WSOB IV: Episode 2

KenSmith

KenSmith

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Tonight is the premiere of episode 2 in World Series of Blackjack IV.

The players are:
Joe Malc, Juan Cloud, Kami Lis, Jeff Swenson, Lon Johnson

Tune in on GSN at 11 PM Eastern. If you're on the West Coast, depending on your provider, you'll probably get a feed at 11 PM West Coast. Check your listings to be sure.
 
On at

8:30 and 11:30 pm PST with Direct TV. Nice leading lineup of two High Stakes Poker. Last weeks BJT game had a good intro. Maybe GSN will pull in some poker audience...
 
Joe wasn't scared to bet...

Wow, tonight Joe Malc wasn't scared to throw the chips out. Had Jessica not been so hot early, his early big bets may have changed the way everyone else played before the first knockout card.

But Jessica was hot (dealing that is) and even though Joe caught several 20's Jessica took him down in out of his $100,000 in just 7 hands.

I enjoyed the show tonight, watching Joe bet $50,000 from the start and then his DD on hand #1 (all in for $100,000) was the crazyest thing I've seen in tournament play in a while, but it damn near worked.

As a player I would have been very nervous seeing a player at my table having a very good chance to go up two max bets over me on the first hand.

Then how about all the blackjacks the final three players keep catching at the end, (what was it 6 out of 4 hands, wow)!

The three things I remember not agreeing on (other then Joes Max bets) were Juan's changing of his DD card with after using his power chip. He needed to stay with the ace, he shouldn't have changed it out on a bustable hand).

Next was Jeff's DD for the full amount, (now I may have missed the correct totals here) but I believe he over bet his DD. If I remember correctly he would have had less then Kami if he had lost that hand. I think I would have DD for less. Now as I said I may have looked at it wrong, if he did over bet that DD, it was the only thing
Jeff did wrong that game.

Last was Kami's $50,000 last bet. Being down to Lon by $2,500 I wouldn't have match him with a $50,000 bet, I would have taken the low in that situation and only bet $44,000, in case Lon surrendered, and it would still have given Kami the DD option if needed.

However Kami has got the GREATEST track record of anyone on the WSOB and I can tell you from first hand experiance that it is easy to make a mistake with the presser of playing on national TV and front of the cameras and bright lights on you. She still knew to surrender when it came to her turn. Now had Lon surrendered in front of her, it could have been a different out come, but we'll never know what could have been.

Congratulations to both Jeff and Kami on advancing tonight.
 
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good analysis Rick

That's very much the way I saw it

if you want to see drunk-all-in-guys - we have them every month in Yuma:laugh:

I want to watch this episode again -
 
I still thought Kami should have played her last hand and gone for the win. At least I had hoped she would, that would have given me a chance for second place. :D What kind of luck to be delt a 7 going into the last hand with my power chip. Damn this game can make me pull my hair out!!!
 
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I may find myself in the minority on this one but here goes. This round illustrates what a huge factor luck plays in BJ tournaments. The "drunk-all-in-attitude" could have prevailed had the dealer not pulled so many 20s in the early hands. Except for the last hand, I saw next to no exceptional strategy which I had hoped to see in a "World Series" event. Most of the time the bets and plays were aimless. I'm not saying I could have done better especially given the pressure of cameras and lights, it's just that I hoped to see better. Maybe next week.

On the positive side, I think the entertainment value for the average viewer was good. It was well edited with good comments to keep the average viewer's attention.
 
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My feeling Likewise

toolman1 said:
I may find myself in the minority on this one but here goes. This round illustrates what a huge factor luck plays in BJ tournaments. The "drunk-all-in-attitude" could have prevailed had the dealer not pulled so many 20s in the early hands. Except for the last hand, I saw next to no exceptional strategy which I had hoped to see in a "World Series" event. Most of the time the bets and plays were aimless. I'm not saying I could have done better especially given the pressure of cameras and lights, it's just that I hoped to see better. Maybe next week.

On the positive side, I think the entertainment value for the average viewer was good. It was well edited with good comments to keep the average viewer's attention.
Click to expand...

I have to agree with you about your statement toolman1. I thought the dealer at some point would bust more often with at times a three,five, or six. In the first three rounds the dealer was showing tens. However, many of the other competitors were displaying 10's, 21's, 20's, and 19's at that. I remember one hand where that guy in the second hand had like five or six card 21. I taped the show and will watch the remainder of it tonight. Saw much of it this morning. Actually, many of the competitors from last night's show are really lucky because if the guy in first base would've won with any of those hands, then he would have about $200,000 instead of being the first to leave. What are the chances of a player pushing five or six times on five or six consecutive hands? Very, very, very small.....

