Cruise Rules, part 1

The cruise rules are the same as the TBJPA rules except for the final two rules are just for the cruise.


Tournament Blackjack Players Association

National Tournament Rules​

These rules will be consistent at all participating TBJPA™ events.

1. Each casino will make their best effort to have 5 to 7 players in the first round. The starting number of players will be based on the number of entries.
2. Four hands will be played for each starting player per table in each round.
   Example: 5 players = 20 hands, 6 players = 24 hands. The top two players (high chip totals) will advance to the next round until the finals.
3. All players will start with $500.00 in "No Cash Value" chips. Before the start of each round each player may purchase an additional $100.00 in chips for only five dollars.
4. The players will draw for seat and table assignments. The dealing will be rotated clockwise after each hand. Once the players are at their tables the
   dealer will deal each player a card, high card will determine where first base starts at that table in that session. Starting with the selected first
   base, the button will rotate clockwise after each hand.
5. Bets will also begin at the selected first base and go in a clockwise direction. However once a bet is made regardless of position it must stay.
6. All players have up to 30 seconds to make their bets during hands 1 through 19. Hands 20 through 24 each player will have one minute to make their bets. Timers will be used for the final five hands at all tables. If a bet has not been made within the time limit a minimum bet will be made.
   
   A.) Each player will have 30 seconds to make their playing decision if a hand playing decision is not made within the time allotted, the hand will stand pat. For the final five hands in each round, the time will be increased to one minute timed by sand timers.
7. All chips must be stacked by denominations and in plan view of the other players. One warning will be given to the table and then disqualification
   for failure to comply.
8. Dealer will stand on all 17.
9. Double downs will be allowed after any first two cards. Double downs will also be allowed after splits, (except Aces).
10. Splits will be allowed up to three times (total four hands), except for Aces, (only allowed once). Aces will only receive one card on each hand.
11. The player may double down on any two cards, for any amount from the table minimum up to and including the amount of their original wager. This includes two cards immediate after splitting, with the exception of split Aces which are governed by the one card per Ace rule above.
12. English is the official language, any other language used will result in $25 penalty (chips) if within the first 19 hands. $100 (chips) penalty if within the last five hands. This rule will be STRICTLY ENFORCED!
13. Any spectator's giving advice will be asked to leave the tournament area. If a spectator is giving advice that is playing in the tournament he/she will be given one warning, a second time they will be disqualified.
14. In the case of a tie (more then two players for the top two spots) a two hand per player playoff will decide the winner(s) from that table. Each player will start with $200.00 in "No Cash Value" chips for the playoff. The betting order will continue in the order of the last hand.
15. Players are asked to be at their tables five minutes before the starting time. Players arriving late for their assigned session will be penalized a $100 chip deduction for each hand missed. After 5 hands the player forfeits the round. The player's must be in their seats before their first card of each hand is dealt, or the penalty or elimination will be forced.
16. Anyone caught cheating will be banned for one year from all TBJPA™ events and any and all entry fees, re-buys, and winnings will be forfeited. If caught a second time a life time ban will be issued to the player or players.
17. Players must be 21 years of age to play in these tournaments. *For the cruise 18 is the minimun age.
18. Player's blackjacks pay 3:2.
19. Late surrender is allowed for 1/2 of the players original wager only. Surrender is not allowed after splitting. A surrender card will be used for all surrender plays, no hand signals nor verbal commands for surrender will be honored.
20. Insurance is allowed when the dealer shows an ace as the up card and may be taken for any amount from $2.50 up to half the original wager for the hand. Winning insurance wagers will pay 2:1. The insurance wager must be physically made. Even money will not be allowed.
21. Every player must give an appropriate hand signal to hit, or stand. Doubling down, and splitting decision must be communicated verbally.
22. Each tournament session will consist of 4 hands times the number of player with these exceptions:
    
    A) The round can end sooner if only the number of players to advance remain to play on the table.
    
    B) The round will be extended if there is a tie between two or more players for advancement to the next round. In such an event 2 extra hand will be played times the number of players involved in the tie. In a playoff the rotation of the buttom remains the same as in regulation, but for only the players involved in the playoff starting with the next player clockwise from where the final hand was played. Should there be no winner after these hands, one hand at a time will be played until a winner (or winners) is determined.
23. The number of players at each table may vary due to the number of entrants, but 6 is the preferred number of players per table. TBJPA™ will try to keep an equal number of players at each table in any given session.
24. Betting limits in all rounds will be from $5 to $200 in increments of $5. If a $2.50 increment is made, it will not be paid and returned to the player. Only exceptions will be for insurance and on double downs, where $2.50 bets will be allowed.
25. Play will be stopped for counts with 5 hands left and before the last hand. The counts will be performed by the either the Tournament Director or dealers and will be written down for all the players at the table to see.
26. A player must make their bet within 30 seconds, players will not be penilized for dropping chips in their betting area one at a time since there is no such thing as a string bet in blackjack. However all bets must be made without removing your hand from the betting area to either add or subtract chips. Verbal bets will not be accepted.
27. Once a bet is placed in the betting circle it can not be changed until after the hand is completed.
28. No outside assistance, written, electrical, or mechanical aids will be allowed. All decisions on how to play the hand must be that of the player.
29. The tournaments will be dealt from a single, double deck, multiple deck shoe, or even machine depending on the host casino. Cards will be dealt face up (in most cases), including all double downs (again in most cases).
30. Rotating numbered markers will be used to determine the betting and playing order. Its initial table placement will be determined though a random draw and these markers will rotate one position after each hand.

