I was taking a look at the Oklahoma schedule and realized there are a lot of things I am unfamiliar with. My question is, as an AP, which tournaments are best? I realize that card counting has little value in regular tourneys, but what about accumulation tourneys? I've said that I wished every tourney had more hands that way less is up to variance and more to skill. What about the accumulation tourneys? Where you get to take your chips to the next round? Is this like the ones Wong wrote about in his book where its "winner take all", and the best strategy is to bet max on every hand? Thanks for the help, Rounder21
I need to correct you on your above statement. You don't carry over your chips to the next round. In each round you will start with a set number of chips (everybody starts with the same amount in each round). What happens is your totals from each round are added together for your over all total. Should you bust out in round 2 or 3, you will not be allowed to draw chips from your passed rounds.
Thanks for Clarifying TX... It's a little different than I thought. What should be different about the strategy in an accumulation tourney as opposed to regular tourneys??? Thanks, Rounder21
Accumulation format strategies have been widely discussed here. A quick search turned up these threads: http://www.blackjacktournaments.com/bb/showthread.php?t=929 http://www.blackjacktournaments.com/bb/showthread.php?t=865 http://www.blackjacktournaments.com/bb/showthread.php?t=810 http://www.blackjacktournaments.com/bb/showthread.php?t=2054 I'm sure there are more.
Thanks Ken... These threads are very helpful. I may have a few questions soon as I'm still reading them. Lots of valuable insight. Rounder21
A few questions (sorry so long)... Reading about the accumulation tourneys really interests me. I also have more to read so forgive me if I ask a question that is already answered in some of the threads posted but I dont think it will be and wanted to ask while its fresh in my mind. I understand the concept that in an accumulation tourney, there is a target to shoot for if you want to have a good chance to advance. Also I understand Wong's formula of dividing the number that advance by the number of entrants and taking the sq root of that and multiplying it by the starting BR to get the target. Would this target change if you knew people bet higher or lower than average or would it stay the same? In other words if youre playing a tourney where you know the average bet is low should the target be lower? Also if you know there are a lot of wildcatters should the target be higher? Also, if everyone knew the target strategy in accumulation tourneys, would it decrease your chance of advancing? In an earlier thread Ken posted (paraphrasing and could be off on the numbers a bit) that if 1 in 6 advance (16% raw odds) then by knowing the target you could increase your chance to advance to 40%!!!! thats a great advantage!!! I think I just answered one of my questions because obviously if everyone knew the target, everyone couldnt have a 40% chance of advancing. But another question I've been seriously thinking about is this. Could this target strategy be used in regular tournaments? In other words if you are at a table where 1 out of 7 advances (14% raw odds) would you be better off shooting for the target, which in this case would be tripling your bankroll, in the earlier hands to have a greater than 14% chance of advancing??? Or would it not matter because there would be so many people chasing you that they will be betting higher which will change the target formula???? It would seem like there would be an advantage to finding the target in relationship average bets placed at a given table or average bets in the tourney in an accumulation tourney. The tournament I play people usually bet pretty low on average. I would suspect if I played an accumulation tourney with all of the regular group here, the target would be lower than the formula suggests??? So many questions I know sorry. Thanks for the help, Rounder21
for regular tournaments where it is one or two advance from each table - your total BR is not important - your BR position is - you want to be BR1 going into the final hand - or at least BR2 with betting position and within 1/2 max bet - if single player advances - so don't worry about your chip count - focus on your relative position
Rounder21, I'd say you have a pretty good grasp of the situation. There's a big edge in these events because many players don't bet aggressively enough to optimize their chance of reaching an appropriate goal. In general, the more sophisticated and experienced the field, the more aggressive betting you'll see in an accumulation round. And yes, you should adjust your target higher in this case, and lower in rounds against more timid players. Now, about using a target-oriented strategy in a normal tournament. The main problem is that if you set a big number early in the round, the whole table will chase you, and a sort of bankroll escalation process starts. In an accumulation format, opponents don't usually chase. Instead, they will usually concede a big total to you, and just do their normal thing.
Thanks for the replies... I'm looking forward to playing in an accumulation tourney someday it sounds fun and something that I would actually prefer. Not having to always concentrate on everyone's chip count (thats been the hardest thing for me). I won't be able to make the OK tourneys, but hopefully soon I will be able to take a trip and play some different format tourneys. Good Cards, Rounder21
