Palms $1,750,000 Blackjack Tournament in January!

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robertx

New Member
Hey guys,

I'm new to the BJ Tournaments and just got this invitation to the Palms Casino. I've been reading through some of the postings and recently got Kenn Smith's book as well. After digging through all this I just thought that the winnings for this invitation seem too high and wanted to get you alls reaction and thoughts to this. Apparently this tournament is by invitation only and they've comped me two nights as well. I didn't have to pay an entry fee either. Seems excessive in terms of comps does it not? Thoughts?

thanks!
 

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Good luck in the tourney

I suppose there is no such thing as bad value in a free event, but there are a few bits of small-print that might make the prize fund less excessive than it first sounds ...

  • $1,750,000 is the fund for the bonuses. It seems that 125 players are required for each of the three rounds, for any of the bonuses to be available.

  • If the bonuses are available, it's fairly unlikely that more than the $200,000 prize for making the top 5 in all three rounds will be won by anyone. Certainly there's only a very small chance that someone will take the $1M top prize.

  • The $100,000 prize fund for the rounds themselves - $15,000 for each of the three rounds, plus $55,000 overall (however the overall result is determined) -is also based on 125 entrants per round, so will presumably be scaled down if there are less entrants.

  • Also, the $100,000 prize fund is in promo chips, not cash. The exact rules about how they can be used would need to be known, in order to know their true value. (It's also worth finding out how long they are valid for. Do you have to use them up during your visit?)

One other thing strikes me - there isn't a detailed description of the format. It sounds like it may be three separate accumulation tournaments, with an aggregate of your three scores used to determine your place in the overall tournament.

But could it possibly be a real-money event, rather than the funny money we are used to in most tournaments? Probably not, but you never know. That would be a big shock to discover on the day! :eek:
 
robertx said:
Apparently this tournament is by invitation only and they've comped me two nights as well. I didn't have to pay an entry fee either. Seems excessive in terms of comps does it not? Thoughts?
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Not really "excessive". Apparently you played at the Palms (or some other casino) for high enough stakes to get caught in their radar.

It's highly unlikely that any of the bonus money will be won. The big bonus of $1,000,000 carries raw odds of close to 1 chance in 2,000,000 for a specified player so the seat value of the big bonus to that specified player is about $0.50 (50 cents). Naturally, the other prize money increases the seat value.

I know several players who have played this event in the past but none have bothered to post any details. That's a shame. Anyway, London Colin's analysis is probably pretty accurate. Just for clarification, it is 3 rounds of "accumulation format", you do play with funny money - not live money, and the Promo Chips are the "use once" type which makes their real value about 1/2 of their face value.

robertx said:
I'm new to the BJ Tournaments and just got this invitation to the Palms Casino.
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I just noticed your statement that you "just got this invitation". Invitations for tournaments are normally sent out 1 to 2 months in advance. If you just got the invitation, this may indicate a poor player response and they are trying to get "lower tier" players to fill the tournament.

Good Luck.
 
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Colin and toolman thanks so much for the insight I really appreciate it!

I do have a couple of questions and things to add:

Toolman you said the following, and I believe Colin mentioned something similar:

It's highly unlikely that any of the bonus money will be won. The big bonus of $1,000,000 carries raw odds of close to 2,000,000 to 1 so the seat value of the big bonus to the player is about $0.50 (50 cents). Naturally, the other prize money increases the seat value.
I don't understand why you say that it's unlike that any of the bonus money will be won...shouldn't there be a winner of the $1million regardless? So are you both saying that no one will win the $1million?

I'm assuming that the person with the most chips of the three rounds is going to win the $1million. Am I wrong to assume that? Am I missing something here? I'm sorry if I am asking a stupid question, but I am new to this and thus why I am bothering you guys with this.

Also regarding the minimum 125 players- I called the casino and they said that the bonus money would be aggregated should the minimum not be reached, but there would still be prize money. But he also said that they had enough players registered and that wouldn't be a problem.

And finally I didn't "just" get the invitation sorry. I actually recieved the invitation around Dec 20.

Thanks again for your time!
 
Robertx, the comments by London Colin and Toolman appear to be right on the money. It looks to me like Palms is actually running three different accumulation tournaments, each with a prize fund of $15K. Then they probably add up individual chip totals for the three rounds to determine who cashes for the $55K overall prizes. In such a format, the chances for any individual to earn one of the bonuses is microscopic. And Colin's comment about the promo chip prizes are spot on. If those chips are the ugly one-use-only type, you must cut the prize fund in half when determining whether it's worth your effort to play.

If you're a Vegas local or are going to be in town anyway, it might be worthwhile. If you'll have any travel expenses involved, consider very hard whether it's worth it.

Good luck in this one. Any form of strategy will be virtually worthless as it'll be a luckbox bomberfest. :eek:
 
robertx said:
I don't understand why you say that it's unlike that any of the bonus money will be won...shouldn't there be a winner of the $1million regardless? So are you both saying that no one will win the $1million?

I'm assuming that the person with the most chips of the three rounds is going to win the $1million. Am I wrong to assume that?
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In today's gaming market, one needs to carefully read any and all promotional literature. The casino's rely on people to casually read "$1,000,000 in bonus money" and they think the $1,000,000 will be rewarded. As with most "contracts", one must read the fine print.

