i will be playing in gs tourney anybody know what it took to get to semis last time.this is accumlative style format first two rounds ,5000k bankroll .bj in first round pays 5to1.
I'm also interested in information on the Gold Strike tournament. I've not played in this style of tournament before, and would like more data to help get prepared. If anyone could give some details on past events, it would be greatly appreciated. I'd specifically like to know the past advancing scores, the min-max bets, and whatever else you can share. Thanks, Sentry
Killed by the rebuy rounders I wound up signing up late and playing in this tournament along with my wife. We both had scores in the top 15% at the end of the first round, and after the end of the second round, we were both still in the top 35, with her placed solidly in the middle, me perilously near the bottom. We decided that she had an adequate margin of safety, but I needed to rebuy to improve my standing. They take your best two scores out of three, and the top 35 scores advance to the semi-finals. I had another weak round, but was able to crawl up by about $2000, a little help, but not much. I still had a chance, as I was still over $3000 above the known cut-off score. When they posted the scores, I was not even in the top 50! My wife's score was de-valued by about 25 places, also knocking her out of the semi-finals. The people in the rebuy rounds were like baby turtles heading out to sea- most of 'em got picked off, but the few survivors tended to scored big. I figure it took something like $6500 in combined rebuy fees to eliminate her. I have some gripes about the tournament, specifically the information provided about it in advance. They faxed me a poorly updated copy of last years rules, but when I got there, many of the rules were changed for this tournament. Chiefly, Blackjacks in round 1 were not paid 5:1, instead naturals in all rounds war paid 2:1. Had the rules they sent me been in effect, the final standings would have been much different. Also, the betting limits were different from what I had been told, but that was a less critical difference. The dealers and staff were all nice, it was just the problem with getting inaccurate information, and not being able to practice for the tournament I was actually going to be playing in that burns me. I'd be interested in hearing what others thought if they attended. It was fun, but I'm not sure I'll do this one again. Sentry
Gold Strike Tournament Gold Strike changed all BJ all rounds to 2:1. It seems like the re-buy is insurance. Many of the high scores (probbaly 10-36) did the re-buy round to hold their position. Lots of people who had a zero in one of their rounds did the re-buy. They had 204 players at the last tournament and 125 did the re-buy. Everyone had a good time.
Nov 2004 tournament I'd like to get more information too. I am a newbie and decided to jump in to the tournament next month. I got a copy of the rules faxed to me and they seem fair enough. I could see getting upset about last minute rule changes, but the rules as they are now seem fair. I can't imagine paying BJ at 5:1, that would seem quite unfair, but 2:1 is reasonable. I guess that is to avoid the half payouts. If you want a copy of the rules call 1-888-245-7529 and take option 3 to get the VIP host. They are real nice and appear to want to get more participation in order to keep this going in the future. The payout is guaranteed and they do pay the top ten in each session too. Everybody plays two sessions and has the option of a rebuy in another session. The two best session scores are added together to figure who goes to the semi finals (top 35 plus one wild card). Top 50 positions are in the money, so even if you don't get to the semi finals you still could get your $500 buy in back. Max number of players is 268 entries, so if they had only 204 in the last one, that makes things even better! Sure beats playing against 2300 to get into the WPT! Nanjack, have you seen the format for November? Is it the same as the last one?
The tournament format itself is the same as the one they did in May, but the increased the overall prize money by $50,000 and added sessioin winners. I just scanned the rules in. It might be a little hard to read but I think you can get the jist of it. My Executive Host is Jack Wood @ 662-541-1222. He's pretty knowledgable and can answer just about any question. The earyl entry special is over. The entry fee is now $500, and I think they are close to full. I had to cut come of this to post so it's not 100% complete. GOLD STRIKE CASINO $150,000 BLACKJACK TOURNAMENT $500 Buy-In / Optional $250 Re-Buy All Prize Monies Guaranteed Limited to 268 Entries Tournament Format / Play 1. Tournament will be held November 20th and 21st h, 2004. 2. In every round one session, each player will present a table and seat assignment card verifying paid entry and receive $5000 in non-negotiable tournament play chips from the blackjack dealer. Tournament play chips used have no monetary value and are for scoring purposes only. The tournament play chips will be several colors, each of which will have a designated point value. All tournament play chips must be returned to the table at the end of each round. Players may not loan or exchange tournament chips. In addition, the cards utilized in the tournament will be generic or out of issue playing cards. 3. Each entry will play two qualifying sessions. Players have the option of one (1) re-buy. The two highest session scores will be added together to determine advancement to the semi-finals. In case of ties to determine the players advancing to the semi- finals, a two hand play-off will be played with the highest amount of points advancing. 4. No more than one round can be played concurrently at a time. Twenty-five (25) hands will be played per round. A six deck shoe and six deck shoe rules will be used on all tables. 