I've played here and there online & have had pretty good success vs others, but it just seems that most of the game is irrelevant because you can easily be beaten by opponents who play conservative the whole game, down many chips, but then simply double down on their last hand & hit on good & bad hands...
I haven't played too many, but like anything else, there
is optimum strategy in certain situations. One of the best
blackjack authors of all time has written a book on BJ
tournament strategy:
<cite>Casino Tournament Strategy</cite> by Stanford Wong
Tournaments are exciting -- your palms sweat even if the prize you are trying to win is no larger than an amount you are willing to bet on one hand of blackjack. Sometimes much larger amounts are involved; sometimes one card can make a difference of tens of thousands of dollars. Your competitors are the kind of people you choose for friends. Tournaments are so much fun that many blackjack players structure their casino trips around them.
Tournaments also involve skill. You constantly make decisions on how much to bet and whether to deviate from basic strategy, and frequently the best decision is not obvious. The best tournament players enjoy a large edge. You probably have read posts by H. E. Delmas and others discussing their tournament success -- how on average they win prizes of double or more of the amount of they pay in entry fees.
How did H. E. become a tournament expert? By studying a book and practicing. How can you become a tournament expert? By studying the same book H. E. studied, and practicing.
