This week's episode is the first of two semifinal tables, where two of the five players will go on to compete at the final table. Week Eleven (Semifinal round): Four winners of round 1 tables plus one from wild card: Viktor Nacht, Anthony Curtis, Jason Geraci, Rick Jensen, Ken Einiger Friday Apr 8, 10 PM premiere, 1 AM encore Sun Apr 10, 7 PM Mon Apr 11, 11 PM Tue Apr 12, 10 PM Thu Apr 7, 1 AM Post your comments here, and I'll have the show recap up in a few days.
Oops! Sorry about the schedule mishap. I originally had the other set of semifinalists listed in this week's schedule, until I saw the beginning of the show and realized GSN switched the two semifinal episodes around. I've edited the post above, so it's the correct list now.
Show Recap part 1 It's starting to get serious now. We're down to the semifinal rounds, and the stakes are getting higher by the minute. Two players of the five competing tonight will advance to the final round, where the serious money hits the table. In seat one is Viktor Nacht, who relates the tale of his final round in round 1: "I felt the pressure on that last hand, because that was a tough bet to make." If round one was tough, this table is bound to be a real pressure cooker. Anthony Curtis is up next, and we get a comment from his interview before he knows who he'll face at the semifinal table: "Who would I like to see? I'd like to see a bunch of people I've never seen before!" He doesn't get his wish, instead sharing the table with a tough slate of tournament pros that he's all too familiar with. Next up is the only player at this table who doesn't eat, sleep and breathe blackjack tournaments. Jason Geraci came off a good performance in his initial table, but he's going to have to be at the top of his game tonight if he hopes to beat this field. The money is starting to feel real for him, as he tells us "$250,000 is at stake here, and the chips become a lot more than plastic." Texan Rick Jensen is in seat four, complete with a cowboy hat FedExed to Vegas just for the show. In his pre-game interview he relives his last-hand mistake from round one, where he describes his unnecessary double down as a "brain fart". However, the proof is in the standings, and as he says: "I'd rather win wrong than lose right." In the fifth seat is Ken Einiger who is appearing for the third time in the series. After finishing in second place at his initial table, Ken had to defeat three other players in the wild-card round to earn a seat here tonight. His extra table of experience has his confidence high, and he tells us "People are gonna see me in the finals. I guarantee I'm in the finals." He'll need some luck tonight, as he's drawn the final button if everyone sticks around until the final 25th hand. In tonight's round, the strategy will be different since first and second place both advance to the final table. Hand 1: *Viktor........$100,000.....$1000....TJ Anthony........$100,000.....$1000....633Q Jason..........$100,000.....$2000....3K8 Rick...........$100,000.....$1000....T229 Ken............$100,000.....$1000....97A Dealer 8248 Hand 2: Viktor.........$101,000.....$1500....A3 Dbl 7 *Anthony.......$ 99,000.....$1000....93 Jason..........$102,000.....$2000....65 Dbl A Rick...........$ 99,000.....$1500....J5 Ken............$101,000.....$1000....TJ Dealer 5524T Hand 3: Viktor.........$104,000.....$1500....JQ Split -> JA / Q6 Anthony........$100,000.....$7000....37 Dbl 9 *Jason.........$106,000.....$1000....82 Dbl J Rick...........$100,500.....$1500....45K Ken............$102,000.....$1000....9A Dealer 779 With small bets around the table, Anthony takes advantage and makes a bid for the lead or a tie of it. When he gets a nice basic strategy double, he takes first place with room to spare. Doh! My original commentary included this statement: "Viktor's play here looks like he thought he had information about the hole-card, probably from a tell after Deanna peeked. He splits tens against a 7, then stands stiff on one of them. He was correct, as Deanna starts from a total of 14 and busts." No, there's been no change in the rules of blackjack. Deanna didn't peek under her 7. Perhaps Viktor will weigh in here with an explanation. Maybe he saw the hole card? Hand 4: Viktor.........$107,000.....$2500....T29 Anthony........$114,000.....$8000....J66 Jason..........$108,000.....$8000....98 *Rick..........$102,000.....$2500....AK Ken............$103,000.....$1000....Q5 Surr Dealer 9T Anthony pauses for a moment to consider his play on this hand, no doubt weighing the three reasonable choices of hit, stand, or surrender. He chooses hit, but busts the hand. Skip to Hand 8: Viktor.........$103,500.....