Blackjack vs. Tournament Blackjack

If you think that playing in a blackjack tournament is no different than playing blackjack on any night of the week at a casino, you would be wrong. Tournament blackjack has some other considerations for one reason: you are playing to beat the other players.

I know, that sounds like it goes against all things blackjack, against the core concept of blackjack. And I can see how you would think that. Blackjack is the casino game in which you are playing one on one against the dealer; you could not give a fig about the other players because what they do has no impact on you and your game. You always hope that the dealer loses since you profit from beating him.

In tournament blackjack you are playing against the other players for a shot at the grand prize. Yes, there is a dealer and yes, you have to beat him in order to win chips. But at the end of the tournament it is the player with the most chips who wins even if you won more individual hands than he did.

That is the core point behind tournament blackjack: you have to beat the dealer to wind up with more chips than everyone else in the tournament. It is here that how the other players play out their hands and how they wager becomes important, so you had better give a fig.

Strategy for tournament blackjack will vary from some from the strategy you use in ordinary blackjack. This is because an increased skill level is necessary for you to beat both the dealer and the other players in the tournament. Tomorrow we will look a little more closely at some basic strategy points for tournament blackjack.

Blackjack Tournament No-Nos: Over Betting

While there is a certain amount of luck involved in tournament play, it is not the sole deciding factor in a blackjack tournament. Blackjack tournaments are won on skill, and lost because of poor playing. One such poor way of playing is to over bet when you are in the lead by a good chunk.

What is a good chunk of a lead in a blackjack tournament? Well, let

Cake Takes on Online Blackjack Tournaments

I found where 21 Gnet went. Back in May 21 Gnet and Rushmore Casino ended their partnership in regards to blackjack tournaments. This resulted in Rushmore ceasing to offer blackjack tournaments and picking up slots tournaments instead.

But 21 Gnet is not the sort of company that just fades away. And it is true that they have not.

It appears that 21 Gnet has made a partnership with the Cake Network, who is known for primarily dealing with poker. I say primarily because they do offer blackjack, but mostly just as a back burner sort of offering. It is there is you want it.

And 21 Gnet is definitely excited about the partnership. Chief Executive Officer Shane O

Low Cost Blackjack Tournaments

While the world of online casinos is rife with online slots tournaments, there are also online blackjack tournaments as well. It is possible to find tournaments with larger entry fees aimed at players who are serious players.

But what about players who still working on their online blackjack playing skills and who think they are ready to try a tournament

Microgaming Creates New Online Blackjack Tournaments

Microgaming is known as one of the industry leaders when it comes to online gaming software. They are constantly creating new games and revamping their older games to improve them.

To be honest there is not a lot that can be done to online blackjack games. The game itself does not change. It is not like a slots game that allows for the same type of game to be repackaged in a new colorful package. Online blackjack is online blackjack.

But that does not stop Microgaming from working with this game to give it something new to entire old and new players alike. This time Microgaming has revamped their online blackjack tournaments. There are now four types of online blackjack tournaments for players to play in at Microgaming powered online casinos:

One-Shot:
The name says it all on this one. Players must play their best as they have only one chance to get the highest score. There are no add-ons or rebuys for this tournament either. It is literally a one shot chance to get the highest score and win.

Extender:
This type of online blackjack tournament will allow players add-ons and rebuys as the point is to play again and again to build their scores. As always, the highest score wins. These tournaments will have long time periods to play out to encourage players to play more and more.

Reloader:
This one is a sort of combination of one-shot and extender. Players have one shot to get as high a score as they can, and there are no add-ons or rebuys. But if a player is not satisfied with their score they can play again starting their score over at 0 to try for a higher score.

Survivor:
This is an elimination type of tournament. At the end of each round a number of the players are eliminated from the tournament. This happens at the end of each round until the last round in which the player with the highest score ends.

When Microgaming makes changes to their games, be it new games or revamping an older game, they usually hit their mark and delight players at Microgaming powered online casinos. The new online blackjack tournaments are sure to be a hit.

Online Blackjack vs. the World Cup

Seems like the entire world stage is being devoted to the World Cup. This is especially true in the world of online gambling, where so much news is being taken up by the FIFA World Cup. So it is more World Cup news than online casino news.

However the world of online blackjack will go on. And that is one of the things that I like about online blackjack. It never seems to really change. Sure variations and side bets will pop up and then eventually be replaced by other variations but the core of the game will always be there.

It is one aspect of online blackjack that players like: the game never changes. A hit is always one more card and stiff hands will always make you groan. But it is a constant in the world of casino games.

The good news for players this means that strategy never really changes. And that allows us to practice, practice, practice. The better we are the better our blackjack skills are and the better our shot at winning becomes.

If blackjack changes less and less then online blackjack changes even less. House rules can and do change from time to time but this does not happen in online blackjack. This allows players to become even better acquainted with the game and their strategy, zeroing in on strategy, such as basic strategy, that really gives them a very good shot at lowering the house edge.

So while the world is absorbed in the World Cup frenzy players have the comfort and calm of online blackjack.

And by the way, with people more focused on the World Cup they are in front of their computer less which causes participation in tournaments to drop somewhat. So now is also a good time to check out some online blackjack tournaments.

And go, Spain!

Blackjack Tournament Tips

Most of the time blackjack players are just fine playing against the dealer. They do not have to worry about what any other blackjack players at the table are doing. They can play out their rounds of blackjack only focusing on their strategy and what the dealer is doing.

But from time to time we like to increase the thrill of our blackjack games. And to do that we usually find ourselves a blackjack tournament. In a blackjack tournament we have to take what the other players at the table are doing, most particularly what they are betting.

And that brings me to my first blackjack tournament tip.

If you are trying to catch up to the table leader you are obviously going to have to increase the amount of your wager. But how? Do you increase it by a large amount in one or two rounds? Or do you increase by a moderate amount over several hands?

The thing to keep in mind is that, while blackjack players are used to not paying attention overly much to each other in a normal game, they are watching each other like hawks in a tournament game. Only the player with the largest bankroll will go on to the next round. Tournament games are highly competitive.

So considering how competitive blackjack tournament games are your best bet, no pun intended, is to do a couple of large increases over one or two rounds to try catching up to the table leader. Betting moderate amounts may not allow you to catch up to him, especially if he is betting higher than you to try to keep his lead.

Blackjack tournaments are sometimes played to a certain number of rounds. Do not waste rounds trying to catch up with moderately increased bets. You are more than likely not going to catch up, much less overtake him.

Blackjack is a gambling game. There is risk involved in a regular game, but in a tournament there is a feeling of even more risk