Hey guys, This clububt cruise was amazing. I got to meet some incredibly nice people, see some beautiful islands, and finally get to play ebj in person. I know bet21many times may seemed like it's rigged, but for those of you who couldn't make the cruise, here's what you missed! In the first round of the first blackjack tournament, Mace lost 8 hands in a row. On the elimination hand, he was the only one to get a stiff. I lost also, so we both ended up rebuying. We ended up at the same rebuy table, along with zweeky (Marc) (who couldn't make first round because of the poker tourney) and 2 other gentlemen. On hand 16, it came down to me, mace, and another guy, with each of us having our secret bets. I had big lead and was dealt a 20, making me safe, but the other three were pretty close. The one guy bet small and was dealt a blackjack, and zweeky and mace had pretty similar big bets. zweeky had mace covered and the better hand, so if the dealer made a hand, mace would be out, or else it would be the other guy. The dealer did make a hand, making it appear that mace was eliminated, until Joe pointed out the zweeky wasn't dealt his secret action card. The dealer then redealt his cards and busted, advancing mace to the semi-finals! In the second round of that tournament, it was hand 25, with 4 players left and 3 advancing to the finals. I had 42k and was first to act, the next 2 guys had 70-80k, and the fourth guy had about 60k. I secret bet 21k, the next 2 guys bet small, an the fourth guy bet 25k. I was dealt 16, fourth guy was dealt 11, and dealer had 2 showing. We both doubled down, dealer makes 20, I got a miracle 4 while the other guys lost, advancing me to the finals! In the final hand of the finals of that tournament, it came down to Ted and I. I had about 250k to his 205k. I bet 77k, covering him hi and lo and giving me the option to surrender back, and he bet 100k. He's dealt a blackjack while I was dealt a hard 14. My only option was to double down. The dealer unfortunately made 21, making the 5 I was dealt no good. I was ridiculously lucky though to just make the final table, so it didn't bother me too much to lose that way. In the next tournament, I lost 7/8 hands and was the first eliminated at my table. On hand 16, there were 2 guys with a huge lead, so it was basically down to Monica vs. Aruba Man Dan. My numbers might be wrong on this, but I think Dan had like 24.5k and Monica had like 35k. Dan secret bet 12k and Monica secret bet 15k, and were dealt 16 and 15, respectively. Dan doubled down, Monica stood, the dealer made 17, and Dan was dealt a 5, making 21 and eliminating Monica. Monica and I rebought and ended up seated at the same table, along with zweeky and some other guy. Each table had 4 players with 1 advancing into round 2. The dealer wasn't very nice to her the first 7 hands. We all made similar small bets, but on hand 8, she had 16.5k while the rest of us had 26-31k. She bet 16k and the rest of us covered her high and low. I wished her luck, which I now regret doing once you read this. She was dealt a 13, which she then double downed for $500. The dealer then made a 20, which looked good for the three of us guys, since Monica needed an 8 only to survive. The dealer flipped over her card and BAM!, she pulled a Dan. The one guy was eliminated, and so was zweeky a few hands later. On hand 15, she had about a 5k lead over me and was first to act, so she used her secret bet. I wasn't sure what she bet until the dealer gave her a blackjack and she made her famous Wooo!!! scream, then I knew I was in trouble. The dealer then opened her secret bet, which was 12k, her only other big bet that round. I couldn't pull another miracle on hand 16, so she advanced to the semi-finals. A few nights before that tourney, 5 players were trying to get a sng started. I had a show I wanted to see, but they all convinced me to play, so I decided to do something you're never suppose to do - GO ALL IN ON THE FIRST HAND. That way, I could see the show if I lost, or have a huge chip lead if I won. Well, I ended up winning that hand, and no one could even get close to me the whole time, so I won it on hand 16. Unfortunately, I could only see the last 2 minutes of the show, but I at least got $200 for it without even having to count chips or use my secret bet! Dan decided to do something similar in the finals of the second tourney. Mace and I were trying to get a sng started, and since he wanted to play and it was decided that it would be chopped 6 ways, with the winner getting an extra $300, he decided to push it all in first hand. That seemed to work well for him too, because he didn't just win, he got a blackjack! He was leading when there were 3 players left, but since they all needed to get ready for formal night and since he's such a cool guy, he decided to chop it 3 ways. Mace and I weren't able to get sng started that day, but we were able to get a few the day after. Mace plays amazingly well, but is also known for coming back from a crippled chip stack. In one of the last sngs, he was heads up with John D'Souza (who won the black pearl necklace in the ticket raffle poker tournament). John had a huge lead over Mace, but Mace told him what he's known for and jokingly offered to chop it. John declined and Mace amazingly did his thing and won it. Let me know if there were anymore crazy games I missed, or if I messed any numbers up. ~Spore
I also forgot to mention the time Mace hit an 18 into a 19, and the time I was all in and almost hit a soft 20 into 21, but stood and lost to dealer 21 (I had trouble thinking clearly in the ship and thought it was 10 until someone told me "nice hand").
