I apologize if this is posted in the wrong section but it seems that everyone is talking about the same UB-Bet21 problems or events but there are a lot of other sites out there and like blackjack21.com new ones are poping up all the time. Sure most of them don't have the players or might be even worse but has anybody had any experience with alternatives? E.G. I was thinking about joining HIT21.com but it looks like it might be a waste of time. Has anyone played there?
There are other sites out there besides UB/Bet21? Oh yeah there’s Club UBT! But seriously for US players the pickings are slim. Sure there’s blackjack21.com, which I personally like but they (Blackjack21) have some problems. There connections are slow at times due to some reasons beyond their control. In addition their tournaments take “forever” as compared to the above aforementioned sites. However the biggest drawback of that site is the lack of players. THAT is their biggest downfall. Now having said that I noticed over 20 players for their Friday night $50 tourney giving them a $1000 tourney. How they managed that many players is beyond me but I take it as a good sign. With regard to Hit21 I wouldn’t be surprised to see it go the way of Get21 or Golden Palace. Heck Blackjack.com came and posted here last week about their BJT. I went, registered, played in one, liked it and when I went to play the following day – POOF out of business. So you see the pickings ARE slim – that’s why some of us, namely hard heads like me, put up with the “crap” because it really is the “only” game in town.
Looks like there may have been a recruitment drive on one or more of the other sites that feed players into these games. I was puzzled why so many were registering and then not even turning up. Seems they may have got free entry as a promotion. Yesterday, I played a 1st-round table that was 3-advance-from-5, and I was the only one there! What's more, the two non-existent players advancing with me arrived at the same 2nd-round table as me, making it 3-from-4, instead of 3-from-6.
Same Again Just finished first round. 45 players registered. Looks like no more than half are actually playing.
Also since I've been looking around I've noticed that ALOT of these new sites have sister or identicle sites that they 1.) Don't acknowledge or link to 2.) have either identicle skin designs or the exact same tournament schedule, complete with names and entry fees. What's the story? Is is like UB/BET21 where they are administrated as a single entity with shared players? I am specifically thinking of blackjack21 and SportsBet.com... is it just a piece of software that they license and didn't bother to customize? Or are they the same company with pooled prizes? That would be something...
At the foot of the blackjack21.com web page you'll find a link that says something like 'Powered by 21gnet'. This takes you to the site of the software originators. There you'll find links to several 'partners', blackjack21.com among them. I believe they all offer the exact same player pool and tournaments. Apart from various accumulation-format tournaments (which seems to be what hit21.com is offering), the only distinct options I'm aware of are - UBT (UltimateBet/Bet21 and Play/ClubUBT) Blackjack21.com (and the various other sites offering the same game) Blackjack.com (don't know if it has any other 'skins') GameAccount/WillHill (sadly, U.S. Players not allowed.) Are there any others?