Episode 1 Season IV Round 1: Winner George Mandilaras - from Atlantic City Hilton 2nd place: Phil Dunaway - from Super Satellites (I believe) 3rd place: Tiffany Michelle - Was this the table celebrity? Last years winner: Dr. Jeff - bombs out BEFORE the first knockout card! OUCH So what did people think?
New worst play award I think the lady who surrendered her hand on the knockout round wins the award for the worst play on TV. I don't think it made any sense, but I haven't rewatched it to see if there was any logic to surrendering or not. The cut aways for commercials was better this year at keeping you in suspense. I think they also failed to emphasize how taking the low would have been beneficial on the last hand, but that was probably due to knowing already that the dealer was going to bust when they did the voice over.
Congratulations Luxor For those that are not aware, Phil who came in 2nd place last night is Luxor on this site. He is a hell of a nice guy and I was happy he advanced, even though he kicked my butt in the $2,500 qualifier at the LV Hilton that got him his seat for the WSOB. Congratulations my friend. Now on with the show, I am glad Matt is back as the announcer. Matt is far better than what we had last year, (sorry I'm not trying to slam anyone, but its true.) Matt is just a lot better annoucer, however I did miss not having an experenced Play-by-Play man next to him in the booth. I think that adds to the show and help the newer players understand what is going on or happening and the reasons why certain bets and plays are made. Over all I enjoyed the show, I liked several things about it, and a few not so much. I am waiting to see a few more shows before making up my mind if I like it as much as in past years. So far I put it in the in the upper half of WSOB shows I've seen. Being there live for most of the matches, I can tell you there are a few late hand surprizes, so if you watch stay until the end, you may just be surprized which two players end up advance from the tables, on several of the shows...LOL
Yeah, Christiane's KO play was met with loud groans from the green room crowd. Ouch, that was painful to watch again. I found last night's show more enjoyable than last year's version. I'm glad to see Matt V back in the booth. He had some entertaining lines packed in there, though I'm now afraid of what he'll have to say about me in my episode! Hey fgk42, I see you managed a cameo appearance. Nice! In the intro, you're seen playing at a table at the Hilton Super-Satellites. I saw deltaduke in there as well, standing behind a table. Slow-Mo on a DVR helps for those sequences. Bottom line, kudos to KBelinkoff and the whole crew at GSN! Nicely done. The show looked great. I'm looking forward to the rest. I will probably post some details about key hands from each episode. Give me a while to catch up first. There's some Play by Play work awaiting. (OK Barney? )
What did I think? I think that I need to try and understand why a seasoned player like Chistiane (I think she is seasoned anyway) would play her hands the way she did. As much as I have been reading on TBJ's strategy and such, I don't recognize her decision making on several hands she played in anything I have read. Have I missed something? For instance, why would someone surrender when positioned small stack on the last hand? Was there mathematics involved any where in that decision? I don't have TIVO and I didn't record it so I can't go back and take a look. I am trying to cram as much strategy information in my wee brain as possible before my tournament this Sunday. Gonna hit the bookstore later today. I retain information best when cramming (did better in college that way)..lol.
Thumbs up for Mikki... I forgot to give a thumbs up to Ms. Mikki Sullivan for her high five with the King at the start of the show...LOL We were all laughing so hard during those Burger King commersials I'm surprized they could use any of those shots...LOL
Final hand play I am curious if anyone else thought Tiffany should have played her power chip differently on the final hand. Since it was obvious she was going to DD (which I don't think was her best bet or play), would she have been better off DD and looking at the card with the option to discard instead of using the chip to replace the seven? As it turns out, it would not have made a difference with the cards that came out, but mathematically I wonder which was the better option? Actually, I think if she had stood on her first 17 the dealer would have made hand and she would have advanced wouldn't she? I don't remember what the George's DD card was, but I think it was small and he would have lost had the dealer not busted.
Dianna, No, Christianne's plays didn't make much sense. One of the aspects of tournament blackjack is that on any given day, anyone at the table can win. Christianne won her seat on WSOB by winning an event at Tucson's Casino Del Sol. She didn't have much actual tournament experience though, and it showed in her decisions. I'll point out again though that playing under the lights and camera is different. For some people, it's quite stressful. Pat, Yes, I agree that Tiffany played the last hand badly. Power-chipping away the 7 from her 17 was probably the third-best way to use her power chip. I'll get the actual hand posted for further discussion when I get a chance.
Power Chipping Hey Ken, While you're at it - how about Dr. Jeff's use of his powerchip? He had a 13 versus a dealer 10 with a max bet. He chose to use the power chip, get rid of the 3 and received a 8 for a 18 versus a 10 and still lost. In that case I agree that he needed to make a hand but wouldn't it have been better to just hit first, then if you bust use the power chip to change out the bust card? Or couldn't you use the power chip that way?
Yes, you can use the power chip to get rid of a card that busted you. And you're right, using the power chip to get rid of the 3 was a bad play. If he hit there instead, he could still power chip if he busted. As it turns out, the next card was an 8, so he would have had 21 AND still had his power chip for a future hand.
