First off, I'm completely new to the tournament blackjack scene, but a casino that I frequent has just recently announced an upcoming tournament that I'm thinking about entering. Something struck me as strange though when I tried to enquire about the details. They refused to let me leave the casino (or even the room) w/a printout of the tournament rules and format. Posters were up at various points around the casino but they were vague about the particulars so I asked in the players club and was shown a 3 page write up of all the particulars but told I could only look it over right there at the counter. They said they couldn't even make a copy for me, which they apparently didn't need to do anyway since another couple walked up right after me asking about it and was given another copy (with the same stipulations). I even got a pit boss involved to see if he could help me out, but after talking with them for several minutes he told me that for some reason they were only giving the official rules to players that had already registered for the event. Is that normal? Has enbody else encountered this before? It seems strange to me; not really letting people take the time to see exactly what they're getting into until they put their money down - since there's always somebody waiting in line behind you. I have a lot of learning to do about tournament play and a lot of questions but limited time online right now. One thing I was wondering: are the tables usually hand shuffled or do they use machines, esp. csm's? I imagine this varies from one place to another but I'm just curious.
blachsheep a reputable "casino" should have NO problem letting you have and studying it's rules for a tournament. In the rule sheet you'll find all the necessary parameters for planning your game, or to raise questions if an occasion presents itself. Otherwise it's a high money, favored high roller, event, skewed to reward aforementioned high roller. Even if it's a high roller reward event, you should still be entitled to know, in writing, the basic format of the tournament. Otherwise, unless it's a nickel entry, you might as well walk away, because you can BET the rules will always go against you.
They will give you a copy of the rules to take home, but only after you put your money down. 'Till then, you can only view them at the player's club counter w/a bunch of impatient people standing behind you. Still pretty shady to me. It's a $100 buy in event, which unfortunately it looks like I'll have to pass on anyway.
