I am about to play in a blackjack tournament for the first time as there are very few here in the UK. I am a reasonably proficient counter and play perfect basic strategy I was simply looking for some strategy advice if I explain the format as it is an accumulation tournament and NOT elimination, all the strategy I get my hands on appears to be elimination tournament based. Here are the rules (standard British rules): BJ pays 2-1 for tournament Dealer stands s-17 Split any pair, infinite resplits and double after split allowed NO hole card, and all bets are lost on dealer BJ (doubles, splits etc) Double on any two cards except BJ. No surrender Even money offered on BJ vs dealer Ace. Everyone starts with 1500 in chips, bet range 25-500 in increments of 25. There are rebuys or re-entrys for 90 minutes and top 6 players with highest scores advance to final table, which is then played elimination style. Any strategy advice that you can offer would be greatly appreciated.
Good luck Excellent! Another UK tournament player. Our numbers are growing. Will this be your first tournament of any kind, or just your first live tournament? There are a few previous threads concerning accumulation and hybrid-style tournaments, which you might find helpful if you can search them out. Your format sounds similar to the one at the Casino at the Empire (same casino group), although it's clearly not identical, as the BR is different. You don't mention how many rounds (hands) are played. That may have some bearing on your strategy, in terms of how late you can afford to enter and still have time for more than one attempt. In general, the strategy for this sort of thing is along the lines of - Enter late, so that you know what your target is (either from the leaderboard, or from observing the tables if no leaderboard is published). Bet big (i.e. 500) until you either bust out or reach your goal. Then bet the minimum to the end. If there are only a few hands to be played, then aggressive doubling may be needed, rather than just following BS.
