Oklahoma Blackjack Tournaments?

Oklahoma BJ

Hey Rick, long time. Seen you on TV. Here they deal 30 hands and on the last 5 you can request a count of anybodies chips you're playing. A pro like you probably won't need that. Anyway the chip stacks aren't that big. The only problem is that you my start with 51 chips and everybody else has in the 100's or 200's or even max out at 350 at your table. Two advance first round and one other rounds.
 
Blackjack in OK

Blackjack is alive and well in Oklahoma. Yes, the casinos here charge a vig (commission) to play. At some it starts at a quarter and progresses with the higher you bet, at others it is a flat $0.50 no matter what you bet. The casinos near OKC( primarily Goldsby gaming south of Norman and Newcastle gaming south of OKC) charge a flat fee of $0.50 but have a limit of $500.00

Goldsby Gaming center, just south of Norman on I-35 exit 106 have a free "mini - tournament" every Sunday at 1:00pm. Buy-in is free and players are allowed two re-buys. 1st place pays $200.00. Not bad for a free tournament.
 
Still have problems with Oklahoma tournaments

I still am having problems with the way the Oklahoma casinos are running their BJ tournaments.

When they lost the tables games before, part of the reason was because they ran them unfairly. All the excess money won has to be paid back out, but to play in the tournaments you had to have 45 hours or more and it was free entry, screw everybody else that lost their money but didn't have the time in.

Now I am hearing that everyone can play, but you get so much chips for each hour you play. How is that fair? A local plays 20 hours and gets lets say $20 tournament chips for each hour = $400 tournament chips and now I play two hours and get $40 in tournament chips. How is this fair? I have to start 10 times behind all those players.

Why don't they do it the easy way, comp their big players and players with enough time in and simply charge a entry fee to everyone else. They could even said that you had to have played two or more hours prior to the tournament to qualify to play in the events. An entry fee would only add to the prize pool.

However they deside to allow players in to their events the starting amounts should be the same for everyone. Any unfair advantage may cost them their tables again.
 
Thunderbird Casino rules?

TX:

A week ago I posted, on the Event Calendar, a BJ tournament at the Thunderbird Casino. To summarize, less than 300 players, $20 buy-in, $100,000 prize pool. Looks like great equity. The marketing people I talked to did not indicate a minimum play for live money is required (although you do have to jump through a few hoops - see calendar for details). Looks like they plan on having this tournament every month for a while to drum up business.

Your comments above got me worried. Do you know of, or suspect, a surprise if I decide to travel down there to enter the tournament? :confused:
 
I too saw that tournament and thought it might be worthwhile to drive up even from Baton Rouge. But if you only get so many chips for each hour of live play, well that sucks for us.

Someone please investigate and see if that is the case at the Thunderbird.
 
Just what I've been told

The chip situation was told to me last week, I don't know if that is at all the casinos or just certain ones. I have heard that the tournaments favor the locals and more active players.

Before I drive up for a three day tournament I want to know the entire story. I am only an hour from WinStar and about two from OK. City. I will drive up one day to several of them and check them out and report back my findings.

Hopefully we will have some players report back to us the full formats for the tournaments and save me a drive...LOL. I believe EastTxpro is going to play in one next weekend, I'll try and get him to report in.

Until then flying to Vegas or Miss. sounds like a better deal tournament wise.
I'm not spoting anyone anything in tournament play, that is BULLSHI-!
 
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Check the website link

I just checked the website linked in the Event Calendar. It says (under Happenings) that you must have a Rewards Card and have it swiped in the Blackjack pit before July 15 in order to play in this month's tournament
(July 28). Guess that mean's two trips for any of us wanting to play :(
 
Something to think about

ChipsMcCoy lives in Ok. City and travels to Las Vegas and Reno every month for tournaments. I figure when he starts staying home for tournaments is when I'll start going there instead of Vegas...LOL.
 
Oklahoma BJ

Hey Rick. I didn't think you would be so against OK tournaments. Like any tournament some are good some aren't. But now here in OK we have all kinds of tournaments. Free, fee, weekly, monthly, quarterly. Each Tribe's casino seems to have different rules. I play here at the Comanche casinos ( Comanche Nation and Red River ). This Sunday July 10 me and my wife will be playing at Comanche Nation Casino. Prize pool is $178297. We both only have a small amount of credits. Your odds of winning a large amount of money are still better than most other ways. You talk about your disadvantage, but wouldn't you and other pros have an advantage over the majority ? I think you might have an advantage, but even with every advantage doesn't mean you'll win. At the Red River me and my wife only have 1 credit for the July 24 tournament. If you read my earlier posts you would know just about everything about these tournaments.
 
What advantage?

BJmailman, anytime you sit at a table starting out and all the other players have more chips then you you're at a big disadvantage.

I have no problem with other players getting comped out into the tournaments (if they have put long hours in at the casino) while I am having to pay, but I expect to be starting out with the same amount of chips as everybody else at the table.

The Oklahoma casinos say they want action from Texas and the surrounding states, but they give huge advantage to the locals. If they would make there tournaments fair to all they would atract a lot of players from all over.
 
