Please correct me if I am wrong. In a blackjack tournament when you buy in is that all the money you need or are you also paying money for your bets? Or do you just buy in and the player at the end with the highest value in chips win? Beej-
Most BJT's are run with "funny money" chips although there are a few which require the use of "live" money. Caveat emptor - make sure you know what you're getting yourself into before you buy in. Other players here with experience in live money events can chime in with more comprehensive comments to your questions. And welcome to the forum!
may need more money for rebuys Even in "funny money" tournaments, some formats allow players who did not advance to "rebuy" to re-enter the tournament. Rebuys usually are priced at anywhere from full entry price to 1/2 of original buy in. In Live money tournaments, you must provide a stake in addition to the tournament buy in fee. If you advance, you must provide a minimum stake for all successive rounds through the final.
So, at a table with funny money how does a player advance? And what dictates a round (When the shoe is out, time limit, chip value limit)?
Everyone starts with the same amount of "funny money" (chips marked with numbers, like real chips, but they cannot be cashed hence the term "funny money") - same as in poker tournaments. Each tournament has different rules on the length of a round but typically 25 or so hands are dealt to a table of 6 or 7 players. After those 25 or so hands are dealt, the player(s) with the most value in "funny money" advances to the next round. If you advance to the next round, everyone at that table starts again with same amount of funny money. Unlike poker, you do not carry your winnings to the next table.
Live Money Died? Last live money events I knew of were at the Stardust and the Frontier in Vegas. Don't think either of those places will have any more! There might be some in parts of the country I'm not familiar with but I think just about everything is funny money now. I preferred the live money tourneys because a lot of players changed their game profoundly when it was real money (you learned who had balls, on the last hands). Several years ago at Sam's Town I was dealt 2 10's on the last hand, couldn't split because I didn't have enough back, doubled down for less (didn't catch an ace, by the way). That would be a REAL tough play to make in a live money event. This was not a live money one. Billy C
