Blackjack Tournaments

Playing a blackjack tournament game is unlike any traditional game of blackjack. While you still play directly against the dealer, you progress thorough the rounds by ending each game with the most chips at the table. In that respect you are competing against the other players for a place in the final. During each short round players are eliminated. At a six player table, only one or two will progress to the next round.

During the game the first player to be dealt by the dealer (first base) actually rotates. A ‘button’ is placed on the table to indicate who will be the first player in that hand. Since the first player has no idea how much the other players at the table will wager they are disadvantaged for that hand. By rotating the button each player gets a fair chance of being the first (most disadvantaged) and last (most advantaged) player to be dealt to.

The prize for the winner consists of the entry fees paid by all the other players in the tournament. Entry fees can vary from around $10 (giving a prize pool of $500-$1000) all the way up to $1,000 entry with prizes above $1 million. It is common for up to five runner-up prizes to also be paid out.

Often, when the casino hosts a large tournament, they will also offer preferential rates on rooms or offer free dining to competitors. Tip: This can of course also be beneficial to those visitors who are not competing in the tournament, who may be able to get the same discounts on their stay.

Tournament blackjack can easily be compared to poker. Experienced players can easily take advantage of newcomers to tournament blackjack. In fact, even a basic grasp of tournament strategy can put you ahead of many of the other competitors. The biggest skill in tournament blackjack is risk management. Bet sizing should always be based on the risk vs reward factor at the time.

As all players at the table are competing against the same dealer cards, they will generally have very similar outcomes throughout the game in terms of wins and losses. For this reason most tournament players gain the advantage, not by getting better cards than their opponents, but by sizing their bets differently.

Article continues >>

Pages: 1 2