In all honesty, the Burger King power chip seemed to be some of the players best shot from last nights' show. I love this strategy. Unlike the UBT, the Burger King Power Chip is great for the game and you can use it any given time. The only that I do dislike is the entire "knockout" card. It seems as if it comes out at the most non-appropriate time. Great post guys. I love the dialogue and love you guys for the wonderful conversation. Peace from Pasadena,CA.......
 
Knock out hand

On the elimination hand I had a question about the play of Juan. The dealer has a 10 up. Both Juan and Jeff (the eventual table winner) had stiff hands with max bets. Jeff went first and doubled on the hard hand and used his power chip to check the card. He wasn’t exactly thrilled at what he received but he kept the card.

The next player stood on the BJ. So it was up to Juan to play his hand. He doubled down on his hard 15 and used his Burger King power chip to look at the card. The card he received was an Ace which he turned in and received another card – that was sight unseen.

Now the dealer turned a card (I don’t remember) but the dealer had to draw and hit to 20. This was a losing hand for Jeff and when it came time to see Juan’s DD card he had busted.

What’s interesting is that had Juan kept the Ace, the dealer would have received Juan’s face card and the dealer would have busted. In that case both Jeff and Juan would have won their bets and Jeff would have been eliminated instead of Juan. (Yes this is Wednesday morning quarterbacking).

My question however is this: Should Juan have kept the Ace to go along with his 15 (his hand was a 100,000 – 50,000 and 50,000 double down) with the dealer showing a 10.
OR
Did Juan make the right decision and throw away the Ace and try for a better card?

Remember that Jeff had already stayed on his max bet and max double down also.
 
He should have kept the ace

Juan should have keep the ace. Anytime your having to DD on a hard hand your just hoping not to bust and then you can worry about what the card is and what the dealer does after that.

I pointed that play out on my earlier post, also I felt Jeff over bet his DD. I thought a DD for less was a much better play, even with his power chip left.

But like I also pointed out, it was the only thing I felt Jeff did wrong that round.

Anyway in two weeks everyone will be able to point out all my mistakes.
 
I thought Jeff

should have bluffed his card as positive. Jeff's actions should have given Juan a hint to correlate with Jeffs weak hand and stand. But hell what a pressure situation. I liked Jeff's overall game a-lot, congrats to him. He only lives about 40 minutes from me, maybe I will sit out front of his house for an autograph if he wins it all:eek:
 
Who there, my question was NOT to point out mistakes but rather to ask for information so that when I find myself in that situation in the future I would have reference point.

Overall I found episode 2 to be a little lacking from episode 1. Why? Two reasons that I can point to:

1. The players in episode 2 didn’t have the TV “presence” or “personalities” that were evident in episode 1. As I said previously Phil did a wonderful job in getting the audience, both studio and thereby tv audience involved and caring. Tiffany was cute and bubbly and Dr. Jeff was engaging – he just didn’t stick around long.
2. The commentary for the first 7 hands centered directly on Joe and his max bet strategy. While unorthodox it could have worked to his advantage had the dealer not pushed him so many times. Unfortunately I got the impression that he was just a giant “ploppy” and the announcer was glad to see him finally go.

Once Mr. Max bet was gone the game was a little more interesting but there just wasn’t the “pull” or “hook” to get the audience (ok me) to really care.

With regard to the last hand and how Kami played it. My personal opinion is that were I in her shoes I too would have surrendered to take 2nd and the wild card match rather than risk losing and going home. A second chance is better than no chance. Unfortunately on the final hand watching two surrenders isn’t as exciting as the final hand last week.
 
Hmm, I kinda disagree. I thought the game became more interesting once Joe was out of it. But maybe that's just because I've been watching this show for so long. But it did seem like the game really started in earnest after the whole thing with Joe was over with. Of course, I suppose I might have felt differently had Joe's strategy actually worked.


Final hand --- yeah, I agree. Taking the sure thing and living to fight another day was definitely the right choice in that case.
 
Hey Agent we don't disagree. Re-read my post. I felt like the announcer and even the players weren't even really playing until AFTER Joe (I called him Mr. Max bet) bombed out. I agree that AFTER he left it seemed like a totally different game.

Agent what do you think about Juan's use of the power chip and turning in his Ace for another card?
 
push oddity

In response to the question:

What are the chances of a player pushing five or six times on five or six consecutive hands? Very, very, very small.....


I never computed exact odds - but I pushed 9 hands in a row in a qualifying round for the WSOB.

Wish I had bought a lottery ticket instead that day.
 
I missed the 2nd show..

All this play-by play is fascinating, but what was Kami wearing...err I mean how were the competitors attired?
 
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