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Blackjack Tournament Training - Part 2

Since we last got together here, I've played two more Blackjack tournaments and, at the risk of looking like a braggart, did pretty well in both. The monthly tournament hosted on the Internet at Global Player Casino found me matched against "Treeny" with a $1000 prize on the table. Treeny is an excellent player, but I got lucky in the last few hands and pulled out the win. I don't get the prize $$$ when I win, so the next match (qualification begins on October 20, 2001) will offer a prize of $1500 to the player who can beat me.

As I told you in part 1, I also play in a monthly match at the Ameristar Casino that is located in St. Charles, Missouri, which is near my home in St. Louis. On September 22, 2001 I was able to get through all the qualifications and end up as one of seven players at the final table, where each of us was guaranteed to win at least $250. The top prize was $10,000 so you can see that this tournament stuff can be very lucrative. Naturally, I prefer to hide my identity, so I won't tell you my final placement in the match, but let it suffice to say that I was adequately compensated for my time. Besides the $$$, I also got a great deal of satisfaction in seeing my hard work pay off.

Having played only three tournaments at Global Player and three at Ameristar, I'm still a novice at this aspect of Blackjack and undoubtedly have a lot to learn, but I like to think that the training regimen I developed (and continue to develop) has helped me to be successful. It may be able to help you as well. The tools I use are described in part 1, so now is the time for me to show you how I use them.

Preparation For A Match

The first thing I do is read the rules thoroughly and attempt to get answers to any questions I may have. Remember that "luck" plays a big part in tournaments, but I try to eliminate it as much as possible and understanding just how the match will proceed is part of that. For example, in my most recent match at Ameristar, a lot of the players at one of my tables thought hand #24 was actually hand #25 and they made all sorts of weird plays, which cost them. Now I understand that reading or not reading the rules didn't cause that - they all knew we were playing 25 hands - but it just goes to show you that you have to pay attention to what's going on and I find it easier to concentrate when I know I've basically memorized the rules of play, or at least have a copy of them in my pocket.

Another good example of preparation is knowing the method of seat selection. In the matches at Ameristar, tables of seven players compete against one another, assuming the match has the maximum number of players, which is 84. In that tournament, the seat selection is done by a drawing, so it's more or less random. But if that's not the case in a match you play in, you should know which seat is the best for you. If, for example, you're playing with 7 players total at the table and the match is 25 hands, the best seat is probably #3, if you count "first base" as #1 and "third base" as #7. Why #3? Because a "puck" that determines who is the first to bet in each round of play rotates throughout the match and, if all 7 players remain at hand #25, the person in seat #3 will be the last to bet and that's a big advantage. Of course, it changes if one or more of the players bust out before the end of the match, but knowing the seat that will bet last may pay off someday, so calculate it before you play and sit there, if possible.

The official rules of the tournament will also allow you to set up practice tournaments with Stanford Wong's "Tournament Blackjack" software. The Ameristar Casino tournaments consist of 4 rounds of play:

First round: Tables of seven and two advance to the next round.
Second round: Tables of seven and two advance to the next round.
Third round: Tables of six and three advance to the next round.
Fourth round: One table of seven and all win at least some $$$.

What I do is set up the software and play four rounds, configured like those above. Admittedly, any round with 7 players will be like the 1st, 2nd and 4th rounds, but I go through it step-by-step and keep track of how I do in each round. This definitely gives you a "feel" for just how much good Blackjack you have to play in order to get to the final table.

But I don't only play through each round. The software has a simulation mode that allows you to set different bets for the same round of play, then it will cycle through as many hands as you'd like and give you a definitive answer on which was the best bet to make. So, when I'm playing in one of the rounds and an intriguing situation presents itself, I run a "sim" to help me determine the best bet. This, of course, usually happens in the later hands of a round, but you're limited only by your imagination. Time might also be a factor, because the sims run slowly due to the fact that the software is actually playing the hand over and over again for all the players at the table, but I think the simulation capability is one of the most important features of this software.

The ability to practice a realistic tournament cannot be overemphasized. The software has many other features and some limitations that we'll explore as my lessons continue, but it's my firm opinion that I wouldn't be doing as well as I am without it. If you're giving some consideration to playing Blackjack tournaments, take my advice and make the investment in this product. (Unless, of course, you also play at the Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, MO., because I don't want the competition!)

Let's take a break here, but before I go, let me detail how I see this "course" unfolding. What I have done is break down a match into three distinct phases: The first is hands 1 to 13, the second covers hands 14 to 20 and the third (as you may have guessed) covers hands 21 to 25. This doesn't necessarily mean they'll be covered in only three more installments, because there are other aspects to tournaments that I might cover in their own sections along the way, but this will give you an idea of my approach. As always, if you have any questions, e-mail me at aceten1@mindspring.com and I'll get back to you as soon as possible.

See you here next time.

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