The local Indian Casino began a Sunday Blackjack tournament recently. Entry is by drawing, and anyone who hits a suited blackjack during the week is entered into the drawing. If your name is drawn, you are in the tournament, no entry fee! Each round only has 7 hands, which makes it difficult to really begin working any of the basic money management strategies I have read about at this site. The dealer button rotates, but you may only be last to bet once! Does anyone have any suggestions on how to play under these conditions? I placed fourth in my first tournament, but was lucky enough to hit a blackjack in the first round with a large bet, and extremely lucky to have the dealer hit a blackjack in the second round when I was the only player with a small bet.
7 hands sounds like you hit the nail on the head.....get lucky with only 7 hands, you should bet with them when ahead and against them when behind... you didn't give us much to go with ...like bankroll, max bet, # advancing, # at the table...but that may help...good luck
You're right, I left too much out. The bankroll is 100, with a minimum of 1 and maximum of 100. In the first round there were only 4 at my table, but I think a few entries did not show up. Only one advanced. In the final, same rules, except 7 at the table and 200 bankroll.
Few more questions Techster where is the casino? What is the prize money? What is the entry fee? How often can you re-buy? Is it the top seven high scores from all day qualifying that advance to the finals? Do they hit soft 17? Can you surrender? Can you DD after any first two cards? Can you DD after a split? Fill us in on this information and we'll let you know the best way to play them.
Thanks, TXTourPlayer, and everyone else for the help. Here are the answers to your qusetions. It is the Cherokee Casino, in Roland OK. Prize money is $12,000 ($5000 for first, down to $250 for 7th). No entry fee. Sounds too good to be true, right? Here's the rub. Entry is by random drawing every week. To get your name in the drawing, you must hit a suited blackjack playing at casino table the previous week. As many of you know, OK casinos require a 50 cent ante for each hand, so their regular play is not very winnable. I usually wait until they have a special free play offer (sometimes as much as $15), then I go play using their money for my ante. No rebuy. Only the winner of each table from the preliminary rounds advance. In the semifinal, table winners and a few high second places advance to the final table of seven players. Dealer hits soft 17 No surrender DD after any two cards is allowed DD after split is allowed. That's it. Again, thanks for the advice.
Home town tournament It sounds like a locals tournament all the way. Which is not a bad thing if your a local...LOL. The entry varies based on how long you play and if you are winning or losing on the tables and how long before you get a suited BJ (if any). You also have to consider the $.50 ante per hand trying to get athe BJ. Next you have to hope you get your name drawn as one of the players. It could be an expensive entry fee in the long haul for a $5,000 first prize event. Lets said for arguement sake you hit a suited Bj on your first hand and your name is drawn, this is how I would play. If only the top seven get to play find out what the current top seven players are in at and bet according to what they have. If they have high totals you start off with max bets (why hold back). If their meduim I would stil start off high and try to coast in the last few hands. If all you have to beat is low totals you can take it easier. Don't play for 7th spot! If you just qualify then your the one with bulls eye on your forehead. your next to get bumped off the final table so always try to get as far up the list as possible. Take advantage of all splits and DD's that come your way. You want as much of your money in action as possible in this type of qualifier. Good luck.
