im new to blackjack counting and tourneys my first tourney is wed just a local place. Ive ordered wongs book but it wont get here for a couple of weeks so here is the question what are the basics of wongs betting and play startegy? help before the tourney would be appreciated greatly, ive also read blackjack by jerry patterson and all the resources between this site and blackjack info i know basic for my set of rules cold and can count the deck down in about twenty five secs or so. Desperate for knowledge
To count or not to count.... Actually David in tournament play counting can be a killer! Your playing short term in tournament play, 20 hands or so only. It is not like on the regular tables where you can lose on a high count and buy back in. That is why most players take it slower in the beginning and see how the cards are coming and more importantly how the other players are doing. Remember tournament play your playing against the other players not just the dealer. Hell as long as your the chip leader you don't care if the dealer beats you or not, (unless it is a "LIVE" money tournament).
Newbie Strategy Welcome David, Tx. is correct about counting. At first I would disregard that aspect of the game. You need to be able to count the other players' chips with accuracy, so if you have glasses, bring them. Bet small at first to see how the others are betting. If you're ahead bet like they bet, if you're behind bet opposite to them, (bet big if they bet small, bet small if they bet big). Basic strategy goes out the window near the end of the round. You do what you need to do based on the other players' chip stacks and cards. Go to Ken's other site http://www.blackjackinfo.com/blackjack-tournaments.php. Read the strategy tips, they are valuable tools to use in a tournament. Remember as much as you can about the final few hands and report back to us. Good luck
so what ive come up with for a strategy going into the tournament is this minum bet upto the mid point to see the bias of the deck and the betting habits of the players at the mid point assuming im still within a max bet of the leader continue to play small till the final ten, if im not within reach of one bet bet a max bet at the opportune time example after losing two or three in a row, and then minum bet till the end unless other players are also minimum betting the margin the bet, to me margining means theyre average bet plus a chip is this correct one thing im having a complete blank on is what if i am even at the final two hands on the second to last hand i have first bet and the last i have second bet what would be my best strategy here to go all in once?
Here we go Your first question about betting opposite and what you can gain. If your behind you have to try and gain on the player or players ahead of you and if they bet big you need to bet small and hope the dealers wins so you can pick up on them. If they bet small, than you have to go high. Now if you get real far behind you have to bet high even if they do and hope for a swing (where you win and they lose). Now for your second question, it really is based on where you are and the other players. Now on the last hand and your betting first with other players that can catch you or are already a head of you, you need to bet high.
so here it is my first tournament number of players 140 my finish 5 not to bad i figure i lost a hand at the final table half way through i was down bye two max bets and the leader was betting minimum so i waited till about the 14 hand of 21 handsthen placed a big bet two thirds of my chips one other player was down to 4 more hands with the way he was betting this bet left me with double what he had dealer droped a ten i got a three i ended up busting with 23 and dealer got twenty everyone lost and i just held on till the final hand where i bet max won and came in fifth fourth was still well ahead of me 2 max bets i guess sometimes your lucky sometimes your not
