Hey all, New to BJT and really excited and yet disappointed that it seems tournaments are getting worse and worse for players especially after hearing the LVH cancelled. My question is what is the BEST BJT in the USA? In the world? Seeing how there is no longer a World Series of Blackjack I'm curious which tournament if any has taken the realm. Thanks! Tucson
Best? Hope for ONE There is no best. If you really want to play, throw EV out the window. It's not there in the traditional or worked numbers. There are many small tourneys with good return for your investment. and the chance to play and develop your game. Right now finding anyplace offering a tourney is a start. But with all the Native American spots opening daily and saturating even the less populus states, find a tourney and go for it.
Arizona Tournaments Assuming that you are actually from Tucson - The casinos in the Tucson area have held tournaments, though I think they are rather rare. Keep your eye out for them, as the ones I have seen seem to offer reasonable value and have affordable buyins ($100 or so). Also the Phoenix area casinos have tournaments on a fairly regular basis. That's certainly doable for you from Tucson. Casino Arizona offers tournaments every Tuesday at noon ($50 buyin); every Friday at 3:00 AM ($25 buyin), and the first Wednesday of each month ($100 buyin). The other Phoenix casinos offer tournaments occasionally. A trip to Vegas can offer a chance to play a lot of small, local, mini tournaments, you can get in one each day, and put that together with one of the Golden Nugget Tournaments ($100 buyin for $50,000 prize pool). Laughlin also has mini tournaments during the week, and the Golden Nugget there offers tournaments with a $20,000 prize pool for $50 buyin. Likewise the Tropicana in Laughlin is now doing regular tournaments. So check with the Tucson and Phoenix casinos for their tournament schedule, and plan out a trip to Vegas or Laughlin to play one of the Golden Nugget tourneys, or a Tropicana tournament, and also get in some local minis.
Thanks for the tips. What does EV mean? I do live in Tucson and was told they no longer have tournaments locally but I see on the event calendar there are tournaments in Phoenix. I was really interested in which (if any) tournament is the mother of all tournaments either based on prize money or participant numbers. Best I can tell The Golden Nugget seems to come closest. I don't think I have a chance in hell of winning but it would be nice to at least give it a try....and hell...for $500 entry fee it seems like nothing compared to the $10k or whatever it is to try enter the WSOP. Thanks again for the help. Wishing you faces and aces.
Golden Nugget Tourneys Tucson Golden Nugget in Vegas offers $100,000 tourneys for $500 entry and $50,000 tourneys for $100 entry. I've never played the $100,000 ones, but the $50,000 are nicely done. Will give you a taste of how bigger tournaments are put on, and some very good players are at these. Also, the Golden Nugget Laughlin with $20,000 tourneys for $50 entry are a very good value. All these tournaments are two day affairs. Hotel rates in Laughlin are cheaper, of course. These tourneys are on the weekend. If you can add a couple of days before or after, check out the local mini tournaments in Vegas or Laughlin. There have been tournaments in Oklahoma with $1,000,000 for first place; and I think some of the Mississippi tournaments have larger prize pools than the Golden Nugget ones. If you're a high roller, some Vegas casinos have invitational tournaments for their high rollers, which offer large prize pools and soft competition. EV means expected value, and is a calculation of how much an average player can expect to receive back relative to the buy in for a tournament.
The GN tournaments in Vegas are very, very well run and the competition can be stiff. Keep in mind that they're not totally open-entry, however. You've got to either have some play history with them or obtain a referral from one of their established players. The latter is how I got in, a favor that I have most certainly not forgotten and will hopefully be able to repay someday. Haven't tried the Laughlin events simply due to lousy EV when factoring in airfare but have heard good things about them. RK's suggestion to use the local mini-BJT's for practice is excellent as it's a cheap way to get your mind on track before playing a much larger event. Many folks here have posted that he tournaments in the South seem to be fairly well done. Be aware that most of them are in love with paying off with those ugly one-time-use promo chips instead of cash, which is 99% of the reason I have no personal experience with them. If the promo chip issue doesn't bother you, there have been a precious few times when you could have played more than one in a single trip. Bonus!!! RK's explanation of EV is dead on but I have to add that the EV calculation is different for everyone depending on individual circumstances. In addition to the buy-in, there's other expenses to consider. Airfare or gas for the car, room charges if applicable, lost (unpaid) days from a job. YMMV.
