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The GameMaster's Secrets:
Online Blackjack Tournaments

We all know that poker tournaments are hot right now and with good reason. What's less noticed is the number of Blackjack tournaments that are being run, both on line and off. Perhaps you've seen the "World Series of Blackjack" that airs on what used to be the Game Show Network (now just GSN), which had as participants many great Blackjack players, like my guru, Stanford Wong; my friend, Ken Smith, Anthony Curtis and others. The nice thing about this season's shows, as opposed to last season's, is that they're not afraid to talk about card counting and other "advantage player" techniques, which enables the very capable color-commentator, Max Rubin to give us all an insight to how the contestants might be thinking at the table. (Last year's show was done at Mohegan Sun Casino and, as I understand it, the management there didn't want any talk about tricks of the trade; this year it's at the Golden Nugget in Vegas.) While I personally don't find televised Blackjack tournaments quite as exciting as televised Poker tournaments, I do find that participating in either is definitely an adrenaline rush.

As you may know, we co-sponsor a monthly Blackjack tournament with Global Player Casino (GPC) and have been doing so for almost four years now. In that tournament, the top qualifier plays a head-to-head match with me and gets $1000, minimum if s/he beats me. I say "minimum" because when I win, the $1000 prize is carried forward to the next month and there have been times when the winner got $4000.

That tournament is a lot of fun, but let me tell you about a very exciting tournament that runs every Wednesday, as this is being written. Once again, it's the leader in on-line Blackjack tournaments - Global Player Casino - that is holding these events. This tournament is conducted almost exactly as most tournament in brick-and-mortar casinos are; what I call a "best of table" type of match. This is where a certain number of players (usually one or two) advance to later rounds of competition until five players end up at the final table. The other style of tournament is a "winner take all" match where those players who accumulate the most chips advance, regardless of their final standing at the table on which they're playing. Both types of matches have their advantages and disadvantages, but to me, the "best of table" type is the fairest because you're competing only against those at your table, so if the dealer is "hot", you'll all have a tough go of it, but a winner will emerge nonetheless.

Here's how the Wednesday tournament at GPC currently works. There is an entry fee, 100% of which is returned to the players as prizes, so you pay your money and you get your entry. The amount varies from $10-$50, depending upon which Tuesday of the month it is; the earliest is the lowest and it goes up by $10 each week. (Again, I want to stress that this is how it is right now - March, 2005 - but these events have been evolving, so you're going to have to visit the casino to get the latest scoop.) When you've paid your entry fee - something you can do well in advance, by the way - you'll automatically be placed at a table when you enter the casino and click on the tournament listing in the lobby. Then, it's just a matter of waiting until the tourney begins. Each player gets T1000 (one thousand tournament chips, which have no value off the tournament tables); the minimum bet is T10, the maximum is T500 and each player, five to a table, bets in turn. Who bets first is determined by a marker that moves to the left on each hand. The placement of the button on hand # 1 is determined randomly by the casino server. A total of 15 hands are played and, depending upon the number of players, the one or (usually) two with the most chips advance to the next round. This next round is typically (depending again upon the number of entries) the semi-final round and one from each table in that round advances to the final table. Everyone at the final table will win something; they're all "in the money" at that point. They aren't the only winners, however. Some in the semi-finals get their entry fee back and sometimes there are "wildcards" who are players that didn't qualify, but are chosen to fill seats on the semi-final tables at no cost to them.

A new feature in the March 9, 2005 tournament was the ability to re-buy in the preliminary round of play. If you did not win or place at your table, you could pay 50% of the original fee and play another 15 hands at a table of five under the same rules - two advance, 15 hands and all that. Again, 100% of those fees go into the prize pool. This is an excellent feature that most participants were happy to have, me included, since I didn't place at my first table. This did eliminate the possibility of wildcard entries for the preliminary round, but who wants to rely on luck anyway? I wish I could say that I placed in the re-buy round, but the Blackjack gods were not smiling on me, so I was out.

This is a good time to talk a bit about the competition at these Wednesday tournaments. I don't want to give away any names, but I do know that at least four players who were in the World Series of Blackjack shows that I mentioned earlier are "regulars" at these events. That tells me two things: One, the competition is tough, but remember that luck is still a big factor, so anyone can win, and Two: these events are highly regarded by some of the best Blackjack tournament players in the world and all of us, especially me, can learn from them. Beside the fact that you can watch these tournaments in real time at no cost or obligation by just downloading GPC's software, many of the players gather in the GPC chat room before, during and after the matches to discuss what happened. That's a lot of education for free, as far as I'm concerned.

Before I close, I want to tell you about a terrific Website that specializes in Blackjack tournaments, both on line and off. It's www.blackjacktournaments.com/, which is run by my friend Ken Smith, he of the "Blackjack Basic Strategy Engine" site I refer to in my Blackjack School lessons. It's a free site that lists all the tournaments they know about, so you should visit it. There's also a series of discussion boards, for which you must register, but that's a painless process well worth the effort. I would also be remiss if I didn't mention my own series of articles on BJ tournaments, which you can find on the Blackjack page here.

Blackjack tournaments are an excellent way for wise players to make $$$ and, as they grow in popularity, the $$$ are sure to grow as well. Make sure you get your share and I'll see you here next time.