Accumulation Tournament Strategy ?

B

Blackjack Rebel Too

Member
It looks like I am going to be playing an accumulation format tournament in the not too distant future and wanted to see if the esteemed crowd here could offer any advice. I have only played a couple of these and could certainly use the advice. This particular tourny allows a max bet of 20% of the starting bankroll for the first 20 hands and 50% of the starting bankroll for hands 21-24. Hand 25 will be a secret bet and it seems like you can bet your entire current bankroll on it if I am interpreting the rules correctly.

So what do y'all think. Come out with the max allowable bets from start to finish? Positive Progression Bets? 3 step Martingale with step 3 ending on the max bet? Super aggressive doubling and splitting? Something else?

If the secret bet does allow you to bet everything you have, is that wise or foolish?

This tournament is actually a hybrid but I have to get out of the accumulation part of it to get to the table elimination part.

Thanks for any insights you might have on this format.
 
Need more info

To answer, we'll really need to know approximately what portion of the participants will advance from the non-elimination portion.

For example, at Bally's Tunica, the top 35 advance from a field that is usually around 200 to 250 players.

If the ratio of players to advancers is fairly high (like Tunica), I'd say you definitely want to make the max bets allowable until you get to a reasonable goal. You might be able to reign it in and "nickel out" if you reach your target.

Setting the target is the most skilled part of this process. Once you know what you're shooting for, bet big and hope for good cards.
 
Thanks for the reply. Here are the particulars. The tourny is the Gold Strike tournament in May. Top 35 advance to semis. Best two scores from 2 rounds and an optional rebuy round are added to determine the top 35. I have read the thread on last fall's tourny and it looks like at least 40K to make it. 268 entries. I would like to go to Bally's this month but it is hard to get away in the weeks before standardized testing.

One last query. After you determine your target score, (say 50K) do you think you are better off trying to hit it with one monstor round or getting to somewhere around 30K and then backing off with the idea of getting the rest in the next round?
 
Those rebuy rounds make the Gold Strike a tough tournament to figure out. The information you have from prior events is probably your best asset here.

I can give you a definitive answer on your most recent question though, and it applies in every non-elimination tournament. Always try to get to your total goal in the first round.

Let's take a Bally's example: If your goal is $5000 and you start with $1000 twice, many players will make the mistake of backing off once they get to $2500 or $3000 in round one, figuring they'll do the same thing in round two. However, the mistake is obvious when you consider it this way: Is it easier to turn round one's $2500 into $5000, or to turn your round two starting $1000 into $2500? Once you have ammo in your stack, you can afford to lose a hand or two and still survive.

Go for the gusto in round one. If it works, nickel out in round two. If it doesn't work, you get one more chance in round two.
 
I agree with Ken, you need to find a target and try for it. It is probably easier to have one big round combined with an ok round rather than trying to make two rounds of half your target.

One thing nice about the Gold Strike is they pay top finishers in each of the accumulation rounds, so there is an incentive to go big or bust on the last hand. I was one of the lucky ones to get a blackjack on an all in final bet in my second round which paid me $2500. Remember too that they have one rebuy round which can be used to substitute for your lowest first round score, so you will see a lot of players bust one or both preliminary rounds and try to make up for it in the rebuy.

I haven't decided yet if I will play there next month, kind of depends on how things go at the Hilton this week. Good luck to you.
 
Thanks for all the input everyone. Your replies have raised another question in my mind. Since this tournament has a secret bet for the last hand, I thought I would get y'all's opinion on that also. I am leaning towards betting my entire bankroll in the first three rounds (including rebuy if I need it and I probably will :laugh: ) unless I already have a good score on an earlier round and I am don't want to risk a 0 while I try to pad that total. Even with a good early round, the fairly generous round payouts are tempting.

The table advance nature of the semis and final will require a different strategy and I think I have a better handle there but feel free to comment if
your wish.

By the way, if you paid any attention to the handle of this post, this is the handle I registered with first and then had to change to avoid the embarrasment of my typing skills. But it is still me.
 
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