The Ultimate Blackjack Tour (UBT) is a series of Blackjack tournaments held around the world in locations including Las Vegas, Atlantic City, Aruba and Paris. The winners will compete against each other in the Championship event at the end of the regular series of tournaments.
The Format
In the past Blackjack Tournaments have been a little boring because of the format. Many players would bet the minimum until the end and then make a big move. This is going to change because of the special elimination format that will be used for the Ultimate Blackjack Tour matches.
With the elimination format the players with the lowest chip count after hands 8, 16 and 25 will be eliminated. This was done to force the action. Players will not be able to sit around waiting to the later hands before making their move.
Viewers will be able to see the dealer’s hole card (not seen by the other players or even the dealer) This will add excitement to the television viewers as you will be able to see if a player is doomed or a winner before he does, much they way that the hole card cameras added excitement to the poker tournaments.
Every player will get to use one secret bet which can be used at anytime. This secret bet can be used to bluff other players at an opportune time during the match. This is just another one of the elements which promises to make the Blackjack Tournaments more entertaining to the viewers.
The Players
16 players will compete in the first season of the Ultimate Blackjack Tour. Viewers who have watched the televised poker tournaments will recognize some of the players competing in the UBT.. Poker players Phil Laak, Annie Duke, Phil Hellmuth and Freddy Deeb will be a few of the players competing in the UBT. They will be matching skills with several well known professional blackjack players including Ken Einger, author of Play To Win the definitive book on how to play blackjack tournaments, and Anthony Curtis, publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor.
All Players Welcome
One thing that led to the increased popularity of poker is the fact that anyone could compete.
The same will be true for the UBT. Anyone can enter a tournament by paying the entry fee.
There will also be satellites held around the country where the UBT tournaments are taking place giving players a chance to win their entry into main tournament.
You will also see more online sites offering Blackjack tournaments and reports are some of the sites will be giving players a chance to win their way into an Ultimate Blackjack Tour tournament.
The Future
Blackjack is the most popular casino table game and once players see how exciting the UBT tournaments are you will probably see an increased popularity in blackjack tournaments. More casinos will begin offering them as players try to hone the skills to make it to an Ultimate Blackjack Tour final table.