Just finished the Baccarat Tournament and was knocked out in the first round.The buy-in is $1000 and the min bet is $10 and the max bet is $500. The tie bet is $5 min and $50 max. I was informed that there will be slightly more than 20 rounds. All the other players were making small norminal bets throughout and I was betting min $10 bet except on the round 20 when I betted $500 Banker as the last bettor and lost. I then betted $400 Banker and lost again. Then the black card came out and the rules are that we could only bet twice the previous bet but does not apply to tie bet. I betted $100 Banker which is more or less my remaining chips and max $50 tie and won the tie bet. The last round I betted $100 Banker and $50 tie and won the Banker bet. I came out last with the remaining chips of $610. Can some knowledgeable person comment on my play. John
More Info Needed Can you tell me before you bet the 500 and lost what your bankroll was in relation to the other players.Since you bet last on that hand it is safe to assume that on the last hand you would still have a good betting spot with maybe only 1 or 2 players betting after you on the very important last 2 hands. Joep
My bankroll was about $1000, my starting BR. I did not actuallycount it as I was betting $10 Banker for each of the first 20 rounds. All the other players have about the same BR except maybe for a couple of player who bet $50 a few times. The BR count only took place when the black card came out after the 20 rounds. After I lost the $500 bet and the following $400 bet I was left with $100+ which mean I was effectively out of the race.
My Pleasure Mr T A major tournament tool is being able to count your opponent's chips before the scheduled countdown.This tool is a great help when considering your bet size when you are trying to capture the lead or to protect your lead.Players that rely on the scheduled count are then playing on an even level playing field with the other players.You chip counting skills will be what separates you from the rest of the field because you will have accurate information and they will not.Especially in this particular game where there are only 3 possible bets to make and everyone has the same hand. With that being said, if you know you are behind you can now take the opposite of the player who is a head of you assuring a swing to happen. Or when you are ahead of that player you can assure yourself of the exact same result by betting exactly what they bet and what side they bet on.Now in your situation when you made a bet of that size if you were to lose that bet it will cripple your bankroll and just about eliminate you from advancing.If the bankrolls were as close as you say they were,I would have made a bet that if I win it I will take the lead but if I were to lose it I still could have a chance on the next hand where you would be betting next to last and could see what your opponent's had bet in front of you. You then can bet opposite of what they bet assuring a contrary result.With this scenario you give yourself 2 shots to win as opposed to one shot.Your betting position should have influenced you bet. But trust me we all made bad or not optimum betting and playing choices early on in our tournament life,we learn from them and use the bad result and turn it into a learning tool that we can use in the next tournament.Your membership here on this site allows you to pick other pros brains and have them analysis your bets and plays.I enjoyed doing this for you and feel free to ask me or any other of the respected players that frequent this board and who usually are more than willing to help. Joep
Thanks for your review My biggest problem was that I didn't know when the black card would come out and the chip count would start. I took the chance that it would come out in the next round but it didn't, so I was one round early with my big bet. When the black card came out the rules are that you can only bet twice the previous bet so my big bet was one round too early. I can see that my $500 bet was too big but if I had won the following $400 bet I would still be in the race as I was the only player that could make another big bet like $500. Wouldn't you do the same in this circumstances?
Mr T If the other players were not betting big then they too would be limited in the final bets also.So I still like a bet big enough to take a lead but not to big to crush my chances.I have never played in a tournament that limited your bet size at the end so my opinion may not hold water here,but that is how I would have played it. Joep
Yes when the black card comes out you can only bet twice your previous bet. You feel a large bet before the black card is the right move, but probably a smaller big bet is better. Final anaylises. Bad Luck?
Mr T If you knew for sure that you would be betting last or close to last on the final hands and you were able to see their bets playing from behind its not all that bad because you could make a bet that would be opposite of theirs.But I still feel that a smaller big bet was your best way to go especially from your position.You could take 2 or 3 attempts to over take them. When you initially started you had about 1,000.You bet 500 and lost leaving you with 500.You then bet 400 which would have gotten you back to 900 which according to you memory of the game would still leave you behind.If you were to bet lets say 200 to take the lead and lost that bet you would have 800. Then you could bet 300 to get you back to 1100.If you lost that bet you still had 500 to bring you back to the pack and with a contrary bet enough to overtake your opponent's. Now you asked me did you get unlucky and my answer to that would be NO. You just didn't maximize your chances of winning by having 2 or 3 shots to over take the competition,as opposed to 1 Joep
O.K. I think you are right. I felt bad after the tournament thinking I had superior knowledge and good advice from this forum. But I want to take this philisophically as my learning curve and it is my price to pay to get a shot at the $50,000 first prize momey. Thanks again.
Mr T My pleasure, and anytime in the future if you have a question feel free to ask away as I would enjoy seeing if I could figure out what the right optimum bet would have been for you.Continued success and may we meet at a Final table somewhere in the near future. Good Luck Joep
