So, the UBT Blackjack tournament was held last week at Sunset Station and it was great fun. The package that I won on ClubUBT gave me a free entry to both the weekly tournament (Thursday Sept 4th) and the major event (Sept. 5th and 6th). In the major event, I did fail to win round 1 on Friday, but my name was among the numerous wildcards drawn for round two on Saturday, and this time I did succeed to advance. In quarter final (round 3), my main strategy was to ignore the numerous Skip Samad's loud comments on first base. And it worked! In semi-final, my main strategy was to... avoid being the low bankroll. And it failed! On first elimination hand, it looked good for me as I was dealt 11 against a 5. I doubled for less, just enough to keep the low on some other player. The dealer beats me and I became second low bankroll. On hand 15, I am still second low and the low man goes all in. I covered him, hoping we both win cause if we both lose, I would need a swing on hand 16. The dealer did beat both of us so hand 16 was the final hand and I need a swing. I was dealt a nice hard 20 which made the swing possible... but the dealer turned a blackjack so I had to say good bye to the final. However, after the tournament, Joe Pane seemed a bit jealous that I was comped with unlimited booze to the Skid Row concert, just for being a nice guy I saw that Joe did post a detailed review of the final, you can read it on the LVA forum. Overall, these tournaments are great events, they are well run, and all the staff is very friendly and competent. On the negative side, my disappointment was the lack of marketing for the main event, as opposed to the weekly $25 tournament. The weekly tournament is announced at sunsetstation.com and at a few places inside the casino, which seems the right thing to do. But for the main event, there was absolutely nothing inside the casino or on sunsetstation.com to encourage players to register directly. So, the number of players was much below expectation, and I think it would have been the same if it was a poker tournament. I hope there is time to improve this for the December event.
Zweeky, all I can say is that it sounds like you did yourself proud. You had to be one of the toughest players there. Sometimes the cards just will not cooperate. Especially enjoyed the recounting of your advancing despite Skip's engaging in his usual noisiness! :laugh: In addition to Ken's question, I'm curious as to how many actual paid players they had vs. the ones who had earned free entries such as you did online, or in their weekly BJT's.
It looked like something between 65 and 75 players. I would say around 25 earned free entries, but just my guess.
Still Talkin to 'Em... This Event was a lot of fun, but consisted of a very disappointing turnout and subsequent less than expected prize fund of right at $20,000. It wouldn't have been that much if Sunset Station hadn't added a few dollars to the overall payout. Very bad EV, but I'm hopeful that the December Event will be better as far as the number of participants. Such a pleasure finally meeting zweeky and messing with him for awhile... Skipper :whip::whip::whip:
