination Hands - Part 6

This time, I want to cover the general use of the secret bet, which is a feature of the elimination-style Blackjack tournaments I play at Ultimatebet.com. To be honest with you, I'm not going to tell about all the ways I use secret bets, because those tactics are still working for me and you may be my competition. But if you're new to the tournament "scene" or to this type of format in particular, what we'll discuss here should give you a base of knowledge from which you can form your own strategies for this important aspect of the game.

Secret bets are not new to Blackjack tournaments, but the elimination-style of tournament has more or less made them a player option that can be used at times other than just the next-to-last, or last hand of a match. Because each player has only one secret bet - which can be used on any hand - it's important to realize the most value when you do finally employ it. There are times I never use my secret bet, but those are few and far in between; usually because I somehow built up a huge lead over my opponents or, conversely, when I'm so far behind that I'm not going to fool anyone by concealing my bet size. I probably use the secret bet in 80% of the tournaments I play and do so primarily for the reasons listed below:

1. You can usually bet less if you make a secret bet.

If you must bet early in an elimination hand and your chip stack makes you, say, LB1 or LB2 (see Part 2 if you don't know what these mean) the "knee-jerk" reaction is to make a big bet and that's probably the correct strategy 90% of the time. But if you do so without utilizing your secret bet, everyone else will likely make a bet that counters yours. In other words, if you go all-in, the others will either bet small so that if you all lose the hand, you're out or they'll bet enough to cover you if you both win. In fact, they may be able to accomplish both - bet enough to beat you if you both have the same result - assuming their lead over you is large enough. This basically puts you into a "I must win and you must lose" situation, which has only about a 12% probability of working. But if you make a secret bet, your opponents may think you've gone all in, but if you bet, say, the minimum or just your lead over LB1, should you all lose the hand, you can still be in the game. Of course, if you all win the hand, you might still be eliminated, but by making the secret bet, at least you could bet less. And that's important because it's of little value to survive the elimination hand but have only two or three bets remaining; you'll likely still be out long before the final hand is played. The fact that the basic odds of Blackjack favor us losing the hand makes small bets preferable in the long run and the secret bet allows us to do that much more easily.

2. You can sometimes bet more if you make a secret bet.

Again, if you're LB1 or LB2 and must bet early in an elimination round, many of your opponents will try to counter your strategy. But few will want to bet big so that they stay ahead if you both win the hand; most experienced tournament players know the odds favor them losing the hand. If you do not use the secret bet and go all in, the vast majority of your opponents will cover themselves by taking the low (holding back enough chips to stay ahead of you), should you both lose the hand and yet they still may stay ahead if you both win the hand. If I'm LB1 in an elimination round, I'll usually go all in without using my secret bet because most of my opponents will likely bet enough to stay ahead of me, figuring that the best I can do is double my bankroll, even if I make a secret bet. Sometimes they get a surprise when I hit a "natural" and multiply my bankroll by 2.5 times, but that's rare and I certainly never count on it happening. But if my chip stack is more in the "average" category and I must bet early in the round, I sometimes like to go for the lead by making a big bet. I'll seldom do this on elimination hand # 8, but I might do it on elimination hand # 16 and will almost certainly do it on elimination hand # 25. At some point, you've got to go for the lead and for me, an elimination hand - where the others are concerned mostly with survival - is a good time to try.

3. You may be able to "bluff" your opponents by making a secret bet.

Whenever you make a secret bet, your opponents will be forced to guess what size bet you made. Of course, they may be in such good shape or such bad shape that they really don't care what you bet, but sometimes you can "bluff" them by making a totally unexpected bet. For example, if you're LB1 with, say, T25,500 chips and HB1 has T35,000 chips, while the others are spread in between, most will figure that you'll bet somewhere between one-half and all of your chips on an elimination hand, so they'll bet accordingly. But if you bet only T500 and then surrender your hand, anyone who bet more than just their lead over you will be trapped and will be forced to win their hand. Of course, they won't know that, so it's largely up to the Blackjack gods whether this succeeds or not. But I will tell you this: The vast majority of players in these tournaments do not expect LB1 to make a minimum bet! I've done this a few times and when it works, it's a beautiful thing.

I'll see you here next time.

The Blackjack Page

1. You can usually bet less if you make a secret bet.

2. You can sometimes bet more if you make a secret bet.

3. You may be able to "bluff" your opponents by making a secret bet.

2007 Articles

2006 Articles

2005 Articles

2004 Articles

2003 Articles

2002 Articles

2001 Articles

2000 Articles

1999 Articles

1998 Articles

1997 Articles