$1000....98 Anthony........$102,000.....$7000....JQ *Jason.........$ 85,500.....$1000....626 Rick...........$101,750.....$7500....7J Ken............$ 98,500.....$1000....Q2 Dealer 5K6 While we were away, Viktor maintained the lead he gained after hand 4, while Jason lost about $15K. Rick and Anthony both are gunning for the all-important two top chip counts, but are instead hammered by a Deanna 21. Matt informs us that nobody has won a hand since hand four. Hand 9: Viktor.........$102,500.....$7000....T8 Anthony........$ 95,000.....$1000....59 Jason..........$ 84,500.....$31000...72 *Rick..........$ 94,250.....$8500....24 Ken............$ 97,500.....$1000....A2 Dealer KA Jason has lost five hands in a row, but doesn't let that keep him from taking a shot at moving from last to first with a win here. Unfortunately, Deanna just extends his losing streak to six in a row by drawing a blackjack. Ken takes his first lead of the night, despite mirroring Jason's six-hand losing streak. Hand 10: Viktor.........$ 95,500.....$1000....5K Anthony........$ 94,000.....$7000....AA Split -> A4 / A3 Jason..........$ 53,500.....$9500....J4 Rick...........$ 85,750.....$3500....3K *Ken...........$ 96,500.....$1000....TA Dealer 3K8 Four straight 21s for the dealer, and this one hurts Anthony worst of all. Hand 13: Viktor.........$ 88,500.....$1000....75J Anthony........$ 77,000.....$15000...K34 *Jason.........$ 45,000.....$1000....636J Rick...........$ 76,500.....$12500...Q45 Ken............$ 95,000.....$5000....3552A4 Dealer 846 Apparently Deanna didn't take a break while we did, as she continued depleting the chip stacks around the table. This is the kind of table I love, and Kenny E probably agrees. Now Kenny starts to push his lead, looking to really bury the laggards. Drawing a twenty to swing three out of four opponents on this hand definitely helps his cause. Hand 14: Viktor.........$ 87,500.....$1500....54T Anthony........$ 62,000.....$20000...54 Dbl 4 Jason..........$ 44,000.....$1000....3T *Rick..........$ 89,000.....$1500....273K Ken............$100,000.....$1000....2TK Dealer 2658 Ouch, I feel Anthony's pain here. He makes a great bet calculated to give him the lead if he happens to get a good looking double. Then he draws 9v2 which is about as close as you can get to a basic strategy double without actually being one. When the dealer has a two up, you hope your double down card doesn't matter, but in this case, it doesn't matter for the other reason. Hand 15: Viktor.........$ 86,000.....$1000....28 Dbl 9 Anthony........$ 22,000.....$22000...488 Jason..........$ 43,000.....$1000....K9 Rick...........$ 87,500.....$1500....Q6 *Ken...........$ 99,000.....$1000....Q6 Dealer 22654 Anthony is prepared to leave the table, but gets a reprieve and doubles up. Skip to Hand 17: Viktor.........$ 96,000.....$6500....4T *Anthony.......$ 43,000.....$1000....2326 Jason..........$ 42,000.....$1000....J4 Rick...........$ 87,500.....$12500...JK Ken............$ 97,500.....$1000....86 Dealer 45A Rick and Viktor both take a shot at Ken's lead, but neither succeeds. Hand 18: Viktor.........$ 89,500.....$5000....78 Surr Anthony........$ 42,000.....$42000...7345 *Jason.........$ 41,000.....$1000....A35 Rick...........$ 87,500.....$4500....Q3 Surr Ken............$ 96,500.....$1000....3KT Dealer K8 No fear from Anthony who knows better than anyone that you have to be bold to win these things. Another all-in win and he's back in the thick of it after being down to his last $22K just three hands ago. --continued in next post--
Show Recap part 2 Hand 19: Viktor.........$ 87,000.....$1000....3773 Anthony........$ 84,000.....$10000...AK Jason..........$ 42,000.....$42000...K2Q *Rick..........$ 85,250.....$1000....2Q4T Ken............$ 95,500.....$1000....A45 Dealer A225 Anthony bet just a little short of first high, probably thinking that even the small additional risk wasn't worth it with hands to go and two advancing. Besides, he's probably still reeling from the tension of the last few hands. I paused the show at this point to decide whether Anthony would insure his blackjack. I was right, he did. All-in Jason dodged one bullet when Deanna didn't have the blackjack, but his tournament ended this hand anyway. Whenever a seat empties at the table, there's usually a change in the position advantage as well. In this case, we hear a sarcastic Viktor 'celebrating' the fact that he'll now be on the final hand button. Ken's gotta love this. Now he has both the lead and last bet. But this is now a tight match, with only $8500 separating first and last place. (Matt says "less than 12 grand separates first from last". I'm guessing he transposed some digits in Viktor and Ken's totals to get that number.) Hand 20: Viktor.........