Cat's outta the bag!
Kudos Ken for catching this press release... though i told many of you in Vegas & through private emails/messages, GSN did not want me releasing the info publicly until the official release came out. Now that its been done, I can publicly announce my role on this very fun show! (and my bid to run for governor of california -- no, wait, that's a DIFFERENT Hollywood actor -- nevermind)
toonces said:
Yes, Congrats, Dave! While not as pretty as Tiki, the banter should be interesting.
Now for the bad parts:
No expert commentary.
I wouldn't be so quick to rush to judgement here, my friend. Spunky as I may be, I did a pretty good job dispensing advice, correct strategy, and of course, plenty of trash talk to these famous would-be card sharks. In fact, i think the big reason GSN put me at the table instead of just another pretty face (ah, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, where are you now? Do you dream of me late at nite, hitting blackjack after blackjack, as you try to shake off the cruel cold wind of the Connecticut winter & fall blissfully to sleep?) was so that i could 'intervene' at crucial points to stop someone from repeatedly hitting their 14 against a dealer 5, or missing a key doubledown/split opportunity. That being said, many of the celebs did have a decent grasp on basic strategy, but the issues of money management and other tourney staples were not as prevalent.
Purists to the art and form of blackjack tournaments will I'm sure scoff at the secret bet, the jokers, and the like. But after shooting the show I can honestly say that we all had a blast, and it shows! Every table was filled with an interesting range of characters and conversation, and it was my pleasure to joke and jab with these guys. I tried to make a point of getting as much good information out there as possible, so that the casual ploppie watching would not see their favorite celeb standing on a 15 vs an 8 without Hollywood Dave at least making a comment about the 'correct' play. I didn't want to send a message of aquiesence to bad plays thru inaction or silence -- going so far at points as to not LET celebs make certain bad plays, or if they insisted, making them take their own card from the shoe so i would not be responsible for the result! I am sure we will lose some of this in editing, but at every point i tried to be as helpful and accessible as possible so as to assist the celebs who needed it (and the viewing audience at home) to a better understanding of the math and theory that makes it all tick -- all in my trademark off-the-cuff manner that hopefully made learning it all a little more fun.
But ultimately, this show wasn't really about the hardcore competition that drove us at Mohegan Sun, the Hilton, and the like. It was about a bunch of fun people who got together to share a laugh, raise some money for charity, and play some blackjack. So watch the show with that in mind, or you'll give yourself a coronary trying to analyze the improper bet correlations & other tourney blunders. Ken Smith may be a master mathematician, but Snoop Dogg comes off so much cooler explaining a $16,000 bet by saying "its one chip for each of the 16 true pimps out there tuning in"...
With logic like that, who needs Stanford Wong?
-hollywood dave.
