Regular BlackJack vs. Tournaments?

Capt.BlackJack

Capt.BlackJack

Member
I know many of you on here play many tournaments a year. I personally have never played in one yet and have been invited to many but Have yet to do it. My question is, you normally have to place in the top 6 to make any good money, is there any risk from playing tournaments? Do you put yourself in position to be barred from this Casino if you win it? Remember a comment from Max on the last episode of the WSOBJ, many in this tournament have been asked to leave a casino before. Do they view the Tournament player as a more advanced player who scares the suits if they come in to play one-on-one against them. Does the reputation stick with you during regular play? (If you have won 2 or 3 major tournaments in the past couple of years.)

Are you better off playing in regular fashion trying to space your winnings out or go for the big pie? Does the latter garner more attention or am I thinking out of context? Any help appreciated.

Take Care...
Capt.
 
More like top three!

Capt. most tournaments are a little top heavy so the top three are the ones that make the bigger money. 4th - 6th place make from $1,500 to $5,000 in most tournaments.

Myself and several others don't seem to have any trouble playing in tournaments and the regular tables. Playing blackjack is not my livelyhood though, so I don't hitting the casino's for much (other then winning a tournament or great run of cards) nor do I lose a lot.

Most players that I know who are barred (from tournament play) were so because of some BS from either a upset VIP player that got beat or a marketing director or player deveopment manager that see's a player on TV and believes the sales pitch the announcers are making about them. I have also heard of seveal players that have been barred just for talking to other players that have been barred.

Jimmy Wike (Ceasars LV) who started the LV Hilton Million Dollar tournaments understands that the best tournament players and even the best counters make no difference in tournament play. It is whichever player catches the cards is who is going to win, Pro or novice player. He understands that hosting a successful tournament you need players and barring players other then trouble makers or cheaters is not the way to build up a tournament.
 
How do casinos benifit from tournaments?

Just to expand on this thread.
Can't find a land based casino in this country who organise blackjack tournaments.
I would like to write to some of the casinos asking them if they would be interested in organising some blackjack tournaments. However, I don't understand the benefits of this to them.
Why would a casino manager want to attract good blackjack players and possible card counters to their establishments and then let them loose on the tables during none tournament play?
How does it work over there and what benifits could a casino receive from organising tournaments?
 
costs vs. returns

Andy, I developed and ran a very small BJ tourney here in Gulfport, Ms. years ago.

We decided to start one because we saw a way to get some afternoon activity in our casino.

The costs were: 6 dealers for 2 hours, 1 for 1 hour, a free buffet for each player (I use the term 'buffet' loosely, since we DIDN'T HAVE AN ACTUAL KITCHEN !!), tournament chips, dealer training, and time to work out the details, such as rules, and how the entry fees would be collected, and then there was the State, who wanted to know everything, and add-in money to supplement the prize pool, if we didn't have a big crowd (Our prize pool was guaranteed). I'm sure there is more, but I can't remember.

There is no question that we attracted 60 to 80 players each week that otherwise would not be at our casino. Some would only sit and wait for the next round, others would play regularly each week. Some were crap players, some played slots. Our BJ games were some of the best on the coast, but we were never afraid of counters. If we thought someone was counting and betting irregularly, we had a policy to ask them to leave. But, I don't recall anyone EVER being asked to leave (at least not a tourney player).

IN OUR CASE, the quick answer is the short and long range returns FAR outweighed the costs. That may not be true for much bigger overnight tourneys, with much better BJ players. But I think it's even better for the casinos in those cases because you have players spending a night or two, and the wife or husband not playing in the tourney is playing something for hours that has a casino edge. Yes, you may get a few good counters among your many guests, but most of the BJ games are very tough to make a real score on these days, and the casino people will be aware of the possibilities of counters, and will cover themselves.

I don't think a counter has any real advantage over a non-counter in a BJ tourney, and it is stupid to stop counters from playing in a tourney. Actually, I think you'll find most tournament players don't have time to worry about the count (assuming 6 to 8 deck shoes).
 
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