I was lucky enough to witness some great come backs and near come backs this passed weekend at the New Frontier, IP, Hilton, & Stardust tournaments. One of the plays cost me at the NF quarterfinals. I was in the lead going into the last hand, 2 advances I was over a max bet ahead of 3rd. I force him into having to bet the max and doubling (or splitting the last hand). He caught a hard 14 vs. dealers 3, he catches a 7 for twenty-one...(damm it), now I am sitting next with 2nd still behind me. 2nd bet the max. ($100) and with a win (he has hard 19) can cut me by $25. I have a free double down on my hard 13, if I make a hand I win, if #2's 19 gets beat I win, if we both win or lose I win, and if I lose and he surrenders I win. So what happens I DD for $30 and catch a 9 (bust), #2 stands on his 19 and the dealer draws to a 17. Both cut me. What can I say they both have to swing me on the last hand to cut me and it happened? At the Hilton a little better news, third round (the money round) I am in 2nd on the last hand and have last bet. I match everyone’s $2,500 bet except for the leader who only bet $200. 7th position had the puck and needed a double, split, or swing against me to move into 2nd place. He was dealt a 2 and 3 for total of 5, I had two pictures for 20 and the dealer had a face up. #7 (a VERY good player) just hit, & hit, & hit for a five card 20 he was about to wave it off when he caught himself. If he ties me I still win and advance to the semifinals, so he stands up and hits his five card 20 and catches an ACE for 21 (damm it again) surely my luck can't be this bad. Now if I push with the dealer I go to 3rd, just out of the money again. I stand on my 20 in stead of splitting and was rewarded by the dealer who showed an 8 in the hole. I ended up winning the table and #1 (the leader) came in 2nd by $1,900 over #7. #1 was lucky #7 couldn't double or he would have been bumped to 3rd. At the Stardust (I was just a witness to this) a friend of mine was last to bet on the final hand in the semifinals he bet the table max. $300 only down by $125 (only one advances) he needed a DD, split, BJ, or swing. Well he saw the leaders hand, two pictures and then looked at his hand, BLACKJACK he did it he thought he had won and going to the finals. WRONG! He looked at his cards to early, exposing his cards the leader knew he had to do something so he split his two face cards making 19 on both of them vs. the dealers up card 8. Now my friend had to decide on if he should DD or takes the Blackjack. If they both won their hands my friend was still beat so he just took the BJ and hoped for the best. It wasn't to be as the dealer flipped over a King for 18. Sick, my friend asked me why would the leader split a 20 on the last hand and I had to explain to him that he cost himself by checking his cards to early. On a down game you should always wait until after everyone has played prior to your hand before checking your cards just for this type of situation. My friend cost himself min. $1,000 to $30,000 in the finals by exposing his cards.
Guard those cards! Arghh. Get a blackjack on the last hand, and due to carelessness, cost yourself the round. That's a tough one. I'm generally very protective of my cards when they're dealt face down, and I normally don't even look at them myself until it's my turn to play. An exception is when the tournament has strict rules about how much time you can take making a decision. In those cases, I look immediately, so I'll have extra time to think. This is one time it's worth having the dealer fuss at you for touching the cards with two hands. Like a poker player, I use one hand to shield the view while using the other hand to bend the cards enough to peek. Even if you're seated on the end of the table where your opponents can't see, a reaction from the crowd standing behind the table is enough to key your opponents in when you reveal a blackjack.
I agree 100% Ken The Stardust is the tournament that is dealt down where I never look at my cards until it is my turn. This is the only tournament (I know) where you can bluff on the last hand. The dealers know this and I even point it out to them before we start. Only once was there a problem, when I flipped my cards to see my hand the dealer (one of the best) hit me before I could say anything she told the floor person that I hadn't signaled for a hit and it was her mistake. After looking at my hand I had a hard 19 so they're was no question I wasn't hitting against the dealers 7. None of the other players had a problem with the card getting burned either. Normally the Stardust is an initational tournament, but they will be hosting an OPEN tournament in May in between the LV Hiltons Finals and the MD-III first round qualifier. The special Sunday/Monday tournament will be the 15-17th, 2004. Limited to the first 312 players, call Marylee at 1-888-633-2121 to sign-up.
Weird reading this thread because one of my vegas DoubleDowners emailed me about what seems to be this exact scenario since she knows I've played in Stardust tournaments. Absolutely right to never even look at your hands in a dealt down game until your turn is up!! Even in a timed event you should know what plays you need to do BEFORE looking at your hand, which minimializes how long it takes you to react accordingly once you see your hand.