$ 87,000.....$10500...84 Anthony........$ 94,000.....$2000....Q9 (Ins $1000) Rick...........$ 84,250.....$10500...55 (Ins $5000) *Ken...........$ 95,500.....$1000....8T Dealer AK Viktor shoots for first place, and Anthony opts to take no risk and see what happens instead. He makes virtually a minimum bet, but with an extra chip to pass a possible push by Ken. This is a useful idea to emulate when you're looking to coast through a hand. Often you can find opportunities where betting an extra chip or two can be helpful. I don't know the story for Anthony's insurance bet here, and it may be that he has Ken's chip count wrong and believes he's moving into the lead. I don't like Rick's initial bet here, and I really don't like insuring it either, though I suppose it's debatable to move up on Viktor. It works, when Deanna has the blackjack. Anthony is now trailing Ken by only $500. Hand 21: *Viktor........$ 76,500.....$40000...87 Surr Anthony........$ 94,000.....$10000...3734 Rick...........$ 83,750.....$30500...KT (Insure $15000) Ken............$ 94,500.....$15000...T9 (Insure $7500) Dealer A489 I'm going to go completely overboard this hand with speculation on better bets and plays. It's worth reiterating here that it's tough enough to come up with these plays with a calculator, plenty of time, and no cameras and lights. At the table it's nearly impossible. But this hand just has too much potential interest to skip the in-depth analysis. I like only one bet at this table, Anthony's. Viktor's invites trouble in several ways. Making this bet from the button virtually guarantees that at least one player will cover it on the high. Also, overbetting half his bank doesn't accomplish anything here. I'd prefer to wait a hand to take this kind of risk. If I had to make a move this hand, I'd be reluctant to risk more chips than it takes to barely squeak into first place. Given Ken's numerous $1000 bets, $20500 would be a strong choice, but I like $1000 better now. Anthony's bet is both simple and powerful. He bets his lead over Rick, which insures that any move by Rick is going to be expensive and risky. Rick needs a $33K bet if he wants to cover Viktor. He takes almost as much risk, but ends up with second high instead of first (and no guarantee of that with Ken playing behind him.) Ken should have picked a side... Either match up with Anthony or cover the high. He does neither, choosing instead to have second low and third high on this hand. There's an interesting "flex bet" available here with a bet of $20,000. It covers Rick's win, but he can also surrender back into first low if Anthony busts. His bet of $15K gets half the "flex" (the surrender half), but actually doesn't accomplish much that $10K wouldn't, and $10K doesn't require the surrender to have first low. Once the cards are dealt, Viktor has more trouble. Although 15vA sucks, Max is right about the surrender being a bad idea. The determining factor is that last-place Viktor can take the lead if he just gets paid on this hand. Play it out. Now I'm really getting picky, but here are some insurance plays that would have been awesome to see. Realize that insurance plays are among the most complicated to figure, and these would be tough to do at the table. Tough, but possible, as you'll see. Consider what happens if Rick insures for $10K instead of $15K. If Deanna doesn't have the blackjack, he'll still have the high over Anthony. He could arrive at this figure by knowing how much "extra" money he has bet. In this case, that's $10K over Anthony. That's how much he can afford to insure and not give back the high. (If Ken insures fully behind him, he'll get the high over Ken as a bonus as well.) Once Rick takes almost full insurance, Ken needs to insure as well or Rick will pass him if the dealer has blackjack. Ken knows that, and thus he insures. But, he has a better play if he insures for less. He only needs to insure for $2000 to cover Rick if the dealer has it, and he also has "extra" chips bet compared to Anthony. Insuring for anything between $2000 and $5000 is perfect. OK, back to the real world, where Anthony has taken the lead. Hand 22: Viktor.........$ 56,500.....$27500...82 Dbl 5 *Anthony.......$104,000.....$10000...AJ Rick...........$ 99,250.....$10500...22 Split -> 275 / 275 / 29 Dbl T Ken............$102,000.....