My local casino has begun weekly tournaments with an unusual format. There are 10 sessions during the day, starting on the hour. The buy-in for each session is $55. At the end of the day, the person with the highest total from all 10 sessions is the winner of $750. Second is $325, third is $150, and 4th-7th pays $75. My question is, does anyone see any strategy that might be effective here? It seems to me since you are not really playing against the other people at your table, but against unknowns from other times, the luck factor is intensified. Betting big and getting a lucky run would seem like the only way to win.
Pretty much Yep! That is pretty much the way to play it. $55 is steep entry for this type of event, but if they can get it more power to them. I normally see this format anywhere from $10 - $20 range. When ever I have play in one of these events (normally at the Stardust on Tuesdays, $20 entry) I start with the max and just keep slamming the bets and hope I get luck early. If you should catch some Blackjacks and or DD's in the first few hands then you can back off. It is better then trying to force it at the your bets at the end. I like to just wait till the end and see what has to be beat and then just go for it do or die.
Casino Niagara also has a weekly tournament in that format. The entry fee is $20 and first prize is $1000. I play in it nearly every week and luck is pretty much the only way to win it. The winning scores at the end of the night are usually in the $6000 - $7000 range from a starting bankroll of $2000. I've won the tourney once and it was just by pushing out max bets and getting lucky.
I was at niagara once during a blackjack tournament, but figured it was a scam such as a roulette tournament. I"ve been changing my views on it though. Next time Niagara has another one I'd like to watch and observe next time. I'm curious as to what day of the week these mini-touranments are held?