Oklahoma BJ

You and other players have talked about playing in bad tournaments, but you still play them. For much less prize money than this. You talk about getting more players, but there are plenty. Use to be 100 an some to 200 an some now over 300. Was a one day event now two. The prize money is already set no matter how many people enter, so you would agree that you would rather compete against less people than more. Out of the 8 (?) or so big money tournaments played every 3 months 3 have been won by somebody starting with 1 credit. I've watched the big guys go down while the little guys go up many times. You are an advantage player so how much of an advantage do you need to play. I know it's hard when I only have 60 and other people at the table have 150,120,90, and one low guy at 51. It is a competition so I take on the challege, so if you play I'm not afraid. We've talked before you're a pretty nice guy. That's why I said it has been awhile.
 
Thunderbird Tournament

I checked yesterday....The July tourney has been postponed....under new management....no details available yet
 
Almost, but still missing...a lot!

I just talked to Swog, he called me to let me know "WinStar" casino in Oklahoma is hosting qualifying tournaments every Tuesday and Thursday for $150 entry fees (for everybody) for their big BJ tournament in August. Great finally doing it right....Maybe?

I'll get back with ya'll when I find out more details.
 
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Bad game

The tournament turned out different. Basically the rules were the same, but the format changed. Used to be 2 advance first round. This time 1 advances and the players with the highest chip count that didn't win at their table fill the available wild card seats. Like you said Rick this did give a big disadantage to the small chip count starters. The big guys only had to bet min. 1 to advance even if they lose their table. Most of the tables were setup with one big chip player and 6 little ones. Not much chance for us liitle guys. At least with 2 people advancing you didn't have to go for first. You could just compete against the other little guys. The casino just wanted to hurry the tournament along and end it in one day. All their tables were being used for the tournament. I think there was 267 entries. Like Bally's use to do using the highest chip count eliminates alot of players fast. I'm disappointed with what they did. It takes a whole lot of luck for the low guy to advance. But I will say a low guy at my table, who didn't buy 50 more chips, did get lucky with 5 BJ's in 10 hands. You know though that doesn't happen to everyone. Oh well, we still got the Red River tournament on July 24. I hope they don't change their format. Was anyboby else there trying? What you think?
 
Sorry to hear that

O'well maybe I can get someones hear in Oklahoma and get them to run a fair tournament. But then again we may all hit the Lottery and not worry about the way they run them.

I'll try to do something but I wouldn't be holding your breath.

Maybe the Red River tournament you were talking about will be better.
 
OK Tournaments

Hey Rick. I hope the Red River stays the same as the last quarter. Us regulars at the Comanche Nation thought it was going to be the same as it always has been, but didn't find out till we sat down at the table. This was the first tournament since BJ started there. The casino didn't care about the players they just wanted to hurry the tournament along, so they could open the tables again. The tournament was in the small BJ room and they roped off both doorways, so only players at that time could go in. You couldn't watch the tournament except from the one crowded doorway that people bunched up at to see what they could. Maybe they'll learn from this one and enough people will complain and have a better one next time.
 
Cherokee Casino & Resort

September 10 and 11, 2005 the Cherokee Casino and Resort in Tulsa, OK will host a blackjack tournament called the "Big Kahuna." They are giving away $12,000 for 1st place GUARANTEED! They are accepting pre registration now, and they will start check in at 8am on Saturday the 10th. From what I have heard about this tournament it should be fun, and a fair shot at $12,000.
 
I checked out the weekly at Red River

The tournament is designed for locals. There's no entry fee, but you have to play for an hour in order to qualify for the weekly. I don't have a problem giving a casino some action but they charge a fee of 50 cents a hand to play. That comes out to $50 an hour. The first prize for the weekly is $599 so you're basically paying a $50 entry fee for that kind of low prize. If you're a local it's worth it because your play qualifies you for a quarterly tournament in which they distribute all table winnings from the quarter to the tournament winners. It's alot of money. In Oklahoma the casino can only make money from the per hand fees; they have to give table winnings back to the players.

A local who's knowledgeable in blackjack can do very well in this casino's tournaments. They have early surrender. The table limits give you a 20:1 spread. If I were stationed at Sheppard Air Force Base instead of just being here for a two-week school, I'd be all over it.

One thing they did was answer my questions over the phone wrongly. I asked them about the tournament fee and they said there was none. I asked them if there was a minimum amount of rated play required to play in the tournament and they transferred my phone call to someone in the blackjack pit. When I asked the PC about the minimum amount of rated play I was told there was none, that all I needed was my player's club card. What I didn't realize at the time, and what they didn't specify over the phone, was that having a player's club card implied your participation in the quarterly tournament. I'm glad it was only a fifteen minute drive from the base.
 
Oklahoma BJ

Another tournament here in Lawton at Comanche Nation Casino. Sign up starts Sept 17 tournament Oct 9. Like dmack103 said today some places are getting better some well. New betting format for next tournament so far posted. First round 1-25, second 5-100, and last 10?-200. Their was an all in on last five hands, on final table, but that got scratched out. That gives a better chance to the low guys to catch up on a lucky hand. Max starting points changed from 300 to 400. Adantage to the regular players. Of course I understand the casinos point of view. We'll see what kind of attendence they get for this second tournament. The second one at Red River lost about 100 players. There is a new BJ boss at CN he's seems to be a good guy. He's trying to get a feel for what the players want here and still please the casino.
 
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