One of the things I'm considering for this site is an online multi-player tournament, where several players could play against each other in a practice tournament table. Does this sound like something that would appeal to you? Let me know your thoughts on the matter. Thanks, -Ken-
Sounds great. Maybe a weekly or monthly scheduled game. I wonder if a prize pool could be generated at some point?
That would be great! Both for the sake of practice and just as a fun game. I never had the nerve to bet real money at a casino blackjack table until I'd had a lot of practice with some good playing/coaching software. By the same token, at this point I've had very little experience in tournaments (a couple of cruise ship casino tournaments) and if I'd like to get into playing with the "big boys" it sure seems like it would be a good learning experience and confidence booster to be able to log some practice time. Besides which, it'd just be fun. And it might be a real draw. There are a lot of folks out there playing poker at online casinos (or even on Pogo) just for fun. Why not tournament blackjack? Frankly, I've been very surprised at being unable to find online blackjack tournaments that resemble those held in brick-and-mortar casinos. Prior to the recent introduction by Sands and Omni, all I've seen is silly "prize goes to whoever bets the most (of their real money) during this time period" stuff. (i.e. ploys to get you to run through your $$ faster). It's such a logical extension of online gaming technology... Probably just waiting for some budding entrepreneur and a software geek to get it together. Currently unemployed software geek here...
awesome idea that would rock, i bought stanford wongs blackjack tournament software and to be honest it bites. the book was extremely valuable though(casino tournament strategy).i wonder if there is a way to hook the tournament play area of this site up to run 24/7 with auto players but allow real people to jump in any time? whatever you do i look forward to seeing it soon.great site idea by the way the world of tournament blackjack is really growing and there is not much out there for us in the way of a good bj trn forum. keep doin' what you're doin' rondog
Things have been quiet here, but I've been busy behind the scenes, mostly planning the interactive tournament feature. I'm having to learn several new technologies to make this work. At the moment, it looks like I'll be implementing the multi-player game with Flash on the player side, and a Java XML Socket server on the server side. Stay tuned!
tournament feature any new news on that tournament feature?also can anyone reccomend any good tournament training software?i am looking for something that "red flags" you when you make a tactical error ie: hitting instead of doubling on last hand,bets that will work but there is a better one to make. if computer automated players played a good strategy and game format could be adjusted that would be excellent. thanks for your time any input would be appreciated rondog
The only tournament software I have any experience with is Wong's 'Tournament Blackjack'. Although I think it's a useful practice tool, I really am not all that pleased with it. The endplay of the automated players leaves a lot to be desired in many cases, so the results of the analysis portion are sometimes inaccurate. There's another contender, which I have never tried. Qfit Software's 'Casino Verite' has a tournament option of some sort. Another member here at the board posted that he was going to give it a try, but he never followed up afterward. I'm really curious to hear opinions about that software. I should probably go order a copy for myself anyway, and I may do so after I return from traveling this week. But, back to Wong's software: It does one thing very well. It lets you play rounds, again and again. Even if the other players are suboptimal, the experience is valuable. I don't currently offer it at BlackjackInfo, but you can get it in the E-store at http://www.bj21.com I haven't made much progress on the practice games I'm working on for this site. Other projects keep interfering with the time I need to devote to it. It's still on my list, and I hope to be able to get back to working on it soon.
I say let's give it a try. If for nothing else the practice would help avid participants imprint important moves at crucial, critical times. Hey!
Casino Verite Tournament Mode Ken, I haven't had time to do a complete test of the Tournament mode in Casino Verite software (very busy at work right now). I can say that tournament mode can be configured for almost any set of typical tournament rules. There are 4 computer players that can be set to play as counters or basic strategy players. Their betting style can be set to flat bet, aggressive early or late. Up to 2 human players can compete in tournament mode. So far, I am very impressed with every aspect of CV software. It is truly a powerful blackjack learning tool for every aspect of the game inluding counting, shuffle tracking and money management. I would reccommend it for any serious player. Len
Practice Makes Perfect I believe the most valuable software would be one that helps you practice keeping count of 5 other players chips and also counting chips from afar. When playing in tournaments, it can be difficult to count chips accurately from across the table. Any suggestions???
