Bally's Tunica, Robinsonville, MS:
Wise Guys & Martinis Blackjack Tournament, Jan 21-23, 2005

Reported by Ken Smith

Bally's Tunica hosts a popular tournament, and they're expanding to four events in 2005: January, April, July and likely October.

In the first event of 2005, the entry fee of $500 included several free meals and a shot at the $60,000 first place prize.

The format is a hybrid, with the first two rounds being non-elimination or accumulative style. Starting twice with $1000 bankroll each time, the top 35 scores advanced into the semifinals. In this event, making the cut into the semifinals required a two-round total of $5542.50. Once in the semifinals, the format is normal table-advance style, with one player advancing from each table into the finals. One additional name is drawn straight into the finals.

Each round is 25 hands, with betting limits of $5 to $1000. The bankroll is $1000 in non-negotiable chips.

Finalists, in seat order were:

• 1: Terry Shockey
• 2: Richard Fortin
• 3: Rita Bagot
• 4: James LaFevers
• 5: Coelene Guinn
• 6: Stan Roberts (Wild Card)
• 7: William Stallings

Seat		Player	Bankroll	Bet	Cards	Value	Win/Loss
Hand 23
1		Shockey	$607.50	$25.00	J J	20	$25.00
2	==>	Fortin	$1757.50	$100.00	T 8	18	-$100.00
3		Bagot	$1072.50	$255.00	T A	BJ	$382.50
4		LaFevers	$762.50	$5.00	4 Q Q	Bust	-$5.00
5		Guinn	$1202.50	$5.00	7 2 A	20	$5.00
6		Roberts	$1115.00	$5.00 + $5.00	3 7 Dbl K	20	$10.00
7		Stallings	$15.00	$5.00	9 J	19	$0.00
		Dealer		Upcard 7	7 6 6	19
Hand 24
1		Shockey	$632.50	$130.00 + $130.00	7 4 Dbl T	21	$260.00
2		Fortin	$1657.50	$400.00	A 7 J	18	$400.00
3	==>	Bagot	$1455.00	$375.00	T T	20	$375.00
4		LaFevers	$757.50	$105.00	4 6 7	17	$105.00
5		Guinn	$1207.50	$500.00	6 3 2 9	20	$500.00
6		Roberts	$1125.00	$5.00	Q 7	17	$5.00
7		Stallings	$15.00	$5.00	2 4 3 T	19	$5.00
		Dealer		Upcard K	K 6 6	Bust
Hand 25
1		Shockey	$892.50	$600.00	K 5	15	$600.00
2		Fortin	$2057.50	$400.00	J A	BJ	$600.00
3		Bagot	$1830.00	$825.00	7 J	17	$825.00
4	==>	LaFevers	$862.50	$810.00	3 7 Q	20	$810.00
5		Guinn	$1707.50	$1000.00	3 3 5 5	16	$1000.00
6		Roberts	$1130.00	$550.00	2 K	12	$550.00
7		Stallings	$20.00	$10.00	K 8	18	$10.00
		Dealer		Upcard 6	6 6 2 9	Bust

Final Standings
Player	Final Bankroll	Place	Prize Money
Coelene Guinn	$2707.50	1st	$60,000
Richard Fortin	$2657.50	2nd	$21,000
Rita Bagot	$2655.00	3rd	$16,000
Stan Roberts	$1680.00	4th	$11,500
James LaFevers	$1672.50	5th	$6,000
Terry Shockey	$1492.50	6th	$3,500
William Stallings	$30.00	7th	$2,500

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At the table, there was actually a tie for first and second place. Both Guinn and Fortin had $2707.50, which led to a four hand playoff. I believe that there was a dealer payoff error on Fortin's blackjack on the final hand, and he was paid $650 instead of the correct $600. Fortunately, the outcome of the playoff was the same as the correct final table result. However, for your reference, here's the playoff:

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Seat		Player	Bankroll	Bet	Cards	Value	Win/Loss
Hand 1
1	==>	Fortin	$1000.00	$50.00	Q 9	19	$50.00
2		Guinn	$1000.00	$100.00	6 9	15	+$100.00
		Dealer		Upcard J	J 6 K	Bust
Hand 2
1		Fortin	$1050.00	$300.00 + Ins $150.00	T 6 Q	Bust	-$450.00
2	==>	Guinn	$1100.00	$100.00	9 6 4	19	+$100.00
		Dealer		Upcard A	A 6 5 K	Bust
Hand 3
1	==>	Fortin	$600.00	$500.00	5 8 3 8	Bust	-$500.00
2		Guinn	$1200.00	$500.00	Q 7	17	-$500.00
		Dealer		Upcard Q	Q Q	20
Hand 4
1		Fortin	$100.00	$100.00	A 2 7	20	$100.00
2	==>	Guinn	$700.00	$5.00 + $5.00	5 5 Dbl 3	13	+$10.00
		Dealer		Upcard 6	6 7 K	Bust

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