GSN's "Celebrity Blackjack" premieres July 5th

Yes, Congrats, Dave! While not as pretty as Tiki, the banter should be interesting.

Now for the bad parts:

No expert commentary. While I critisized Max, he was always more knowledgable than Matt. Now matt will be the smartest in the booth?

Jokers: 4 cards in the deck will allow a player to swap cards with someone else. A stupid, stupid rule.

Final bet: Secret bet. Serves to make the celebrities feel less stupid, but makes strategizing boring.

Starting Stake: $100,000. Give me a break. Who needs to throw around wasted zeros.

 

Go Dave !

Definitely congratulations to Dave for this one!

But being a player, it must make you cringe to play these rules. Kind of like going to the WSOP finals and find our they are playing deuces wild and "follow the Queen". I'm just waiting to sit down at a table in Vegas and have a ploppy ask the dealer if they use Jokers!

The secret bet, although not common, has been used in the past and is even analyzed in Wong's book.

Oh well, I will watch it to see if any of the players are real players.

Just wondering Dave --- Has this been filmed yet?

 

Cat's outta the bag!

Kudos Ken for catching this press release... though i told many of you in Vegas & through private emails/messages, GSN did not want me releasing the info publicly until the official release came out. Now that its been done, I can publicly announce my role on this very fun show! (and my bid to run for governor of california -- no, wait, that's a DIFFERENT Hollywood actor -- nevermind)

I wouldn't be so quick to rush to judgement here, my friend. Spunky as I may be, I did a pretty good job dispensing advice, correct strategy, and of course, plenty of trash talk to these famous would-be card sharks. In fact, i think the big reason GSN put me at the table instead of just another pretty face (ah, Tiki, Tiki, Tiki, where are you now? Do you dream of me late at nite, hitting blackjack after blackjack, as you try to shake off the cruel cold wind of the Connecticut winter & fall blissfully to sleep?) was so that i could 'intervene' at crucial points to stop someone from repeatedly hitting their 14 against a dealer 5, or missing a key doubledown/split opportunity. That being said, many of the celebs did have a decent grasp on basic strategy, but the issues of money management and other tourney staples were not as prevalent.

Purists to the art and form of blackjack tournaments will I'm sure scoff at the secret bet, the jokers, and the like. But after shooting the show I can honestly say that we all had a blast, and it shows! Every table was filled with an interesting range of characters and conversation, and it was my pleasure to joke and jab with these guys. I tried to make a point of getting as much good information out there as possible, so that the casual ploppie watching would not see their favorite celeb standing on a 15 vs an 8 without Hollywood Dave at least making a comment about the 'correct' play. I didn't want to send a message of aquiesence to bad plays thru inaction or silence -- going so far at points as to not LET celebs make certain bad plays, or if they insisted, making them take their own card from the shoe so i would not be responsible for the result! I am sure we will lose some of this in editing, but at every point i tried to be as helpful and accessible as possible so as to assist the celebs who needed it (and the viewing audience at home) to a better understanding of the math and theory that makes it all tick -- all in my trademark off-the-cuff manner that hopefully made learning it all a little more fun.

But ultimately, this show wasn't really about the hardcore competition that drove us at Mohegan Sun, the Hilton, and the like. It was about a bunch of fun people who got together to share a laugh, raise some money for charity, and play some blackjack. So watch the show with that in mind, or you'll give yourself a coronary trying to analyze the improper bet correlations & other tourney blunders. Ken Smith may be a master mathematician, but Snoop Dogg comes off so much cooler explaining a $16,000 bet by saying "its one chip for each of the 16 true pimps out there tuning in"...

With logic like that, who needs Stanford Wong?

-hollywood dave.

 

Who's on the show?

Hollywood, who is going to be on the show? You mentioned Snoop Dog, who else, or can you release that info?

 

New rules etc.

My Dad used to say that when the clowns take over, the circus is in town. What next? Dealers mud wrestling while dispensing the cards?

 

Yes and No!

Yes it is like a circus, but another saying is "Even Bad Publicity is Good Publicity". If TV shows like the Hilton MD, WSOB, and yes-even Celeb BJ tournaments can bring new players into playing tournamentsI feel it is a good thing.

Look what both the TV shows and online satellite tournaments have done for poker, and it is still behind Blackjack as the number one table game in the casinos today.

I'm not saying look for a $5 million dollar first place Blackjack tournament in the near future, but I can see an increase in casino blackjack tournaments other then the VIP invitations happening. People love the idea to get rich quick and tournaments do just that, plus it is a vacation as well for most.

Once the online BJ tournaments (elimination style) start up I believe Blackjack will start picking up like poker did. The fact that players will be able to enter a tournament for $25 dollars to win entry into a $1,000 tournament to win a Million is a no brainier. I also believe that they're will be a bigger BJ tournament then the Las Vegas Hilton within two years once satellite tournaments are here, (I just hope the secondary prizes are better) that $960,000 drop to second place is a killer.

 

TV Guide for Blackjack

I always seem to remember about shows like this the day after they air. With the increased presence of Blackjack tournaments on TV, a program calendar would be a handy feature for this site to have.

Sentry