Lucky I didn't find out the hard way, but when playing PlayUBT make sure that you keep back $500 in chips if you take the low. Earlier today I keep just a $250 lead for the final hand and when the dealer turned their 5 into a 4 card 21, I thought I was the winner. WRONG! Next thing I see is TIE, we will begin the Playoff. Damn, what happened, I thought I made a good bet and wham I get popped! I was able to win the SUDDEN DEATH playoff when I pushed and the other player lost. Just wanted to pass this info on.
Thanks Tex I certainly didn't know that. It's not sudden death though. (Presumably the other play went all-in with his bet?) I got totally confused the one time I got into a playoff, because I assumed it was sudden death. The UBT rules actually say - "The number of hands in the playoff will be equal to the number of players tied at the beginning of the playoff. At the beginning of the playoff, the tied players will start with an amount equal to 20 times the value of the minimum bet. The first bettor in the playoff shall be the player who is naturally positioned to be next following the preceding hand."
$500 min bet Tx, you are correct. UBT's min bet is $500, so if you only have $250 left, they treat that the same as having $0.
Software Oversight I sent in the following customer support form after reading TX's post. Here's the song & dance they did on the reply: If this situation happens to you, send them a customer support form immediately. Exit the table and use the "Customer Support" button on the left side of the Blackjack Lobby page. In fact, send one anyway asking what happens when the only player with any money left has just $250 at any point during the game, not just an elimination hand. :gun: --jr
I seem to remember a thread discussing the fact that the details of how this is handled can vary from tournament to tournament, and is one of the things you should check up on before playing. ISTM the important thing to clarify is precisely what the UBT rules are and wheher they are being implemented correctly online. Looking at the rules quoted at UltimateBet, you could say they are ambiguous on this point. It also occurs to me to wonder if an effective final hand (i.e. heads up, either in an elimination hand or simply any hand with one playerr all-in and the other holding back 250) is treated the same as hand 30 - both in terns of the rules and in terms of how the software behaves.
New UBT rules This question was asked specifically in Aruba. A player with $250 left beats a player with $0 left. The comment was made that "If the online game is working differently than that, it will be changed online." There are also some new rules in effect down here, that may or may not make their way onto the online version. In the land-based UBT events, the secret bet is now more powerful. When a player makes a secret action, no matter what that secret action is, the player is dealt one card face down. That way, his opponents don't know whether he stood, surrendered, or doubled. I like this rule. The second big change is that betting limits for a secret bet (and a secret double down) start at $0. That's right, you can secret bet $0, and you can double for $0. You can also insure for $0. Before everyone starts making their points in this thread, let me assure you that nothing that may occur to you was ignored in making the decision. The discussion here about whether to change this rule lasted for hours. I like the change.
Thanks Ken I think my brain is going to implode if I try to think through all the consequences of those new rules. I'll wait for the executive summary.
secret action When performing a secret action and you are dealt a card face down I'm assuming that it comes from the shoe? If you stand then the face down card is simply ignored, if you hit or double obviously it's taken into account and if you surrender of course all your cards are discarded. Will the face down cards be shown at the end of the round regardless of the action? Just trying to clarify the mechanics really. I like the zero$ limits for secret bets and DDs! It'd be great if they put it on the online version. Cheers Reachy
Bet 0 for the win....LOL WOW, I like it! How important is having the lead now going to be. After playing tournaments for so many years where the rule was always "You must bet every hand or you out" this is a HUGH change. I LOVE IT!
I like the more powerful secret moves.... Ive written about the ability to fully use all your money in the online game...how this huge error passed by the beta testers ..who knows??? Maybe its to hard to reprogram a game to do higer math??..lol
I'm probably way behind the power curve here, but they've made the change. I just watched a game where that last $250 got a player into the next round instead of in a tiebreaker with the one that was all in.
