The online community for blackjack tournament players.
The Las Vegas Hilton regularly runs $100,000 blackjack tournaments where entry is free for anyone who gets a suited blackjack at the live tables in the months leading up to the event. Since a suited blackjack occurs about once every 85 hands, that makes it quite easy to qualify for this free event. However, once you arrive at the tournament, you'll want to pay $100 anyway to buy a "Mulligan", a one-time ability each round to swap out a card that you want to replace.
Still, this event draws a very large field. In this November 2006 event, there were 907 players competing for the $100,000 prize pool.
The final table of this event has 28 hands, played with a bankroll of $5000 in non-negotiable chips. Betting limits are $100 to $2500 in increments of $100. Late surrender is allowed.
Finalists, starting in seat 1 were Geraldo Certeza, Randy Binning, Kiho Song (Wild Card), Glynn Redwine, Erma Reyna, Pedro Ontiveros, and Jeffery Lewis.
First out at the final table was Jeffery Lewis, taking 7th place when he ran out of chips on hand 12. Then, on hand 15, we lost two more players, Geraldo Certeza in 6th place, and Randy Binning in 5th place (Binning had $50 in chips left, while Certeza had $0.)
We pick up the action on hand 24 with only 4 players left at the table.
| Seat | Player | Bankroll | Bet | Cards | Value | Win/Loss | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hand 24 | |||||||
| 1 | Certeza | $ | $ | $0 | |||
| 2 | Binning | $ | $ | $0 | |||
| 3 | ==> | Song | $2850 | $1300 + $1300 | A 5 Dbl 4 | 20 | $2600 |
| 4 | Redwine | $8000 | $100 + $100 | 5 5 Dbl 8 | 18 | $200 | |
| 5 | Reyna | $6000 | $2500 | T 2 Mulligan -> TT | 20 | $2500 | |
| 6 | Ontiveros | $8500 | $1000 | A 9 | 20 | $1000 | |
| 7 | Lewis | $ | $ | $0 | |||
| Dealer | Upcard 6 | 6 8 3 | 17 | ||||
| Hand 25 | |||||||
| 1 | Certeza | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 2 | Binning | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 3 | Song | $5450 | $2500 | 9 7 | Surr | $-1250 | |
| 4 | ==> | Redwine | $8200 | $1000 | T 2 | 12 | $-1000 |
| 5 | Reyna | $8500 | $1500 | T 8 | 18 | $0 | |
| 6 | Ontiveros | $9500 | $1000 | T 4 | 14 | $-1000 | |
| 7 | Lewis | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| Dealer | Upcard 3 | 3 8 3 4 | 18 | ||||
| Hand 26 | |||||||
| 1 | Certeza | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 2 | Binning | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 3 | Song | $4200 | $2100 + $2000 | 7 4 Dbl 3 | 14 | $-4100 | |
| 4 | Redwine | $7200 | $1000 | A 7 2 | 20 | $0 | |
| 5 | ==> | Reyna | $8500 | $2000 + $2000 | 9 2 Dbl 7 | 18 | $-4000 |
| 6 | Ontiveros | $8500 | $1000 | T 4 | 14 | $-1000 | |
| 7 | Lewis | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| Dealer | Upcard 4 | 4 6 2 8 | 20 | ||||
| Hand 27 | |||||||
| 1 | Certeza | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 2 | Binning | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 3 | Song | $100 | $100 | T 6 A | 17 | $-100 | |
| 4 | Redwine | $7200 | $1000 | 8 5 2 2 | 17 | $-1000 | |
| 5 | Reyna | $4500 | $2500 + $1000 | 6 4 Dbl T | 20 | $3500 | |
| 6 | ==> | Ontiveros | $7500 | $1500 | 5 2 9 3 | 19 | $0 |
| 7 | Lewis | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| Dealer | Upcard T | T 9 | 19 | ||||
| Hand 28 | |||||||
| 1 | Certeza | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 2 | Binning | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 3 | Song | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| 4 | ==> | Redwine | $6200 | $2500 | T 5 4 | 19 | $-2500 |
| 5 | Reyna | $8000 | $2500 + $2500 | 5 4 Dbl 7 | 16 | $-5000 | |
| 6 | Ontiveros | $7500 | $2500 + $2500 | 5 5 Dbl A | 21 | $5000 | |
| 7 | Lewis | $0 | $ | $0 | |||
| Dealer | Upcard T | T T | 20 | ||||
| Final Standings | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Player | Final Bankroll | Place | Prize Money |
| Pedro Ontiveros | $12,500 | 1st | $50,000 |
| Glynn Redwine | $3700 | 2nd | $12,000 |
| Erma Reyna | $3000 | 3rd | $8,000 |
| Kiho Song | $0 | 4th | $6,000 |
| Randy Binning | $0 | 5th | $4,000 |
| Geraldo Certeza | $0 | 6th | $3,000 |
| Jeffery Lewis | $0 | 7th | $2,000 |