$1000....TA Dealer 34K Anthony chooses a mid-range bet from the button. (How about $8000 with the surrender option?) Rick matches up, which is a poor choice here. However, it still looks OK after Ken bets $1000 behind him. Ken continues to give players free shots at passing him, including Viktor, who I would assume would bet $50K here. Viktor splits his money instead but gets $55K working anyway with a double. A loss eliminates him, as he's down to $1500. Anthony's looking good, especially for a guy who was all-in twice earlier. Hand 23: Viktor.........$ 1,500.....$1500....KA Anthony........$119,000.....$20000...6TQ *Rick..........$ 99,250.....$24500...8334 Ken............$103,500.....$20000...82J Dealer 9K Ken again doesn't cover the high, this time being short by only $250. Rick chooses not to double, although I think the double is a better play if you assume that Ken will take the basic strategy double behind you. Again, Rick's play ends up being better after Ken misplays the hand. (If Ken realized the problem, a double for $500 would have been sufficient to fix it.) Anthony has better bet choices here, but he basically just falls prey to the age-old problem of getting worse cards than your opponent. Hand 24: Viktor.........$ 3,750.....$3500....3TA7 Anthony........$ 99,000.....$15000...TA Rick...........$ 74,750.....$37000...2J Dbl ($29000) 3 *Ken...........$123,500.....$30000...A7 Dealer 77K Anthony leaves the door open for Rick, but Rick doesn't walk through. Anthony could have bet as much as $24K outright, or better yet, enough to cover Rick both ways with the surrender option. (Anything between $26K and $48K.) But Rick is still intent on making his own spot difficult, and doesn't take the offered second high this hand. Interestingly, if Rick had made a better bet, he probably would have busted this hand. Instead, he makes an excellent double. Note that he also held back $8750 to stay ahead of Viktor if he loses the double, which is a nice bottom-feeding play, the sort with which I am all too familiar. Hand 25: *Viktor........$ 7,250.....$7000....A69J Anthony........$121,500.....$40000...7J Dbl 3 Rick...........$140,750.....$32500...9A Ken............$153,500.....$30000...826 Dealer QQ This is a well-bet final hand. Anthony's situation is grim... third place and effectively on the button. $40K is a good bet, giving him as many ways to win as possible. Rick's bet is darned effective. He can surrender to beat a push, yet he can double if Anthony doubles. (Here's a case where matching Anthony's bet would be a worse choice, because of the push/surrender. Think of an Anthony 20 and a Rick 16 against a dealer 10, a disastrous hand if Rick had bet $40K.) Ken's bet holds unbet chips over Anthony's bankroll and bets enough to cover everything that might happen. So much for the betting. How about the play? Anthony must double of course. (Remember, his card is face down, so Rick and Ken don't know if he busted or not.) Rick should double as well, and if he does he is virtually assured to finish better than Anthony. If Rick doubles, Anthony's ways to beat Rick are very limited.. Anthony must draw an Ace thru 4, Rick's card must be worse than Anthony's, and Anthony must push or beat the dealer, but the dealer also cannot bust. That's a tall order. If they both double, I suppose Ken should make it unanimous. As it stands though, after Rick does not double, Ken has no need for the extra chips. A more interesting question is should Ken hit the 16? I don't know the answer. Anthony's outcome here might be the worst beat of the tournament, though Joep might disagree. Anthony catches a three on his hard 17, but a push isn't enough to be among the top two. Rick and Ken advance to the final table.
Outstanding situations in this show This show was full of interesting situations. I'm sure I've overlooked possibilities, or made errors in my analysis. Jump in and let me know.
Congrats! I don't know about alternative plays, but from a spectator's point of view, I was on the edge the entire round....especially the last three hands! Being somewhat acquainted with three of you guys (Anthony, Kenny and Rick) I didn't know who to pull for! An amazing run of wins (mostly 21's) Deanna had!
Wow! I just want to tell Rick and Ken congratulations! That was a great show last night. As a "newbie" I am tring to soak up all the information I can find to become a skilled player. Watching you guys play and reading the posts on this site are helpful tools. Perhaps I'll be joining the play sometime soon...look out!
Doh! Swog pointed out that Deanna didn't peek under a seven on hand three. I've amended my initial commentary above for that hand. Viktor, did you catch the hole card, or were you just throwing off the table with an unorthodox play?
Woops Sorry Viktor......I left your name out of the list. Not on purpose I assure you! Who could've imagined such a streak by the dealer Deanne?!!!!