In this particular case, the lowest BONUS money will be awarded ONLY IF a player finishes in the top 10 in EACH OF THE 3 ROUNDS. And that is highly unlikely. The $1,000,000 bonus will ONLY be awarded IF a player wins 1st place in EACH OF THE 3 ROUNDS - not the highest total chip count for the 3 rounds. The raw odds of a specified player being in first place in EACH of the 3 rounds is 1 in 1,953,125 (125 x 125 x 125). Although London Colin pointed out in a subsequent post that the raw odds of the casino having to pay out the $1,000,000 to someone in the field of 125 is 1 chance in 15,625 (125 x 125).
 
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Go have a good time, cheap...

Robertx, do you want to take a trip to Vegas? If so go out there and take your three free shots at possibly making a little money. Your entry fee is free, your room is free, all you have to worry about is your travel expense.

Forget about all the bonuses, like everybody already told you the chances of hitting any of them is slim to none, BUT you will have three chances to win anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000 for making the top three and either of these three rounds, plus with any additional luck possible make money for the over all event.

Only thing you need to worry about is do you want to go to Vegas? If you do I say go for it and take advantage of the freebies the Palms is offering you.

Honestly if your only interested in going to play in the tournament and have thoughts of cashing I'd just stay at home and use the travel money to bet on the Cowboys next week aganist Minnesota...lol.
 
Robertx -- I too just came across this site, in response to doing some homework for next weekend's tournament at the Palms. I agree with Leftnut, a primary strategy will be to acknowledge the tournament's innate "luckbox bomberfest"-ness.

Still, free tourney + lodging on a long holiday weekend = excuse for the first road trip of 2010...
 
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thank you all once again for your input and insight....as you can tell I'm a bit gullible and new to this haha. but leftnut you're right that's exactly what it'll be haha a luckbox bomberfest :laugh:

oh well....i already bought my ticket on southwest, which i could save for a future trip, but it is a three day weekend so why not...those marketing guys in vegas sure do know how to plan this stuff....of course let's make it seem like it's a once in a lifetime deal, comp them two nights (on a three day weekend), and comp them the entry fee for the tourney-not many people turn all this down! It is vegas after all I guess! I hope at least it'll be fun and that they'll be bringing free drinks!!!

thanks again for sharing your input I really appreciate it and wish me luck as I'm sure I'll need it :-)

TXtourplayer with the way the Cowboys played yesterday I might have better luck betting on them than this tourney :laugh: Go Texas!
 
toolman1 said:
The raw odds of being being in first place in EACH of the 3 rounds is 1 in 1,953,125 (125 x 125 x 125). So the casino can run this tournament every day for 1,000 years for a total of 365,000 tournaments and the probability is that the casino would still not have to pay out the $1,000,000.
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The casino doesn't have it quite that good. Any of the 125 entrants could win all three rounds; so that's a slightly more sporting 1 in 15,625 (125 x 125) chance that they will have to pay out the million. I wonder if they take out insurance, just to be on the safe side. :D
 
London Colin said:
The casino doesn't have it quite that good. Any of the 125 entrants could win all three rounds; so that's a slightly more sporting 1 in 15,625 (125 x 125) chance that they will have to pay out the million. I wonder if they take out insurance, just to be on the safe side. :D
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I see your point. I was calculating the raw odds of a specified player (that player to be named before round 1 begins) winning all 3 rounds.
 
Play the LV Hilton as well

Robertx I just saw the LV Hilton will be hosting a $30,000 blackjack tournament the 14th - 16th. If I was you I'd see about playing both the Palms and the LV Hilton tournaments while your out there (if schedule allows).
 
Pricey LVH BJT

TXtourplayer said:
Robertx I just saw the LV Hilton will be hosting a $30,000 blackjack tournament the 14th - 16th. If I was you I'd see about playing both the Palms and the LV Hilton tournaments while your out there (if schedule allows).
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Reading Toolman's calendar post of the LVH tournament, it isn't a deal unless you've got a strong enough history to get it all or partially comped. $599 to enter a tournament with a very large entry count and a $30K prize fund? Ouch.
 
thanks so much for the tip TXtourplayer, but as much as I would like to participate in that tournament as well, I unfortunately am green to all this. Therefore I don't think I'd have much success. I'll be doing the Palms tournament regardless as they've comped my entry fee and they've comped my room, but I guess I'll just be playing and hoping for a lot of luck hahahaha!!!!! Thanks for suggesting it though really do appreciate it! and wish me luck because I need it!!:o
 
Well, have a good time there! Don't forget to check back in here when it's all over.
Let us know what you thought of it, how it went, and how you did. GOOD LUCK!!!!! :D
 
Comp entry (maybe)

Robertx if your play entitled you comp entry unto the Palms tournament I'm sure you could get comped into the LV Hilton event as well. If interested IM me and I'll give you a contact name at the LV Hilton that should be able to get you in.

As I was writing this, I call my contact and he told me to have you call him and he would try to get you in the LVH tournament if your interested.
 
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