Joe Maloof, co-owner of the Sacramento Kings and the Palms Casino & Resort in Las Vegas, won the $1 Million Blackjack Tournament at the Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. Maloof played 120 hands during the two-day, four-round tournament. Down $16,000 entering the last hand, Maloof hit a $25,000 blackjack to win the winner-take-all event. His brother Gavin Maloof, co-owner of the Kings, was eliminated in the semifinals. Reacting to his million-dollar win Maloof said, "The only thing that would make me happier is if the Kings won the championship." Maloof was one of 41 entrants and advanced through the invitation-only event. After anteing up a $10,000 entrance fee, contestants were issued $50,000 in tournament chips to be used per round, with a minimum bet of $1,000 or maximum bet of $25,000 per hand required. "We are thrilled that Mr. Maloof won our inaugural Blackjack Tournament," said Nick Dillon, executive director of casino operations for the Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino. "The caliber of player and excitement surrounding this first-of-its-kind tournament was unprecedented and demonstrates that Barona Valley Ranch can attract high-profile players with our world-class gaming and hospitality." Blending the best of San Diego's most elegant resorts with the gaming excitement of Las Vegas, the $260 million Barona Valley Ranch Resort & Casino is San Diego's leading destination resort featuring 396 luxury guest rooms and suites, a 300,000 square foot casino, a lakefront wedding chapel, the AmBience Day Spa, a full-service events center and the 18-hole championship Barona Creek Golf Club, rated the 5th best daily-fee course in California by Golfweek Magazine.
This press release came as a surprise to me. I would've expected an event of that site to be highly publicized beforehand. These types of events are what I expect to see occur if the TV interest in tournaments picks up. For the Barona event, I wonder if there's a Max Rubin connection. Max was involved in the recent Game Show Network event, and he's involved in the casino operations at Barona. Max is also a member here. Max, you listening out there?
Checking out the Hilton I heard several of the casinos in California are looking at hosting Larger BJ tournaments this year. Les Thacker (LV Hilton) introduced me to some of the casino personal from the California casinos that were checking out how they run their MILLION DOLLAR tournament this passed December. That was the first I had heard of these “Million Dollar Mini’s”, they told me entry into the tournaments would only be allowed to players that could buy in at a regular table with a minimum of $100,000. Tournament entries are $10,000, these tournaments are strictly for the High Rollers…DUH! Ken way don’t we go out in play in a couple of them next month…LOL.
Ken, I heard about this tournament a few weeks ago from a mutual friend. As I recall, Max was involved. The requirement for entry was a $100k credit line with a big average bet (a bit vague here, but info from a Barona host indicated $1500 and above). If that were it, there would be potential. Unfortunately, they want references. They check with other casinos that you have played for credit lines and average bet. I strongly suspect that they check with some outside agencies as well.
Hi Everyone, I see that everyone is excited about this type big tournament a million dollars + . It is true that this type tournament will catch everyone's attention, just like Poker tournament. I can see that not many Landbase casino are willing to host this million+ type tournament on Blackjack due to the amount of profit they are getting back. But the on-line casinoes should seige this opportunity and organize this kink of big tournament, they can impose condiction such as .... must have the account with them, ... must have play 100 hands on-line or must have win or loose $500 at their site in order to qualified. I think that a lot of players would join in if there is million dollar tournament with $500 to $5000 entry. As right now the tournament they have is $10, $20 this would not make any attention comparing with the Poker on-line tournament. By doing this, online casino will get more players, and at the same time putting some pressure to the landbase casinoes. That's my two cents, Cheers! The_snowbird
Already in play! Snowbird, one On-line casino that I know of is already working on get a major blackjack tournament started by this summer if all goes well. It will be an elimination tournament and not one of these week or month long accumulative tournaments like they offer now. From discussing formats with them out in Las Vegas last December, I think they will run something like a New Frontier format. A entry with Live money buy-in, 5 - 6 players per table, 25 - 30 hands, no more then five rounds with two advancing from each table until the finals.
