First, thanks to Rick Jensen for all his efforts in putting together the Blackjack Tournament Cruise! I think everyone who attended had a great time. Thanks also to the excellent dealers: Rick Swogger, John Chang, and Laurie Chang. Thanks also are in order for Chips Mccoy, who had a lot to do with making these events run smoothly, and answered countless questions from us first-time cruisers. Rick held four events aboard, with each event having more than $10,000 in prize money awarded. The first event was the Harvey Bader Memorial Tournament. R.I.P. Harvey, you are still missed by all of us. Springbac took home the $4300+ first place in that event. The finalists in the second event settled on a partial chop of the prizes, with $2000 going to the winner and about $1400 each for all the other finalists. Sam "Mr Million" Vaughn took home the $2000. In the last two events, the finalists decided on a complete chop of the pot, so no final table was played. Three players in particular deserve some extra congrats... Springbac, Snapper, and my wife Jan all made three out of four finals aboard the ship. Well done! Congrats also to Lorena and Nan, who made their first finals ever. It was a real treat getting to know all of the players better, and we all had a great time in the ports of call. My favorite was Zihuatenejo, but all three were interesting stops.
Thanks Ken Well I am finally back home, after driving to Vegas for Viktors halloween party I drove down to San Diego for the cruise. After a 8 night cruise we (Swog and I) had to drive back to Texas, (about 15 days in all). The Cruise tournaments went over great. I tried several new formats and twists not offered in regular casinos. We also gave away over $45,000 in cash prizes. I offered fair prize pool and not top heavy payouts. The semifinalist 7th - 18th all received money back. I allowed players to fill in case of sickness or scheduling conflict for other players so they wouldn't lose their entry fees. The player had to use one of the players out of the tournament as their fill in for the rest of the tournament. The fill in player was draw at random and then had to agree to play for the other player, this only happened once and they ended up making the finals. I also used a double count down for the players and posted them on the tables. First count was before hand 16 was dealt and then again before hand 20 (the last hand). I also had minute timers (which were hardy needed) to speed up the rounds. One of the biggest things the newer players enjoyed was the help from the other players during the rounds. After a newer tournament player made their bet or played their hand, the more experenced tournament players (at the table) would help explain why it was a good bet or play or what would have been a better one and why. All and all I believe everyone had a good time and I have already been asked to host another one for next year.
