January 22-25, 2004 in Ft. Worth, Texas. Texas Tournaments will be hosting three major Blackjack tournaments: #1 "Deep in the Heart of Texas" for $50,000, entry: $250 #2 "The Yellow Rose of Texas" for $50,000, entry: $250 #3 "Remember the Alamo" for $70,000, entry: $350 Besides the three listed above we will host twenty-two satellite tournaments during the four day's. Early Bird special: contact us on how you can get $175 discount if you sign up before December 31, 2003 and chance to win our bonus prize: A Harley Davidson Motorcycle. Owner Rick Jensen has designed these tournaments so you can come play and leave all within four days. They are very player friendly and give the players the opportunity to play in several tournaments in a short time span. Players will also be given chances to win prizes during each session during the first rounds in each of the major tournaments. For more information or to sign-up contact Rick Jensen at: 972-251-1378, 1-866-839-8687, or rickjbj21@yahoo.com.
For what it's worth, I'm planning on attending these events. After talking to Rick, early interest sounds pretty strong, and I think these events will offer more tournament action in 3 days than we've ever seen. In addition to the prizes in the tournaments, Rick is planning a lot of additional prizes for various things during the events. It should be a lot of fun. There will also be satellite tournaments, where you can win an entry to the Las Vegas Hilton Million tournament.
Oh my, what a headache! News from the past two days about these events is very bad. Apparently, the hotel in Fort Worth was pressured by law enforcement into cancelling the contract with Jensen's Texas Tournaments. Whether there's a legal issue or not, this event is dead in the water. What had been planned as an innovative event with lots of player interest now appears to be a disaster for all involved. I'll contribute my bit of 20/20 hindsight advice for Jensen... If there was to be any question about the legal status of these events, a document from law enforcement or the Attorney General's office addressing the issue would have allayed all fears. In absence of that, misinformation easily prevails, and the hotel chose to err on the side of caution. Whether their decision will stand up to legal scrutiny of the contract is another question, but it's not a hard position to understand. This development is regrettable, to say the least. Opinions?
Where the West begins et al In the "for what it's worth" category, I talked at length with the organizer/promotor and felt the concept was well conceived/planned and researched. My first question was the legality and in addittion to believing the background clearance was in place, the concept that the event was no different than a golf/bowling/euchere or whatever tournament with an entry fee and all monies returned as prize fund, seemingly reinforced the event as a non-gaming or lottery activity, which under most state laws would be illegal, except where authorized by the states which conduct such activities. There are not that many people with the vision and enthusiasm and drive to develop and promote something different(the side niche) that would provide a fair opportunity for the participants. I emphathize with the promotor and hope it's only a temporary setback.
