Blackjack Tournament Introduction

Blackjack tournaments usually last several rounds of play where about 6 players compete against each other in a single round. After each round, only 1 or 2 players at a table advance to the next round. There are a set number of hands and players in each round. Each round starts with equal amount of chips and the player with the highest bankroll at the end advances to the next round. Rounds usually last about 15 to 30 hands where some tournaments use actual money chips and others, non-negotiable chips that have no cash value.

The tournament starts where each player receives one card from a standard deck of 52 cards.

The player who holds an Ace will start the hand. If no one received an Ace card then the player with the highest card will begin. A button is placed on the table in front of a player who is to be first base for that hand. From the first base, the button moves consecutively around the table with the passing hand.

This is the most important part of the tournament as betting and playing here rotates with the button. It is the player who has to bet and act early that is considered to be at a disadvantage in the tournament.

Tournaments usually consist of 3 to 20 rounds where at the last round, 6 players reach the final table. The player who accumulates the maximum amount of chips at the last hand of the final table, is the tournament winner.

Like tournaments for other sports, blackjack tournaments are to be played for the prize it offers. This prize is usually 100% of the entry fees of all the players; and the casino has no advantage over the players of the tournament. Of course, the player with maximum skill has an advantage over other weaker players of the tournament. There are some casinos that promise to make payments even if the entries to the tournament are not filled.

If you intend to play offline blackjack tournaments, it is better to go to casinos during blackjack tournaments. This is because during large tournaments, hotels offer special room rents and free food; this means a saving for you! So schedule your trip to play blackjack to coincide with a tournament so that you can save money while playing for a big prize at a minimal risk. Small tournaments may charge entry fees of $10 and pay $500 or $1000 as first place. The larger ones have an entry fee of $300 to $500; so correspondingly, larger prizes. There are even the largest events with $1000 entry fees and prizes over a million dollars. Most tournaments offer prizes till the 6th place.

There are many tournaments taking place on the internet. All that you have to do is to look for tournaments through search engines wherein you will be brought to a page of sites offering blackjack tournaments. It is then up to you to decide on which tournament you would like to join.