The remaining rules will be posted on the next post.

 

Cruise Rules part 2.

Cont. rules 31 - 41

1. Players must bet the $5 "NCV" chip minimum every hand during each round.
2. If there is a misdeal on the first two cards given to each player or the dealer at the start of any hand the misdealt cards will be backed up and dealt to the proper hands they were intended. If misdealt cards are dealt to any player or the dealer as the third card of any hand, the cards will be considered dead cards and removed from play. The only exceptions to this rule will be:
   
   A) If a player asks for a hit and the card is placed on the wrong hand the card will be backed up.
   
   B) If a player asks for and receives a card out of turn, then that card and any additional cards they received will be burned. Then play will resume at the proper position.
3. Once play has begun a player may not leave the table. Any players doing so will be disqualified.
4. Any decision or arbitration regarding any playing rule or conflict shall be made by the Tournament Director or designee and the decision shall remain final.
5. Players not adhering to the rules can be disqualified at the discretion of the Tournament Director.
6. The Tournaments may be revised at the option of TBJPA™ Tournaments Director.
7. TBJPA™ reserves the right to refuse entry to any potential player.
8. The Tournament Director has final decision on what will be allowed and what procedures and penalties will be enforced, if necessary.
9. Rick Jensen will be the Tournament Director (or consultant) for all tournaments unless noted otherwise.
   
   [*]Husband and wife rule: All players will draw for their table and seating assignments, however a husband and wife may ask to be on different tables for round one only. They must ask prior to drawing their table and seating assignments. In case this situation does come up the second person drawing will re-draw until they get on a different table.
   [*]Sea-sick rule: This rule was put in case a player win’s in round one and then becomes to sick to play in any of the further rounds. Should this happen I allow a replacement player to be drawn from the loser’s pool (only for players that didn’t advance from round one)? As long as that player agrees to play for the sick player they will be allowed to continue playing through out the tournament or until the sick player is well enough to return to play. Normally the sick player will compensate the replacement player should he or she makes any money in the tournament.
   

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Comment on rules

Hey Rick, Nicely done on the rules. I just did a quick read and I fully understand that these are your rules and you are running the tournaments. One comment on rule 25. I really dislike countdowns on the final hand. I feel chip counting is an art and should be used in tournaments. Countdowns with 5 to go are fine. Again Nicely done Rick. thrasht

ps. I tried to send this privately but your mail box is full.

 

Thanks

The double count was something we offered last year. It really went very well.

I agree that chip counting is an art, however after much (really a damn lot) of discussion I offered to try the double count on the cruise. That was the Joep vs. GameMaster debates from last year...LOL

Surprizingly they went very smoothly on the cruise and most all the players didn't mine it at all, (or no one complaned to me).

I have been told that a few Reno tournaments are using the double count down as well with no negitive feedback.

I look at the double count down this way, if this is all it takes to add a few more players into a tournament than it is worth it for the extra few minutes.

 

I Can Live With It

I missed out on the Joep vs Gamemaster debate. I'm taking a guess here that Joep was on the side of no count on the last hand. I hope I'm right on this one as I'm still trying to figure Joep out. LOL

On a side note I'm glad to see Joep signed on as a dealer on the cruise. I can't wait to sit at his table and get abused. LOL again

 

Nice set of rules

Ken Smith and Swog - a nice set of rules - don't you think??!!

Chips

 

And thanks too...

ChipsMcCoy, Ken Smith, Swog, Dr. Bass and S. Yama for all helping with these rules.

 

Part 1 - 24

In my opinion double down bet increasements need to be $5, not $2.50

 

Updated rules

Sorry Monkeysystem Rule #22 B now has it up. In a playoff the rotation of the buttom remains the same as in regulation, but for only the players involved in the playoff.

Arlalik the DD or insurance bet doesn't really matter as far as being a normal bet. If you ever played the New Frontier Tournament you would have hated it if a $2.50 chip bothers you. They played with $1.00 chips and and I have seen players lose by $.50 before for Thousands of dollars.