5. In every round of play any player receiving a natural Blackjack, will receive two (2) times their bet as opposed to the standard 1 ½ times the bet. This option applies to the preliminary rounds, the re-buy round, semi-finals, and finals. 6. All games will begin at the natural first base. A rotating marker will be used to determine the dealing and betting order. The marker will designate the player at the first base position. Once a bet has been placed, it cannot be changed. The marker will move to the right one position after each hand. 7. Should a player make a bet which exceeds the table maximum, the bet will be taken or paid to the table maximum; any overage will be returned to the entrant. 8. After twenty-four (24) hands have been dealt, there will be a count down of each player’s chips. The 25th hand will have a secret bet, with each player declaring, in writing, the amount to be wagered on the last hand. If the hand is an option for a split or a double down and the player wishes to exercise that option, the player must have sufficient chips available above and beyond their declared Secret Bet amount to make the wager. There are no call bets for insurance in tournament play. Players must have adequate chips available to place this wager if desired. At the conclusion of twenty-five hands, the tournament chips are counted down to determine the final score for that round and each entrant must verify their scores and sign their score cards before leaving the table. 9. In the event of ties in the semi-final session: a. When two or more players are tied with no chips left on the table, $500 is advanced to each player. After three hands are dealt, the entrant with the largest amount of chips is declared a winner. b. When two or more players tie with equal amounts of chips remaining, a minimum of three hands are dealt. If the players are still tied after the third had, the games proceeds as “sudden death†with a winner declared as soon as one player has a higher point total. The player with the largest amount of chip is declared the winner. 10. It is the player’s responsibility to communicate their desired action with the dealer. If a dealer deals out of order and no one acted upon their hand, all hands are dead. 11. In case of a dispute, the tournament director’s decision is final. All protests are made at the tournament table before the players leave. A player is eliminated from play if they violate any of the tournament rules, cheating, or disorderly. Communication from spectators is prohibited and may result in disqualification. 12. All non-value tournament chips must be returned to the table inventory at the end of each round. 13. Top thirty-five winners with the highest combined score for any two (2) sessions will advance to the semi-finals. 14. All players who do not make the semi-finals will be entered in a Wild Card drawing for the thirty-sixth seat in the semi-finals. The drawing will be held in the tournament area under Surveillance. 15. One name will be drawn to receive entry into the semi-finals. Entry drawn must be present and will have three minutes to arrive at the tournament area. If that entrant is not present within 3 minutes another entry will be drawn. Drawing for Wild Card slot will precede until winner claims the Wild Card slot. 16. In the event one of the top 35 semi-finalist elects not to play or does not arrive in the tournament area prior to the designated start time of the play-off round, the next highest scoring player will advance to play the semi-finals. 17. Prize money will be paid to the 50th position with the top winner from each table in the semi-finals to advance to the finals for a total of six participants. The second highest winner from each table will advance to an additional round of play to determine the 7th place winner. 18. Play will proceed under the above format until a winner is declared. Prize monies will be distributed as listed below: Prize Structures: Tournament Winners: 1st Place $50,000 5th Place $ 4,000 2nd Place $15,000 6th Place $ 2,500 3rd Place $ 10,000 7th Place $ 1,500 4th Place $ 7,500 8th – 50th Place ($500 per place) $21,500 $112,000 Session One Winners: 1st Place $5000 6th Place $500 2nd Place $4000 7th Place $250 3rd Place $3000 8th Place $250 4th Place $2000 9th Place $250 5th Place $1000 10th Place $250 $16,500 Session Two Winners: 1st Place $5000 6th Place $500 2nd Place $4000 7th Place $250 3rd Place $3000 8th Place $250 4th Place $2000 9th Place $250 5th Place $1000 10th Place $250 $16,500 Re-Buy Session Winners: 1st Place $2500 2nd Place $1000 3rd Place $750 4th Place $500 5th Place $250 $5000 19. In the event of a tie for first place in the final round, the two tying entries will participate in a two (2) hand playoff. Each entry will start with $500 play chips and will have a secret bet in writing for both hands. Scores are cumulative and the highest score of the tie breaker wins. If the contestants for first place are still tied after the two hand tie breaker, the tie will be resolved by a “sudden death†play-off until one player has a higher score than the other. Any and all other ties will result in the money being split equally. Betting Structures: During the qualifying rounds and semi-final round the betting limits will be as follows: Hands 1-20 $50 - $1,000 Hands 21-24 $50 - $2,500 Final Hand Secret Bet not to Exceed Bankroll All bets must be made in $50 increments with the exception of the Secret Bet. For qualifying and semifinal sessions players will receive $5,000 in tournament chips. During the final round the betting limits will be as follows: Hands 1-20 $100 - $2,500 Hands 21-24 $100 - $5,000 Final Hand Secret Bet not to Exceed Bankroll All bets must be made in $100 increments with the exception of the Secret Bet. For the final round players will receive $10,000 in tournament chips.
