I've not played TBJ online for a few months now. I won't bore you with the whys and wherefores but lets just say I'm ready to start playing again. I've not really been keeping up with the threads on the different TBJ sites so I'm not really sure what's what and where is best to play at the moment. There is still obviously a load of c**p flying around about bet21/ClubUBT but it seems that that's where I'm likely to get my best game. I still can't really see the appeal of ClubUBT, to a non-American audience at least, other than to play amongst friends (which is a good enough reason in many respects ) so Bet21 is probably +EV for me. I always wanted blackjack21.com to be a success but it never seems to have taken off, still too small a player pool. As for the others, I know GoldenPalace has closed since they sent me a cheque saying so, but what about Get21, is there still a game to be had over there? Appreciate any advice and look forward to taking your money off you in the future Cheers Reachy
Welcome Back Hi Reachy, Here's a summary of my current online TBJ experiences - ---------------------- blackjack21.com I signed up about four months ago and that's where I've mostly been playing. (Click on '2007' on the leaderboard section of the web page to see how many tables I've managed to play in that time - I need to get out more.) The player pool is large enough that scheduled events rarely get cancelled, even if the turnout may not be huge. In fact I quite like the fact that you often have six or seven players in a two-round format; it means two advance from three/four in the first round, followed by two get payed from a final table of four. Each day there is a lunchtime tournament, which is either 8:10 pm or 9:40 pm here. Then there is another at 2:40 am, if you can't sleep . Plus, on Wednesdays there is a freeroll at 1:40 am. I tend to log in at around 8 pm or later. Although there are rarely enough people around for frequent Sit&Gos, there is little problem getting a heads-up game. ---------------------- GameAccount I still frequent this place. They have a daily schedule of about two tournaments per hour that runs from 11:20 am to around midnight. Highlights in the schedule are - Daily:- 9:30 pm: £10 entry, £100 added 11:50 pm: freeroll, £20 Wednesdays:- 7:00 pm: freeroll, £150 7:30 pm: £10 entry, £1000 You need to keep an eye on the number of players in GA tourneys. The structure is often set up so that one or two extra players can make the difference between an overlay and an excessively large vig. (The entry fee is often split 50:50 between the prize pool and the house. ) ----------------------- ClubUBT/PlayUBT If you haven't already done so, there's still time to try and qualify for the Barona UBT tournament. You don't have to join ClubUBT; your PlayUBT account will still work. The online final takes place on 27th Oct; the winner gets a seat at the final table of the 'Tournament of Champions'. ------------------------ UltimateBet/Bet21 I haven't played much EBJ lately. In fact, I just used up the last $10 of my initial UltimateBet deposit, attempting to play poker! I'll probably have another run at it sometime though. ------------------------ blackjack.com Then there is the newly-arrived blackjack.com. I take it you didn't become a beta-tester in the end? I haven't tried this out yet. ------------------------- Get21 Both Get21 and GoldenPalace have permanently closed their virtual doors, I believe. ------------------------- And that is all I know. Good luck....
Looking forward to it... Thanks Colin Looks like I might be giving blackjack21 a visit later! Can I ask, why don't you play EBJ much anymore? Cheers Reachy
Well there are only so many hours in the day! I've been playing a bit obsessively at blackjack21, which inevitably leaves less time for other sites. And of course, I've been doing quite well at the traditional format, while losing my shirt at EBJ!
Theory I'm going to give BJ21 a go tonight at some time but it still looks like a small player pool. I wonder whether it because they don't offer cheaper than $10games? I'm sure a lot of the new players over at bet21 spent quite a bit of time in the $1 and $5 games until they felt comfortable and then moved up to the $10 and above. Maybe if blackjack21 introduced some lower entry fees they may get more custom. Just a thought... Cheers Reachy
The argument for ClubUBT at this point is for tournament experience and prizes at little risk. It's true that EV is probably greater in most cases on bet21.com, but you have to risk your own money. For example, on bet21.com, you may enter a $109 tournament with an EV of $10, but risk a loss of $109 most of the time. Instead, on clububt, you can play a tournament with an EV of $2, but at no risk. With ClubUBT for $155/year, you get a 1-year subscription to Las Vegas Advisor and a 1-year subscription to All In Magazine. You basically would have to win $13/month to break even. In addition, there are far more players and more tournaments on ClubUBT than on bet21.com. I still enjoy playing bet21 at night, but I am also enjoying ClubUBT (despite the fact that I can afford to lose money on bet21).
Tbj Good points Toonces. Just wondered have you ever thought about playing over at blackjack21.com? If not, why? Just curious really. Cheers Reachy PS. Where does your login name come from and how do you pronounce it? For some reason I've always been curious about it. I would pronounces it "too-on-sez" or "too-onces". Am I close?
It's pronounced TOON-siz. It's based on a Saturday Night Live sketch from around 1988, when I first had to come up with an online screen name. As for not being on blackjack21.com, I really prefer and do well at EBJ tournaments, and between bet21 and ClubUBt, there arent a lot of times I would want to play tourney BJ, but can't.
My farthling on the subject is this: What is your goal for playing? For entertainment value and practice - Club UBT For limited TBJT and if having slow running games is your cup of tea - blackjack21.com Given that you are on GMT the tourneys on Bet21.com are held at very inconvenient times for you. I've tried to play on blackjack21.com but when they offer a MTT it is usually at the same time as a MTT on Bet21.com. For $20 on each site the Bet21 has a guarentee pool of $1,000 versus the usual prize pool of $200-400 on blackjack21.com (10-20 players). The interesting thing is they BOTH take the same amount of time to play. One other thing: If you've got a limited BR and want to try out poker - then ClubUBT is probably your best "value"
But I've found it much, much easier to advance in MTTs at blackjack21, due I think to a combination of the tournament structure and the weakness of the opposition (with a few notable exceptions, mostly familiar names from this site.) Having said that, there are only two MTTs per day (and often it will only be possible to play one of them), so the bulk of my play has been in heads-up STTs. Now that's a scary roller-coaster ride along the track of the mathematicians' random walk with an upward drift! It's best to try to ignore the short-term fluctuations in your balance; a few times I've said to myself "hey look, I'm at an all-time high", followed an hour or two later by "hey look, I'm back where I was a couple of weeks ago". And then there's the issue of bonuses. One that's dear to your heart, I know! The current promotion just ended, but hopefully there'll be another one along at some point. To date, I've received $696.50 in bonus payments. There have been a couple of concerns - I had to chase up a response to my bonus-request emails once or twice. They added a clause to the terms and conditions, capping the play you could claim 'rakeback' for each month to 150 games, after the promotion got underway. (Possibly after they saw how much I was playing) They did, however, pay me in full for one month, and at the same time advised me they wouldn't be doing that again! - but compared to the Bet21 debacle, it's a different world.