What good does a odd chip do a player if they cannot bet it somewhere somehow during a game? If that is the case why not just have no insurance and pay 2 to 1 for blackjack.

 

Rules: Rules: Rules"

What constitues cheating?

 

Well...

Hiding chips is number one!
The double count pretty much takes care of that problem.

Bringing ex-chips to the table.

Coaching is up there.

Talking in another language other than English.

Using half-ass hand signals to confuse the dealer.
You know the type, where it could be a hit or stand signal depending on the next card.

What else am I missing?

 

Cheating:

How about players hi-lowing. How do you determine team collaboration. Don't want to be a P, but, ya know BJ players bein advantage players, they've always got something up their sleeve(s) Not like honest, Queensbury Rules Poker Playas.

I guess ya could come up with a complete list of no-nos and still have something happen outside what's generally accepted. And most people on the cruise are not looking to that edge. But, in your tour(which I like) I think you and MR. MAX should rule with an iron fist. Cause, I like most, want to know what the "rules" are and then bring it on.....manno a manno or manno a womanoo or woman a womanoo or womanoo a mano, yadda, yadda, yadda.

still working on a thought on bj tournament scamming. Still too long. But, darn it anytime there's big! money, there's a Skilling or a Lay.

Have to add, some years back S. Yama posted back to me, not to worry about it and just play your best game. Seems skilled play outweighs all else.

Oh well, let the flood gates open.

 

Brooklyn Style Tournament Rules

Trasht am I really that hard to figure out :laugh:



But to set the record straight I was against any additional chip counts other than the standard one with 5 hands left. You could can all chip counts as far as I'm concerned, but I'm OK with one with 5 hands left





I believe you should not punish the players who have trained them selves to try and have an exact chip count on their opponent going into the last hand .Otherwise you are rewarding players who don't try to improve that ability and punishing those who have.





Now as far as abusing you at the table, man do I really have that bad of a reputation ?





As Elyssez has said recently I'm all bark and no bite





But you will notice that no one asked me to help with the drawing up of the rules. If they did I would allow players to grab Hollywood by the collar when he got out of hand ,as long as he hadn't taken he shirt off already :laugh: .Players would also be allowed to have a glass of Buttermilk to throw at the Assassin if and when he started his nonsense . So as you can see maybe this is why I wasn't asked to be on the rules committee





I hope this help in you analysis of me and my often misinterpreted behavior, after all I'm not the Bad Boy of Blackjack I just keep him in line when it's called for.








Joep

 

Mr. Joep-

While I too do not see a neccessity for a chip count before the final hand, some players are still in the process of learning how to accurately count an opponents chips. So maybe you should cut them some slack. Not all of us have reach "Pro" status yet. And as far as my comment about your bark vs. bite, if you had reviewed the thread you would have seen it's been edit out. Good speech though.

-Elysse

 

Beware

Actually you help make my point if you never require the players to count the chips on their own they will never learn .A hands on approach is always the best way to learn.

Its like having a chauffeur if you never get to drive anywhere clear the roads if and when you do.

Your poking fun at my bark and no bite status was rather cute and there was no need to remove it .After all its like chip counting if I didnt know that about my self I couldnt fix the problem


CHOMP CHOMP


Joep

 

It requires time to learn how to count chips. To assume new players aren't even bothering to learn is very dismissive of you. I'm sure when you started playing blackjack, you had to learn to count chips as well.

 

You are right we all got a countdown with 5 hands to go and everyone played on from there.Why cant you see my point. If you never take the training whells off a bike you will never learn how to ride.

Why dont we just allow coaching also on the last 5 hands .That will save time

 

Actually rule #25 is only for the cruise...

I caught a mistake on the rules, #25 the double count is just for the cruise tournaments only and not for the TBJPA.

I agreed with Joep last year about only offering a count with 5 hands remaining, but I offered to do the double count for the cruise tournaments.

These cruise tournaments are more like a blackjack tournaments 101 class anyway. We try and teach the new players as they are playing. They actually ran pretty smooth last year and hopefully the same this year.

Now for the TBJPA - Tour I feel (as Joep put it), "the training wheels should come off" and we only offer a count with five hands remaining.

 

Joep vs joep2

Joep, I haven't seen your alter-ego joep2 out and about for awhile. Speaking for myself I enjoy joep over the kinder gentler joep2.

I was very pleased to see that I had figured you out correctly on the subject of countdowns and that we're on the same sheet of music on this topic so to speak. I'm enjoying your and elyssez's bantering on the subject of countdowns. I think these good healthy discussions are what this sites all about.

As far as abusing me at the tables on the cruise. I'm one of those sick people that thrive on a little abuse. I don't think you have a bad reputation and actually think you have a good reputation. thrasht