Hold that thought. IF the second season of UBT ever gets broadcast, you may want to rethink your vote. :laugh: Ken's sure got that right. For me, it was the amazing twists in the passage of time. While sitting there waiting for cameras and etc. to be adjusted, the clock moved very slowly. But when it was time to deduce a difficult and complicated bet, the clock flew by at warp speed!
WSOB episode 1 Hey Gang, I talked to Christiane after the session & she told me that she was confused & didn't realize that since the knockout card had come out that the next hand would eliminate the low chip person.She admitted she should have known this,just a mental error.
Phil, congrats on your second place finish, keeping you alive in the hunt. That last hand blackjack was timely, but George's luck never wavered.
I'll jump in...as long as the conversation stays civil and constructively critical. You will see a real evolution in terms of Power Chip play. It's something that isn't part of any other tournament and you'll see many players use it with the "assume a 10" theory. As you've correctly pointed out, that's not the optimum way to handle it. But even the brief discourse you've shared here is more analysis than really has been done on the correct use of the Power Chip. As the tournament progresses watch what an powerful tool it can be...and how using it improperly can be a big mistake. As for surrendering, what I've seen over the last 2 years as we've opened the World Series to the general public is that many players don't play at tables where surrendering is an option...and once they discover it they use it far too frequently in a tournament setting. Another instance where a more skilled player has an advantage. Glad you enjoyed last night's premiere. I'm pleased to report that ratings were strong...keep watching!
I enjoyed having Matt back as well. I also wanted to echo what ptay said about the commercial cutaways being done better this time around. P.S.: Great final hand, even with the somewhat questionable Power Chip play. Very interesting episode, overall.
I watched episode 1 again - this time with a critical eye. Positive comments: 1. Great quality production 2. Commercial breaks - while I dislike commercials the time was well placed - you've got the cliff hanger aspect going 3. Players - Unlike some of the episodes I saw last year (I didn't see season 1 or 2 or most of 3 due to cable company) I like the interaction between Phil, Jeff and Tiffany. Phil you know how to work the crowd! Tiffany the "squeals" were actually very cute. The first time around I just groaned (oh my...) the second time around it actually worked. 4. Final hand - action packed and suspenseful 5. Commentary - I liked it, even the off the cuff incidental comments (you're right Tiffany she doesn't like you (reference to the cards Tiff got)). On the second KO hand mentioning that the surrender tactic would mean that the dealer needed a 21 for the player to advance, a 6% shot - it was good to hear someone who knew the game. Negatives: 1. It's already been mentioned about the surrender on the KO hand. I was yelling at the TV DD and go for it. Now on the next hand the first card out of the shoe was an 8 - which would have given the player a 20 and a win sending Phil packing. 2. The winner, George the Greek, hitting a 17 and pulling a 21 on the second hand was brutal to watch. Then his hitting a 14 vs the dealer 2 and busting was gut retching. 3. Betting amounts - what were they thinking? No rhyme or reason to some of these bets - at least my feeble mind couldn't think about it. 4. When Phil used his Power chip to switch out his 6 I didn't realize it but had Phil NOT switched i.e., burned that 6 the dealer would have gotten player 1's 5 and made a 20 instead of busting. It's funny how that one little thing would have totally changed the match and the commentator didn't mention it. Overall I was impressed with the play of Phil. Tiffany was a luck magnet but it worked and she looked at ease. Dr. Phil - sad to see him leave so soon. Players 1 & 3 (George and Christianne) just never looked comfortable and I really wanted to see Phil win - but he'll be in the wild card match. Overall I give this episode a thumbs up B+ I look forward to seeing the upcoming episodes.
first episode I watched it twice now - Phil was easily the best player - by far - but I thought some of his betting seemed a little off - not large enough to be agressive and go after the leaders , but not small enough to be an effective counter bet - he seemed to want to coordinate with Tiffany for some reason, when she was ahead of him - and to stay in the middle or next to lowest in chip count - but - there are a lot of hands we didn't see - and he obviously knew how to play - so can't critique too much- with the knock out cards - this played like an online Bet21 game - so maybe his strategy was just to try to stick around through the knockout hands - other players - simply were not strong players - especially Christiane and Tiffany - both very weak in both play and betting - positively weird in spots - Tiffany is supposedly a 'professional' card player? - the GSN website says she is a poker pro? actually thought Dr. Jeff was probably the second best player at the table - good production values - waiting to see the good players do their thing
Tiffany Tiffany is a friend of mine and, while I admit she played rather poorly, she is getting a lot better. This was one of her first blackjack tourneys...she's mainly a poker player. Hollywood has taught her a lot recently and I've given her a few pointers as well. I'm sure the next time you see her you'll see quite a bit of improvement.
Including that doubling down on a 9 versus a dealer 9 showing Hey it worked for her. She put out the bets when she needed to and she's easy on the eyes. The banter between Tiffany and Phil made it very watchable. So Ace did you coach Tiffany on the splitting snowmen? :laugh:
