And if they were betting small, he'd bet big to try to get ahead. If the other players were betting big, he'd bet small. In Kevin Blackwood's book Play Blackjack Like the Pro's, Blackwood explains that one of the strategies Ken Smith used to do so well in so many blackjack tournaments was to bet the opposite of what the other players bet.

You don't want to bet big and lose and give someone else a chance to catch up with you. It's okay to relax and play more conservatively when you're way ahead of everyone else. Bet big and catch up fast should be your goal if you're behind. When you're losing is the time to start going for a big change in direction. When you're behind, go for the big swing. You don't win anything if you don't make it to the next round of the tourney, so it's better to go broke trying to get there than to play conservatively with no hope of moving forward. Some of the best advice about playing in any casino tournaments can be found in Stanford Wong's Casino Tournament Strategy. To win in blackjack tournaments, you want to play aggressively and competitively. Most blackjack tournament entry fees make up the prize money for the tournament, and any money that the casino adds to the prize pool becomes positive expectation for the players in the tournament. Overlay and Positive ExpectationĪnother important difference between tournament blackjack and regular blackjack is the overlay, which simply means a positive expectation situation. So the chip stacks of the other players has a major effect on your tournament strategy. In a normal, casino-style game of blackjack, how the other players do compared to you has no relevance in a blackjack tournament, it's the only thing that does have relevance.

The first difference between blackjack tournaments and regular blackjack play is that a tournament involved beating the other players. With the rise in popularity of shows like Celebrity Blackjack, the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, The World Series of Blackjack and King of Vegas, I'm predicting that blackjack tournaments are going to become more popular, and there will be a demand for the tournament strategies and tips offered on these pages. US Players and Credit Card, BitCoin Deposits Accepted! Blackjack Tournaments - Strategy Articles Blackjack Tournament Strategy and Blackjack Tournament Tipsīlackjack tournaments require different strategies than regular table blackjack.

How to win blackjack tournament