What a first round....

Well tonight they played (or I should say STILL playing) the bounty blackjack tournament in Tulsa.

It was a neat little format, with little little flaw. They played it with no set number of hands....OUCH! I tried to get Eric to change it before we started the first round, however that was the way it was turned in to the State Gaming control.

So needless to say I was part of a RECORD breaking table who started the first round at 7:00 pm and finally finished at 12:40 am (Yep - 5 hours and 40 minutes later) we finished round 1...LOL.

They had started the first re-buy round and we lasted longer than 5 of the 6 re-buy tables as well.

We had 2, 10 minutes breaks during our marathon round.

The format was kind of fun, but a set number of hands is a must.

It is currently 2:30 am and they still have 3 tables in the semifinals going on and still have to play the finals, I am guessing they should finish up sometime around 7:30 in the morning...LOL.

I am pretty sure most players won't be seen until late, late afternoon or early evening tomorrow...LOL.

All in all everybody is having fun.

We played one $30 sit & go with the winner getting $125 and 2nd = $41. Razor Rob pulled out the win over me (2nd place) when I split my tens and re-split again and drew three more ten's with $500 max bets on each vs. the dealers picture.

I was praying the dealer didn't have a ten (a push would cut me), the dealer flipped a 6, only to draw a 5 to go with it an rip my heart out, O'well.

I'll report back tomorrow with who won the Bounty BJ, I'm going to bed, later!

Dr. Bass is the only BJT'er I know of still in it.

 

Tulsa in 24 hours

I think I'm gonna sleep all day tomorrow after reading about that table. It wore me out just thinking about it.

Good luck to those on their 6th hour of in-head calculations. Don't let your heads explode.

I'm looking forward to getting in Thursday and getting in some play...although not at the 5 hour table :joker:

 

I don't understand...

What do you mean no set number of hands? How do they know when to stop?


Thanks,
Rounder

 

Bounty BJ

Strikes me that maybe, just maybe, BOUNTY BJ just could be part of the answer we TBJ players are looking for to make our game more acceptable to the general public and thus draw more players. It's more like playing against other players instead of playing against the house dealer. I think no time limit is the way to go on this. Play until one player has all the chips. Just sounds like it's closer to true competition as in, dare I say, poker. My time is short now so I can't talk much. Just posted this as:

Food for thought.

 

on the button

I agree with you Toolman. I really like the sound of this format but I guess the strategies employed at it must be somewhat different to limited-hand TBJ.

Cheers

Reachy

 

The Bounty game

Or type of game I played at the Hustler LA had a set 45 minute time limit per round. I guess the rules are a little different because I cant imagine how the table wouldnt bust out leaving only the the person holding banker button at end and not hours into the game.

 

The rest of the story

As Tx reported, I was the last of our group to stay in the bounty tournament. At about 4 a.m we were still in the semis - so I went big and busted out. My reward was sleep, but no cash. At that point, it didn't seem like too bad a trade out.

 

bounty bj was a blast, except that it was a little long in lenght. i broke out around 2 am, starting @ 7pm. the amazing thing was the dealer, joe george, in my 1st rd. this gentleman did not leave the table the entire 3 hrs. he has the worlds' greatest bladder!!!!

eric and his crew at the casino are great. they will get the bugs out of this. as stated, it is a fun format. it was great meeting some of the faces that i have played against. so, another tourist day in beauitful tulsa and off to the tourney tonite. thanks to eric and his staff once again

 

not sure now

Actually I'm not sure I like the format now. I'd have to see it played to form a solid opinion. Seems like there might be a lot of variance involved. I thought it was more of a hybrid format with increasing maximum bets after each shoe. I was wrong.

Cheers

Reachy

 

Hmmmm

Colusion maybe?

For example the player in seat 1 is "The Bounty"

All the other players decide they don't like player 1 so EVERYONE bets max, dealer busts and player 1 gets "knocked out"

Interesting concept though. Of course in that case the player in the last seat who risked max bet wouldn't get any chips because the payout from the bounty is to the left first.

 

bounty bj

certainly was a fun format. don't think the solution to length is to limit # of hands, but to increase min/max bets every shoe as in (shudder) poker. started with 1K but only 200 max bet. maybe smaller br also. btw--if you busted out before hand 12, could rebuy at the same table for $50. certainly collusion can happen--might even be necessary to finally end an endless table because of the roller coaster effect. i made it to final 3 at my table--two advanced--but when you reach that point the swings inherent to the game can keep you alive for a loooong time (just ask tex)

 

Five more minutes and I'll get up...

