Last night I was at our area casino for a tournament. Bet range is $5 - $300. 20 hands per round. Natural pays 2-1. We were on hand 19 with 3 in contention as follows BR1a* - $925 BR1b - $925 Me - $895 Everyone bet $300. BR1a was dealt a natural. BR1b was dealt an 11 and doubled picking up a 10. I was dealt K Q, which I split. Got a J on the first one and a Q on the second one. Dealer had an 8 with a 10 down for 18. So after hand 19, money was as follows BR1a - $1525 BR1b* - $1525 Me - $1495 On Hand 20 everyone bet $300 again. BR1b got a 10 and doubled picking up a 9 for 19. I had 13 but had to double and got a 10 to bust. BR1a had 9 9 but for some reason stayed on what they had. Dealer had a 7 this time with a 6 down and drew a 10 to bust, giving BR1a the victory. My question in on hand 19. If I would've had enough should I have split again and secondly, should I have taken a second split into account when I sized my bet, ie, should I have bet $295 instead of $300 so I could split a second time.
Not covered by Wong mrbill: Always enjoy your weekly (almost) adventures. You bring up an interesting question since betting $5 less would not have made a difference in the standings - win, loose, or draw. I don't remember Wong covering this in his book. Let's hope the experts have an answer - I too am interested in the answer.
What to do I only have a minute right now.....but.....you bet last on hand 19 ...take the low....from last place......back with more later
opinion mrbill, first of all let's see what would be the best choice for you in the last Hand. As you mentioned BR1b had already doubled his hand with total of 19 vs Dealer's 7. He is already ahead of you, so if he'll win his hand - no matter what you're out. That means we should consider that dealer will make 19 or better, so BR1b would push or lose. Considering at least Dealer's 19 we have to hit 'til 20, hoping to swing with BR1b. Now regarding next to the last hand: Since BR1a had already 21 on his DD, in order to overcome him you should’ve win 3 hands. You'd had a perfect opportunity to resplit your tens and then wait for dealer to bust (that means you should not bust). The only exception when you take the card is total of 12. Taking into consideration Resplit option, Bet of $295 looks much better.
Question? Mr. Bill I assume it was just a mistake, but on the question you are talking about BR1a and BR1b are tied going into the 20th hand. On hand 20 you said BR1b bet $300 had caught a 10 and DD (full $300), caught a 9 for 19, then you busted on a must DD, and BR1a with a $300 bet stood on two 9/9 for 18. My question is you said BR1a won the round, How? Shouldn't BR1b win the table with their DD? Now to you question, Had it been my play and being down by $30 to both players my bet would have been $265 hoping that either I swing them or we all lose. Either way I would take at least a $5 lead into the last hand. Now should we all win (or just one of them) I would only risk being down by $65 going into the last hand anyway, (not counting on a DD, split, or BJ). The $300 bet gave you the swing, DD, BJ, and 1 - split options. Yes $295 would have given you another split option, but it is really hard to play for three bets when your only down $30. I still think low was your best play with a $265 bet on hand 19. Don't beat yourself up over it, we all have those "What if moments". I could have won 100's of tournaments "IF".....LOL.
Yes, BR1b won the round, typo on my part. The toughest thing for me to remember is going for the low. All I remember thinking was I at least needed to double to get the lead, I didn't consider what I needed to do to get the lead if everyone lost. I also certainly didn't consider what I would've had to do if BR1a or BR1b doubled up for some reason. If I would've in this case, I would've been in the lead going into hand 20.
