Woo from Korea won tonights World Blackjack Tour event on GSN. Our very own Reachy playing in his first ever land based tournament came in 4th, but had a chance to win it all on the last hand had he won his max. bet DD. Reachy you played very well my friend and we're all proud of you. You did yourself and England proud tonight. Hope to see you, Andy, and Colin all over here for more events in the near future.
Second WBT show This was the second year for the World Blackjack Tour. Dr. Jeff was in as the USA representative because of his win on WSOB III. I had summited the other players picked because of their nationalites. Woo, plays in several large tournaments and from Korea. Fiona is actually is a cocktail waitress at the Beau Rivage in Biloxi, but she is a big player when she gets going. Simon (Reachy) I knew from our days playing against one another on Global-Player. And I'd like to add played an excellent game last night for his first ever land based tournament. Lillanna has played in several events and on my cruise tournaments in the past and her husband Gary is seasoned tournament player I've known for years. GSN just wanted a group of men and women from with different nationalities willing to come to Las Vegas and with knowledge of tournament play. Just those four were picked out of my other friends I suggested from Germany, Sirklas, Bernd (just got 3rd at the European Championship), and Tina. Also friends from New Zealand, Canada (BJFAN4), Norway, Greece, Italy, and South America.
I thought it was a very good and well produced show. My question though is, should Dr. Jeff double on the last hand? He doesn't need to in that situation? Would you still double if the card is dealt up vs. down? My initial reaction was NOT to double.
A quick reply! I'll add a more detailed post about my experiences on the WBT show in the next few days but lets just say it was an amazing experience. I don't think I'm giving away any secrets by saying it was filmed at the same time as the WSOB and so not only did I get to meet many of the worlds top players, I also got to watch them play from the crowd and from the stalls. The highlight for me though was watching these games with Rick, Ken Smith, Hollywood Dave, Thrast and other great players, and discussing the different plays, tactics and strategy. Awesome! As for the game, I don't remember much. Don't forget it was my 1st live B&M tourney and only my 2nd time in a casino. The first time was in Plymouth, England, and The Grosvenor isn't something most Americans would recognise as a casino! The first thing I realised was that I had absolutely no idea how many chips my opponents had after a few hands. Sure, I could count the stacks but then you had to remember them, then add and take away numbers, then do the same with your own stack, mental arithmetic and all that... Anyway, to cut a long story short, I saw Woo Shin as the best player at the table and deserved winner. I knew I was in with a chance on the last hand but cocked up my last bet with a miscalculation which dropped me back to 4th. I figured that I could lock up 3rd and have a shot at 1st. I don't know whether the camera picked up my reaction when I realised my mistake; I was shocked and very disappointed in myself. Before I sign off I'd like to thank Rick for sorting this out. It was entirely down to him that I had this opportunity and I can't say how much I appreciated it. Top guy, true gentleman. More later... Cheers Reachy
Before I answer you question, here is a recap of th efinal hand. Final hand: Jeff on the button. Seat 1. Fiona - out 2. Jeff - $165,500 - bet -$50,000 - hand: 3/7 3. Woo - $130,500 - bet - $24,000 - hand: J/2 4. Lilliana - $14,000 - bet - $14,000 - hand: Q/J 5. Simon - $100,000 - bet - $50,000 - hand: 4/8 Dealer: 8 2. Jeff - DD for the full $50,000 ($100,000) 3. Woo - DD for less $23,000 ($47,000) 4. Lilliana - stood on her 20 5. Simon - DD for less $25,000 ($75,000) Dealer flips an ace for 19! 5. Simon catches a Queen and busts 4. Lilliana wins with her 20 and moves into 3rd place. 3. Woo catches a Jack and busts 2. Jeff catches a 3 and lost Woo wins the event with a total of $93,500 Jeff 2nd with $65,500 Lilliana 3rd with $28,000 Simon 4th with $25,000 Fiona 5th with 0 Now back to your question. Jeff had a few options, he could; 1. Just hit and hope he wins while Woo pushes or lost. 2. Surrender and hope niether Woo nor Simon won their hands. 3. DD, which is what he did. I would have just hit the hand since just winning the hand would cover everybody else's DD's. And to Simon, it was my pleasure both to finally meet you and help you get on the show. Hope to see you again in the near future.
