The Ultimate Blackjack Tour
There is probably not one person even remotely interested in card games who has not heard of the World Series of Poker or the World Poker Tour. These two highly followed gambling shows have propelled poker into the limelight all over the world. Yet it is not only poker which can be that famous because of televised tournaments. In September 16 of this year, the Ultimate Blackjack Tour debuted at CBS. Since then, each episode has been highly anticipated by blackjack enthusiasts.
What makes the Ultimate Blackjack Tour more exciting? The proponents of this show have come up with a unique format that brings the excitement to the earlier rounds of the game. Not only does a player have to play against the dealer, he is also set up against the other players. Each player has a total of 30 rounds to prove himself worthy of the Ultimate Blackjack Tour. A player is booted out at the 8th, 16th, and 25th hand.
For those who are not really familiar with the Ultimate Blackjack Tour yet, let’s cover the basic rules. There are 7 main points that will sum the rules up.
• For the preliminary rounds: the maximum bet is $25,000 and the minimum bet is $500. Each player starts with the maximum bet amount in chips as well.
• For the final table: the minimum bet is doubled - $1,000 – while the maximum bet is quadrupled - $100,000. As with the preliminary rounds, the players at the final table also start with the maximum bet amount in chips.
• The game starts on the button and progresses clockwise at each hand.
• Players each have 25 seconds to make their move. At the 10 second mark, the timer will start to count down. However, players have more time (45 seconds) to think of their move for Elimination Hands.
• Elimination Hands are the previously mentioned hands, wherein the player with the least amount of chips in his stack would be booted off the game. Again, these hands are the 8th, 16th, and 25th.
• As an added feature, each player is given a Secret Bet. Each player can use this at any time he wishes during the round.
• The end of the game is reached after 30 hands. Of course, the player with the most number of chips in his stack wins.
At present, the Ultimate Blackjack Tour is on Episode 5. Well to be exact, Episode 5 will be showing on the 4th of November at 2:00 PM EST at CBS. The first four episodes each had different winners, with the pilot show having an all star cast. Some of the biggest names in blackjack were the players in that episode – Ken Smith, Michael Castellana, and Chuck Gorsen to name a few. Ken Smith ended up being the winner. If you call yourself a blackjack enthusiast and you haven’t seen a single episode yet, then it is high time that you did! Otherwise, you are missing out on a lot.
Technorati Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack News, Blackjack Tournaments, Blackjack TV Show, Ultimate Blackjack Tour, CBS, Ken Smith, Michael Castellana, Chuck Gorsen
Written by The Blackjack Advisor on October 26th, 2006 with
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