I am excited about this site and forum. I love playing blackjack and someone who used to play tournaments suggested I try them. I had no idea where to start - now I do! I'm looking to try out low entry fee or free tournament some time soon, after I've studied the tournament strategies a bit. You can find me on Twitter at http://newblackjackplayers.com.
Welcome Welcome to the site. If you are just starting out, I would recommend Wong's Casino Tournament Strategy, while neither perfect nor complete, it is the best source for basic playing strategies for Blackjack Tournaments. After you understand Wong, try Ken's ebook. That is well worth the money, but you need to have a reasonable understanding of basic tournament play to really benefit. For Southern California tournaments, Valley View Casino has monthly tournaments, which are affordable, with a $40 entry fee. I've played this one once, and it was well run. These are the fourth Sunday of each month. San Ysabel has regular tournaments. Sandy Eggo can tell you about those. I believe some of the casinos around Palm Springs also have tournaments, but I have not played these or others in Southern California.
Thanks so much for the reply! I will check those all out. I've never been to Valley View Casino - I'll have to add it to my list. I've been playing Chumash all this week and realize I need to work on betting strategies but I'm still at the point that the distractions at the casino make me forget some of my basic strategy. No amount of practice at home prepares you for that - you just have to go play.
Valley View has way better table BJ than Chumash! Chumash is my "local" casino and it gags me to think about playing there. Go down San Diego way and play at Pala and Valley View-each have good 6 deck games.
As far as I can tell, the only difference is surrender. I go there because my daughter lives in Santa Maria. I will plan on going south and checking out Pala and Valley View. I've been to Pala and liked it.
One reason I despise Chumash Casino is the once had a very successful blackjack tournament that brought in over 90 players per week. Because they are a "lone" casino stuck in the middle of a very wealthy area they dont need no stinkin BJT. This lack of competition is likely why they cut their 6 deck game over 2 decks the most Ive ever seen. Chumash grabs .56 edge off the surrenderless game. San Diego casinos are forced to offer better games because of fierce competition. But, I would be there-Chumash- every week if they put a BJT back up, thats for sure.
