Final Table - Blackjack Tournament at the Royal Oasis in the Bahamas. The rules are : S17, DAS, 6 decks with about 1 deck cutoff, no surrender, no double on blackjack and no doubling for less. 30 Hands. $2,000 in funny money. Bet from $5.00 to $2,000. The players were : Adrian, John, Blossom, Harold, Kathy and Tahoewolf. Prize structure : $12,000 $3,000 $2,000 $1,500 $1,000 and $500. Money count after hand 25. Any player can request a count on any hand after that. Blossom requested a count after every hand. Strange rule here is that you can bring a pencil and paper and keep a running tally of everybody’s money. Bankrolls after hand 25 ( Button * ) : Seat 1 - John - $2,050 Seat 2 - Adrian - $2,165 Seat 3 - Kathy - $2,165 Seat 4 - Blossom - $2,380 Seat 5 - Harold - $2,105 Seat 6 - Tahoewolf - $2,385 * A lot of maneuvering from hand 26 through 29 without much happening, except for Kathy who made her move and lost every hand. BR1 kept changing. Bankrolls after hand 29 with the correct betting order. Blossom is on the button. Seat 1 - John - $3,000 Seat 2 - Adrian - $2,045 Seat 3 - Kathy - $35 Seat 4 - Blossom - $2,630 * Seat 5 - Harold - $2,110 Seat 6 - Tahoewolf - $2,985 Blossom put out $500 and gets a pair of Aces. Harold bets $160 and gets T 4. I bet $850 to keep one more chip than Blossom since I expect John to match my bet whatever I do. I get A 6. John only bets $300 and gets T 5. Adrian bets $1,020 and gets 9 2. Kathy bets $5. Dealer has a Face Card showing. Blossom splits the Aces and gets them both painted. Harold busts. I’m looking at Adrian’s 9 2 double for a possible $4,085. I decide to go for the win and double. The Blackjack Gods were smiling on me that day as I pulled a 4 for 21 ! John busts. Adrian gets a Ten on his double. The dealer has a Face in the hole. It’s over and I’ve won my first tournament ! Adrian ends up in 2nd and Blossom is 3rd. And that wasn’t my only lucky event in this tournament. In the quarter finals, I miscalculated my bet on the last hand and ended in a tie. We had a 5 card playoff with me betting first ( and of course first on the last hand ). My opponent and I had different results – I kept busting, he kept winning. By hand 5, he has $700 and I have $325. My only chance was a natural and I bet it all. He should have bet $15 to cover that possibility, but no more than $45. But, he bets $100! I get a pair of faces against a dealer 6 and he stands on a pair of 6’s ! Dealer gets 17 and I’m in the semi finals. I utilized every tool prior to this trip: Wong’s book, tapes from GSN, Casino Verite and this Forum. Everything has been a great help. Now on to the Stardust ! Any of you M’s planning on the AG at the Paris over the the 4th of July?
Congrats Tahoewolf! In the quarterfinals, the chip leader would have had to bet $115 to cover your natural, however that opens the door for you to swing him as you did. I think I agree with you, the better bet is to bet $45 and have over 95% chance of advance. What is AG at Paris?
Thanks johng. And you're right. When I posted the $15 amount, I calculated it on $800, not the $700 he actually had. $45 or less was the only bet he should have made. As for the AG, it's what us "smart-a**" Mensans call our Annual Gathering. Every year it's somewhere else. This year it's at the Paris in Las Vegas. My Mom always used to ask me "If you're so smart, why aren't you rich?" I guess $12,000 is a start.
