Hosting a Blackjack Tournament
by David Revels, Co-Owner of 3 Aces Casino Parties

 

You want to have a party. You have a date picked out, maybe the spouse’s birthday or child’s graduation or maybe you’re just feeling really social. You have no idea what kind of party to have. Let me pitch you an idea: How about a Blackjack Tournament Party?
A Blackjack Tournament will appeal to more people than any other table game, as it is the most popular table game in Vegas. Most of us have played Blackjack at a casino or at least at a casino night party and we can all count to 21, even with our shoes on.


Here is a simple format that will be loads of fun and maintain the excitement down to the last hand of Blackjack.

Here is what you need:

  • One Blackjack table with a dealer for every 7 players (you could play on the kitchen table, but, a layout or a real Blackjack table adds authenticity.
  • One Blackjack setup for every table. (includes cards, poker chips, dealing shoe, discard holder)
  • Prizes, this adds to the competitiveness and gives the players something more. The prizes don’t have to be expensive to be good prizes.
  • A special chip or token for swapping top cards.
  • Start each player with $3000 (eight $25 chips, eight $100 chips, two $500 and one $1000 chip) in play money poker chips.

The Rules:

Each round will consist of 20 hands of Blackjack, dealt to the players at each table. Allow for a short break after each round. