Mandalay Bay $1.5m "Big Score" blackjack tournament last weekend

M

masonuc

New Member
Did anybody play? It was a terrible tournament. The $1.5m was a tease -- no way to win that. There were three rounds, but it was not an elimination tournament. $100k in chips each round, $10k max bet, accumulate as much as you can each round. About 250 players. Highest total score (all 3 rounds combined) won $200k, $50k for 2nd place -- top 4 places all made money. $1.5m if you win all 3 rounds (impossible), $500k if you are top 3 all rounds, $200k for top 9 (or something like that), etc.

I really don't like non-elimination tournaments, and this one was doubly stupid because there was no betting strategy. The only way to play was to bet max each hand and play for high variance. People were making some terribly stupid plays even in the early hands (doubling blackjack, doubling hard 12-17, etc.).

I don't know if anyone won any of the bonus money.

FYI this was an invite tournament. Mandalay had an invite baccarat tournament the week before which was really a gold mine. $500k in (guaranteed) prize money and only about 110 players. Yeah I lost that one too.
 
Thanks. I did not see Shackleford or Einiger there -- if I had I would have had to hit Ken up for the $12 I wasted on his book. Need to pay better attention to my opponents at some of these tournaments. It is disheartening though that many of these invite tournaments are being invaded by people who actually know how to play them. They used to be 98% full of morons who would bet it all on the first hand.

I agree 100% with your strategy for that tournament, and did the same thing. Max bet every time, and every marginal double/split you can think of that makes sense. I split 10s vs 3-6, double 10 v A, etc. I got quite high on 3rd round but then bet all and lost last hand (only hand in whole tournament without a max). I saw some guy in the last session of the third round win last hand and he had about $500k.

Are you playing in Mandalay mini-bac tournament in 2 weeks?
 
Kens Book

I Do Not Believe You Wasted Money On Kens Book I Believe You Wasted Your Time At A Bizarre Tournament:d :d
 
Actually....

masonuc said:
It is disheartening though that many of these invite tournaments are being invaded by people who actually know how to play them. They used to be 98% full of morons who would bet it all on the first hand.
Click to expand...

Most of the better tournament players will agree that betting max from the start is the best way to play accumulative events. Of course if your paying the entry fee, play the way you feel most comfortable is what I tell everyone.

I do agree with you though, accumulative is not my favorite tournament format either, but when you're getting a free entry it's hard to complain to much.
 
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