I'm am so sore, damn I played longer in the first round last night than it normally takes to play an entire tournament...LOL.

The format I think will catch on for and early week event (once a time limit or number of hands is set).

 

Bounty BJ Discussion

I like this discussion on BOUNTY BJ but don't have the time to get involved much right now. I like the idea of increasing the minimum bet but not necessarily after each shoe. Set a time like they do in poker. Did I say poker? Yes, we are after all trying to make TBJ more popular by copying some of poker's methods.

Sounds to me that maybe the game lasted as long as it did in Tulsa could be because of the betting limits compared to total bankroll (minimum too low) or the players were betting too conservative. This is a cut throat game (like poker) and maybe nobody was willing to "cut someone else's throat" because that could result in that player getting "his own throat cut".

To summarize. New strategies are needed as well as rule refinement. But please, no time limit. The object is to annihilate your opponent, not to say "I have more chip than you after 1 hour - HA HA". We must think out of the box on this one. Now think about truly changing the game without saying "but that's I'm used to". That won't cut it and no changes will come about with that attitude. No sacred cows please.

Keep the discussion going. It's good one!

Food for thought.

 

but tex, what a big wiener you had. interesting mustard design upon the animal that you devoured. i guess that should qualify that statement. lol

 

Amazing!

From earlier complaints about making TBJ into "carnival games" to Bounty BJ!

Copying poker - cutting throats - annihilation of players! What's going on here!

Why did this tourney last so long?

1. Min and max levels too low for BR or BR too high for min/max levels

2. Players not being familiar with the format

3. Rotation of the Bank - keeping chips in play

Once players become more familiar with this format it will be DOMINATED by the AP players. Why? Since there is no limit just bet min until the count favors you going big. So unless others challenge then - watch out.

The second thing to watch out for in this format is player collusion. Lets face it if all players max bet at the same time and the dealer busts - that player is in a severe hole and digging out is cumbersome.

Why would players do that? Simple - two of us at a table make a deal to split winnings. We encourage others to join us (but keep them out of our winners deal).

If you want to make it more like poker there is another way - PokerJack!

 

It all Depends...

TX,

I found the perfect sponsor for those marathon tourney's. Wether you're going to the moon, going to Orlando or going to Oklahoma, the perfect fit for those who sit!

Our very own spokeswoman on the left wearing our product and playing TBJ and the same woman on the right playing at TX's table after 4 hours and NOT wearing our product - too bad!

 

fgk42,

1) Of course it would be dominated by AP players. What game isn't? Be it poker, baseball, football, bridge, canasta, etc.. The APs always dominate overall. BJ is no different.

2) Collusion. Happens all the time in many types of games. The object is to set up rules to minimize the effect not just say "it's a possibility and therefore the game is no good". Think out of the box.

3) Poker comparison. We always use poker as a comparison because of it's success. What we are trying to accomplish is using some of the reasons for poker's success to make BJ tournaments more acceptable to the general public.

Now here's another thought and yes it's taken from poker:
As BJTs are played today they are actually 3, 4, 5 or more individual small tournaments. We call these small tournaments "rounds". So why not play BOUNTY BJ like poker? Everyone starts playing at the same time. If you have more players than the tables allow, do like that did at the WSOP when they had 8,000 players - 2 separate starting times to get the field down to a manageable level. Now as the players lose their bankroll the tables become consolidated and the players carry their chips with them just like poker. You can then take "breaks" as needed and if you needed to "use the facilities" you wouldn't be eliminated because of a week bladder. Since the tables would be constantly changing, collusion would be at a minimum. One tournament, played until just one player has "all the marbles". I personally like it. What about everyone else?

Negative comments are needed to bring to light any short comings. But negative comments with solutions are better. Keep it coming and remember to "think outside the box".


A few more off the cuff thoughts:
How about playing BOUNTY BJ at a poker table to allow 10 or 12 players at a table? You could then play the tournament in a poker room while poker tournaments are not active. This would free up the BJ tables for regular live play when the tournament players are not playing in the BJ tournament (casinos make more money this way). Or how about removing all restrictions placed on the dealer - let the dealer hit or stand on anything (no DD or splits for the dealer of course)? This would make a "cut throat" play more risky? Or all cards dealt down including the dealer? Or.....??? Ideas, ideas, ideas. That's what we need to save our "sport" from a "used to play game" thats it's fast becoming.