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Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 9:53 am
by Paul
Games? Television? Internet Links? I didn't know where to post this.
My wife was in Vegas a couple weeks ago, and since the World Series of Poker was going on she got me a lot of free swag. I got poker shirts, hats, keychains, magazines, etc.
One thing I got was an ad for UBT, the \Ultimate Blackjack Tour. It's a blackjack tournament that'll air on CBS.
It looks pretty cool. Here's an overview of the rules if you're interested.
What I like most is that it looks like the'll be opening up free online games, where the winner can be a contestant on the show.
Some of the poker magazines I have talk about it, and they expect it to be really big. Since more people play blackjack than poker, and because the rules are simpler, and because it'll be a prime-time show on a network (more exposure), they think this could make the televised/professional blackjack surpass poker's current popularity.
Personally, I think I'll always like poker better. Going all-in on a bluff is the grand slam that blackjack lacks. But I'll still watch this show. I'll also try to win a place on the show. The format makes it mostly luck, with a little strategy thrown in.
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 10:04 am
by TheCatt
Blackjack = boring.
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:01 am
by Leisher
Blackjack will NEVER be more popular than poker. That's a pipe dream.
There are blackjack tournaments that already air on TV (Bravo) and you'll notice you aren't hearing a lot about them.
Blackjack is a very, very boring game. All the pros do is decide on taking a hit or not based on the one dealer card that is showing. That decision is based on the odds of the dealer drawing a ten and busting or having a ten hidden. If you've ever read a blackjack book you'll know that they all say boredom is your number one enemy as it'll make you careless.
The current blackjack tournaments on TV have the contestants competing by seeing who can get the most money in a limited number of hands and it's boring as hell.
There are two flaws in blackjack as an alternative to poker:
1. The betting. On the current shows they bet in order, so everyone sees what you're doing. This allows all the contestants to base their bets off of each other. That sucks.
Ever watch Jeopardy? There's a reason why their final bets are kept a secret. If they added secret betting, it might be that much more interesting.
2. The game itself doesn't lend itself to competition between players. They never actually go head to head. I mean picture Tom and Becky, two fictional opponents in the Blackjack tournament finals. Let's say they're all square going into the final hand and have both bet $10,000.
Tom gets dealt a King and a 7. Becky gets dealt a King and a 2. The dealer is showing a 10.
Tom will do NOTHING. His total is too high to take a hit even thought the dealer may have 20. becky will take a hit hoping to get an Ace or 2-9.
Let's say Becky takes a hit and gets a Queen so she busts and the dealer turns over their hidden card to reveal a 5. The dealer hits and busts, Tom wins by default.
Wheee! How exciting! Tom won by doing NOTHING and his opponent was eliminated from the hand.
Where's the huge bet to scare off your opponent? Where's the little bet to induce him to make a move at the pot? Where's the bluffing? Where's the acting? Where's the playing a hand one way all day to setup your opponent for a big fall later?
The essence of blackjack is that you're playing against the dealer, not the other players.
Like I said, it just doesn't work as a multiplayer game. (Except for Canadian blackjack, but I doubt that'd ever make TV.)
Next they'll be showing people playing solitare head to head.
P.S. Televised dominos sucks too. Saw it on ESPN 2 a few weeks ago.
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 11:18 am
by TheCatt
Televised dominos was mildly interesting, but only cuz I wanted to see how they played. There's a reason it was on the "Deuce" and at the time it was on.
Blackjack belongs on the Ocho.
Posted: Thu Aug 17, 2006 3:27 pm
by Paul
1. The betting. On the current shows they bet in order, so everyone sees what you're doing. This allows all the contestants to base their bets off of each other.
2. The game itself doesn't lend itself to competition between players. They never actually go head to head.
They try to overcome this by giving each person one secret bet which they can use at any time. That is, they can place one bet that nobody else can see. I assume they'd save this for the last play of the game, or during elimination hands.
To make it more of a competetion against each other they have elimination hands. Whoever has the lowest chipcount after hand 8 gets eliminated, then hand 16, then hand 25. So there will be drama every 8 hands as people try to dig themselves out of a hole every 8 hands.
While the play will be less interesting than poker I think there will be more banter between players. The general gambling rule is that if you're not part of the hand in play you should shut up. In blackjack everyone is playing. I think they're hoping the extra social interaction will increase interest.
I'm expecting this to be more like Celebrity Poker Challenge rather than the World Poker Tour. You don't have to concentrate too much, and don't have to worry nearly as much about table image.