Winning Wrong vs. Losing Right The final three hands (23-25) were pretty intense, two of the three of us were going to the finals and a chance at $250,000. Here's a recap of my thinking for the final three hands. Hand # 23 As Ken S. points out I didn't follow the norm on hand 23. With an 8-3 and behind the play should have been to DD normally, but a DD loss would have put me over a max bet behind both Anthony and Kenny while just my original bet would keep me in the thick of things with two hands to go and next to the last betting position on the last hand. As it turned out I made the correct call as my next card was a 3. Even hitting a 4 on the next card only gave me an 18 which still lost to Deanna's 19. Hand # 24 Desperate times call for desperate measures. Once again Ken S. points out a max. bet would have been better in this situation, but I elected to play for for a possible DD, split, or swing (less enough to stay in 3rd place). Although 12 wasn't my ideal choice for a DD I was pretty much out of options. Once again I caught a break (actually two) 1st Deanna ended up busting and 2nd I didn't, catching a three on my DD 12. Had I not DD I would have busted. Hand # 25 Now I was sitting in 2nd place (thats all I wanted was one of the top two spots so I could advance to the finals). Ken S. is right on the money, my bet is enough to cover Anthony's with a win, surrender, or DD if I have to. After seeing the cards: Anthony's - 17, Me - soft 20, and Kenny 10 vs. Deanna's 10, I was feeling pretty good. I knew Anthony had to DD his hard 17, I had thought about DD myself, but decided to ride my 20 out (I had been beaten three times in the passed year by players DD on hard 17 so I wasn't feeling all that secure). I knew Kenny was in great shape (the lead and sitting on a 10 (8-2)). I wasn't trying to win the table just advance. I knew Kenny didn't need to DD for the win and I really thought he was going to win the table until he caught that 6. Anthony had a heartbreaking loss catching the 3 on his DD giving him a 20 only to push with Deanna's 20. My DD on hand #24 ended up being the differance (taking the 2nd postion over Anthony) as we both ended up pushing the final hand. Kenny's bet was great, even though he lost $30,000 he still keep his lead over Anthony by $2,000. If you go back and watch Kenny after they turn Anthony's DD over he is in shock. He thought he had been beaten for a moment. Once again my play ended up being the correct one (As far as advancing, maybe not the highest percentages). Had I DD I would have caught Kenny's 6 and came in thrid place. Had Deanna had 17 - 19 instead of a 20 it would have been Anthony 1st and me 2nd. Final rating of my victory: Skill: ? Luck: 10 + I'll be the first one to say the cards fell my way at the end. I was very fortunate to have advanced against such a great group of players. As Ken S. posted one of my favorite sayings is "I would rather win wrong then lose right"...LOL NOTE* The Monday night before we started WSOB play Kenny E. hosted a cocktail party for all the players and staff. We had both said we wanted to make the finals together, now it has come true. As amazing as that is, what is really amazing is Kenny ended up on my table every time and still we both made it to the finals. Ken S. was right GSN paid to FED-EX my Cowboy hat to me to wear for the semifinals and now finals. The dip cup I have at the first of the show was just for fun, I had beef jerky in my mouth, the GSN staff was just wanting me to play around with them big city boys...LOL
Funny note Last night I didn't know my show was going to be on. I had a party and was dealing a Texas Hold'em Birthday tournament for about twenty 13 year old boys. Their mom said that is what all the kids wanted to do for a party (No money involved, just prizes). When asked if I play Hold'em I told them some but mostly blackjack. That is when several of the kids told me about a show on GSN called WSPB...LOL. Then I told them that I was on that show. One kid next to me is telling me that Hollywood Dave is his favorite player, but asked if he ever Shut up...lol. Now some of the kids are starting to be nice and tell me they remember me after they found out I won my first table. Now it gets better, they turn on the show and to my surprize I am on last night instead of next week. It ended up being a fun night and the kids got a kick out of their dealer being on TV. After the end of the poker tournament I called JoeP and let them talk to him (they remembered Joe from his match with Hollywood). I think Joe got as much of a kick out of it as the kids did.
Swingers! I wanted to catch a swing on that hand, and I wanted the whole swing. Given that I playing against the Mount Rushmore of Blackjack Tournament Players, I wanted to be aggressive in a ways I felt were low risk if I lost (due to a small bet) but could give me chips to work with later in the match. Which is not to say it was the best or correct decision. I don't think I had an accurate chip count in that round. Good Cards, V
Anthony Curtis' analysis is posted Anthony gives us an inside look into his thinking in this episode's analysis, posted here: http://www.lasvegasadvisor.com/referenceguide-tournaments-wsob2.cfm#episode11 Several times we've seen Anthony use what he calls a 'tiebreaker' to help him make a decision when the best play is not obvious. He uses it again this time on hand 22 when he's on the button with a small lead. I think the whole concept of looking for these small advantages is a powerful one. Thanks AC for the insights.