Very Good Show I thought this show was well produced. It was just about the same format as WSOB. However, the elimination hand was not included, the knockout card, etc....What troubled me during the entire show was Dr. Jeff. His antics with trying to get the crowd involved just really didn't work. After so long my wife said, "Honey, he is getting on my nerves and needs to just play." I mean, in my honest opinion, the crowd was somewhat enthusiastic as the match progressed. I love it when the crowd says little things like, "show him what you got", "paint a picture for me baby." Now, as far as the play. I think Woo just played a perfect game and played the perfect amount of money at the right time. He even played a great amount($20,000+) when he drew an Ace+10=21 early. That was so exciting. Lastly, the final hand was very dramatic. Notice how there wasn't the stupid music that Ubt.com plays? In addition, isn't it nice to know that after the commercial breaks the show gives the the novice player tips on what you should do if you have a sixteen against a dealer's 9,10, face card, or Ace. You should surrender and they played out that example in a matter of seconds. These are the little things that make for a good show. I have a copy of the telecast if someone wants it free of charge. I love all of you guys and will mail it to you if you want. God bless....
World Blackjack Tour: Reachy--Dashing and debonair, as one would have expected from his first Avatar. Somehow, except for the last, your words, you must have instinctively known chip counts. Well played, in spite of all the distracting sparks coming from the other end of the table. Though those sparks would certainly be in contrast to the view from the "stalls." Was there any foot tapping?
great job all around Simon, I just got to watch the show from my DVR recorder. My comments about you and the show: . You were fabulous. Having been raised on online bj tournaments myself, I found myself in a similar situation at the Venetian in July, having to count chips in a live game for the first time. It can be a bitch. You did great. . As noman said, you were "dashing and debonair." I'll add suave and classy. I could see you as 007! . You were a true gentleman, getting up to shake Fiona's hand after her loss. . That last hand was tough, and I saw the pressure you felt to make the right bet, while trying to count the chips. . I really enjoyed watching you play, and would love to see you on tv again. I also hope to meet you one day soon. As for the show on GSN. Great job all around. They managed to sell a lot of commercial time to a huge variety of companies. Hmmm...I guess it's not that difficult to sell air time for a blackjack tournament, is it? We got to see almost every hand, so there was great continuity. You could really get to know the style and strategy of each player. The announcer passed along some simple strategy and bet moves. The production was right on up there. No unnecessary time spent showing us what was coming up after the break. No unnecessary time spent on explaining the rules and selling the show. Kudos to GSN and Simon (reachy)!
Crap! Can't get GSN here and missed the whole thing. Simon, congrats on what sounds like a very classy and well-played game. Counting them chips is a bitch the first time, isn't it? Especially when that first time is on TV (been there, done that). Be proud of your first foray into the world of TV TBJ, it sounds like you did yourself proud!
Reachy Well we are certainly very proud of Reachy and the Brits had sent their congratulations over via private messages right after the event in February 2007. All I can say is for an Internet player to go over to the USA and play his first live game in front of the television cameras must have took some nerve. To this day I do not know whether Reachy managed to get in any table experience before he played the event. For contractual reasons he could not say a lot until the show had been aired in the USA. So now we await Reachy's response about his experiences. Well-done mate. PS A copy of the DVD show would not go amiss if you want to send it to me. Andy
More later... Thanks for all the messages of support, much appreciated. A brief response to Andy, I had no table experience before the show. I did spend some time in the casino practicing chip counting at the blackjack tables, but other than that... I did practice at home as well of course but nothing will really prepare you for the real thing. To my mind the best preparation has to be playing hundreds of tourneys. Since it's unlikely that we'll see any UK casinos running multiple regular mini-TBJs we are unlikely to gain that sort of experience this side of the pond. Shame. Cheers Reachy
