wow

I just played my first ebj tournament at clububt. It took me days to get up the nerve to jump in. There's so much info around about strategy, playing the game, but not much about the actual workings of tournament play geared towards someone who's never done it (i.e. what all the terms mean, how it's all set up at a table, etc.). I'm a blackjack player but have never played in a tournament, so I'm clueless. I would have loved to have "observed" a game, but couldn't figure out how to do that.

So I jumped in and hoped for the best (it was only a play chip one, after all). I was doing pretty well (holding my breath the whole time), but I finally got eliminated because for the 3rd or 4th time it was saying I "ran out of time." But I can't figure out why! It caused me to not be able to get my accurate bet in a couple of times, would just say ABSENT next to my name. I can't figure out if this was a disconnect from the server for moments at a time or I'm actually missing something important. Boy, I feel dumb.

I know many of you play on there, from what I've read here...does this happen a lot? Or is it me? I noticed many of the players were suddenly ABSENT on and off. And the interface is a little awkward for me. How to submit a bet seems to change - sometimes the button is there and you just click on it, BET, and sometimes it's not. I need a tournament tutor! I wanted to ask for HELP while I was in there, but not one word was spoken the whole time I was playing so I wasn't sure if I was allowed to speak at all and I surely didn't want to ruin a tournament by opening my mouth - I could have been banished forever.

Even though I was eliminated and now I'm more confused than ever, it was fun! Now if I can only figure out the "secret bet" thing...

Thanks for any newbie advice, all you brilliant bj players.

Be well...

 

First of all, welcome to the world of Tournament Blackjack!

I would suggest that you post your question over at the Las Vegas Advisor's forum on the Ultimate Blackjack Tour. There's folks posting at that site who are actually involved with UBT's management. Not that you won't get a lot - and I mean a lot - of help here!

http://forums.lasvegasadvisor.com/categories.cfm?catid=48

The first suggestion is how to help avoid getting timed out on a bet. When you've got a tournament table up on your screen, click on OPTIONS at the lower left. When that comes up, un-check Full Animation and then OK. It's amazing how much that'll speed up your graphics. If you're on a slower connection, you will lose some of your decision time while your computer catches up if you don't uncheck Full Animation. If you do get timed out, you will be marked absent and have to click the Sit In button. BTW, when you see other players flashing their "absent" on and off, they're just playing with the Sit In/Out button, ignore them.

I'll let others tackle your other questions.

 

If you are playing at the ClubUBT on the Blackjack page look near top and see the buttons for Sit and Go Tournaments. Its a red button on the right. One you open the SnG page you will see a couple games to choose from altho its slightly confusing the wording you see. Choose the game that says free roll. This will give you a chance to win 10 TPs and practice. I think thats what you need it to acclimate yourself with the clicking of game actions. Sometimes I dont even look I just click away while watching TV LOL.

 

hallelooya

In addition to all above advice. Delete your current clububt software and reinstall. As UBT, they're constantly updating software and when they do and it doesn't take on your end, you experience glitches.

If you can stand it, keep playing at free chips till you get the hang of the nuances. As for secret bet....type that into search here for some really expert advice. GL

 

comments

I haven't played ClubUBT - but if it is like UB - then you have Min Bet, Max Bet, and Split Bank Bet buttons - which will automatically give you the appropriate bet - or a 'slider' control - with which you can set your bet however you want - from minimum to the max - in 500 increments (or 1000 increments - for a final tournament table) - when you hit the BET button - you get whatever is on the 'slider' - take the advice to turn off full automation - and practice using the slider to set your bets - and watch the clock - it'll tick off the time remaining -

you should be able to set your bet in advance - as well - and cancel it before your turn - if you want - just by clicking again on the button - advice - don't set your bet before your turn - yu want max info as to other player's bets before you decide what to bet

 

I played a couple more tournaments after this one, and it didn't happen again, so I think it was a server error, or perhaps a computer issue on my end?

And thanks for the link to the other forum site. I've been reading a bunch - what a complicated game. Fun, but brutal! It's a kind of peripheral awareness that I'm not used to with blackjack. So different.

Thanks for the welcome, and have fun

 

timeouts

I experienced this problem when I had a dialup connection. Even a basic or mid-level DSL connection might cure the problem.

Enjoy the ride. Learning is the fun part!

 

I hope hallelooya reads your post, eight months after his/her last post.