New to the board hello and first tourn

[Butcher777]

I'm new to this board. I played in a blackjack tournament once while on a cruise ship. I didn't win anything but it was fun. A few weeks back I got an email from a casino nearby that I frequent announcing a weekly blackjack tournament. It's only 20 min away so I figured, why not.
Knowing that I would be playing today I joined this board about 2 wks ago and read as much as I could. Thanks.

The tournament was fun.

It runs from 1pm to 4pm. They have 6 tables with 7 players each. 10k starting bank. 1 round of 10 hands. no secret bet. Min bet $100 no max bet. BJ pays 3:2 insurance 2:1, DAS, dealer hits 16 stands on all 17s, no surrender. When the 10 hand round is over they count everyone's chips then they bring in the next 7 players. Even with 7 tables going there was a line of players 50 deep waiting for a seat. They keep this cycle till 4pm. This is an accumulation game and the equity is pretty good. No entry fee,$5000 purse, 1st place $2000, 2nd-7th get $500.
I was in the first group and pulled seat 7. I started conservative with a few $500 bets in a row. I picked a good time to jump my bet to 2k and got an opportunity to double a soft 16 against a dealer 6. Got lucky with 4 while the dealer busted. Everyone else is either all in or splitting thier bank each hand. By hand 8 there are only two of us left at the table and he is ahead by about 4k.
Hand 9 I am on the button. I bet 5k, het bets a min bet. I win with a four card 21, he pushes. Last hand he is the button and bets 20k but it's almost an all-in. He holds back about2k. I have watched this guy do some bizare things strategy wise but so far he has won alot of big bets. I decide to go for a swing and bet 15k. He is dealt a stiff 14 against a dealer 9. He busts. I am dealt a pair of 9s which I split. Onthe first I get apicture card, on the second I get another nine but don't have enough chips to split. I draw a 8 and decide to stand. Dealer has a picture card in the hole. So I push one, lose one and he busted. I am pretty sure I was ahead of him now but there were still alot of players to play and the director thought my final total of 30,900 wouldn't be enough to get in the money, then he added that 80% of us bust out. I can believe it. By hand 7 we were down to two players at my table. A few didn't make it to hand 5. I doubt I cashed, won't know till tomorrow but I had a good time. The information I found on this site was of great help. Thanks.

 

[gronbog]

Welcome!

Welcome to our community! If you plan on playing more tournaments, then you've chosen the right forum to help you improve your game.

Have you considered posting this tourney to our events calendar? That way folks in your area will be able to find it and to participate. You may even be able to meet some in person, should you want to.

Some comments specific to this event as you have posted it:

• In an accumulation tournament, the optimal strategy is to set a goal total (to be first, or at least in the money in this case, since there seems to be no final table) and then to bet maximum right out of the gate (yes -- all in) until you reach that total. The important thing is to set the proper goal. Don't worry about busting out early, or even on he first hand. You either make it or you don't and generating large variance is the best way to get to either outcome.
• There are exceptions to the above. For example, if you can reach your goal by betting 1/7 or 1/3 of you bankroll, then betting that amount will allow you to play a martingale (double your bet after a loss) giving you 3 and 2 shots respectively at making the goal.
• If they display the current top 7 as the scores come in, then you should wait until the last few rounds are run before playing. That way you have a good idea of what total you will have to make that day. If you can play more than once, then start playing with enough time remaining to give you at least 3 chances at playing and use the strategy above until you make it into the money.
• If they don't display the top scores as they go, then you can keep track yourself by observing. If you can't do that then talk to a few of the regulars, dealers and supervisors. They will usually be more than happy to tell you what kind of totals are needed (as the supervisor did in your case).
• If you plan on playing this event more than once (I would, if it was only 20 minutes away and free), then keep records of the average scores for each of the top 7 positions.
• I was a little bit confused by your analysis of the final few hands vs the other player at your table. Unless you are competing for the same spot in the final 7 on a table late in the day, or you were playing to be first and could only play once, then his score is largely irrelevant to you. In your case, it was the first table of the day and with so many other tables in action, you should not be playing to beat him specifically, but should be pursuing your overall goal total as outlined above.

You can find this information and more regarding accumulation tournaments by searching for "accumulation" in the thread titles on this site.

Lastly, many here dislike accumulation events because the optimal strategy does not present much of a challenge. However, I like them because I have found the optimal strategy to be extremely successful. The reason is that most of the other players will not use it (afraid of looking foolish when busting out early), which gives you a large advantage if you do use it.

 

[Butcher777]

Thanks gron bog. I called yesterday. 1st place was 323,000, 7th was 135,000. So my 30,900 wasn't enough. I will be back there next week. They switch the day of the week each month so although they seem confident the event will continue I'm not sure what the timing will be. I will post it on the events calendar when I have all the information.
Thanks for your thoughts. I agree that I was playing to beat the one player. Since I had no idea what I needed for a score I was just hopeing that most of the aggresive bettors would bust out and I would snag a 6th or 7th. A player I talked to after the event gave me a little more insight into what kind of score you need to win or place 2nd-7th. Sorry if my ppost was confusing. Thanks for responding with some great advice.

 

[gronbog]

So it sounds like 4 all-in bets without losing to make it to the money and 5 to have a shot at first. It may be easier to see now how those who play conservatively really have no shot at this.