Gold Strike $150,000 BJ Tourny! Quick reminder....our tournament is filling up fast....we currently have 227 participants enrolled out of a maximum of 268. With about 2 weeks left for enrollment....you are encouraged to not wait til the last few days before the tournament.....looks like this one will be a sellout! And rightfully so.....with $150K and the format of 4 tournaments in one! Jack Wood Gold Strike Tournament Central 662-541-1222
Gold Strike I talked with Jack Wood yesterday & he stated that there are now about 230 paid entries. The full prize money will be paid regardless of the entries & regardless of re-buys. He stated that they expect about 1/2 of the entries to be re-buys. If so that makes 268 + 268 + 134=670 entries divided by 35 in the semi- finals. (#36 is a wild card draw) 670/35=19.14 Square root is 4.34 x $5000 BR =$21,874 thresh hold to get to the semi finals. Does this sound right. Are there any corrections suggested?
Semi final cut If you do the same math on the last tournament numbers it would come out that your bankroll to make the semifinals would need to have been $19,511. Does anyone know what the real cut off turned out to be?
Gold Strike If you are referring to Gold Strike last tournament, the BJ's were paying 5 to 1. This time they will be paying 2 to 1. That could make a big difference. The way I calculate it BJ comes appx 5% of hands. I assume a re-buyer was at the cutoff. That means playing 75 hands, x 5%= 3.7 BJ . If you figure that at 5 to 1 rather than 2 to 1 it will make a big difference depending on the bet size. Any guesses?
Can anyone tell me what the cutoff was last time? Of course, I expect it to be much higher this time due to the prize money added for each round's top ten players. By the way, I called tonite and was told that it was not filled yet (Wednesday night at 11:00pm). All the exectutive hosts were gone, so I was told to call in the morning for better details.
gold strike cut I am going from memory, but I think it took about 22,500 to make the top 36 last spring. Cadillac425
Thanks for the info. I bet it will take well over 30K this time due to the extra players and the new incentive to be in the top 10 each round. Also, I would expect this tourney will likely cost any serious player an extra $250.00 to rebuy to improve one's chances to advance.
Gold Strike Qualifying $ I just returned from Tunica Gold Strike without waiting for the semi finals or finals to be played. As expected there were 268 entrants, and even more were on stand-by hoping for a place. The tournament was well run with an extremely complicated format to administer. They were a little slow in posting qualifying rounds results, but it really did not make a lot of difference. The cut off for the semi-finals was $32,200 for 35th place. $ was paid to the 50th place that was $27,000. There were a lot of $250 re-buys, somewhere in the neighborhood of 125. The highest qualifying round result for one session was $54,000. I do not remember the total high for the 2 sessions. I hope this helps answer some questions.
It wasn't me, but I had fun trying... I didn't make the final table but did make the cut to the semi finals. I'll start a new thread with how the final play turned on my table and look for suggestions on betting from everyone. I found that either the dealer is hot or cold, didn't seem to be anything in between at the tables I played in. Also have a question about live cash tournaments and how they work, which will be another thread. I think he cut was so high due to the payouts for the individual qualifying rounds. Everyone seemed to go all in on their last hands which either left you with a good score for the round or a bust. There were many people who busted all three rounds. I didn't get to see who made the final round, but at my table it was the lady who advanced. I don't remember what the top score was for two rounds, but I know mine was third at 44,900 (33,000 plus 11,900). (The 33,000 for the second round was fourth place, so it goes to show you how high some of the scores were.) I think the top score was maybe 60 something, a combination of a 41,000 and some other number in the 20's. I would have loved to stay around and watched the finals, but my wife was sick and wanted to go home as soon as I was eliminated. I heard some complaints about the format, but it was from someone who normally plays only elimination type tournaments and hated the qualifying format. After the cut it went to an elimination format which is totally different strategy and play. I really had a good time and I know I will be back for the next one in the spring!
Fifth place for me My luck ran out at the final table. After having $0 in the first two rounds, I managed to push my rebuy round total to $37K to qualify for the semi-finals. I managed to get the lead on a forced double down on next to the last hand of the semi-finals. I pushed a twenty to make it to the finals. In the finals I lost hands 22, 23, and 24. A win on any of those hands would have given me the lead. I kept one chip on hand 24 while the sixth place finisher lost an all in bet. I had not previously met any of the finalists. The gentleman who got the wild card into the semi-finals made the final table. He led for 24 hands and lost to the tournament winner's "all in" blackjack on the last hand.
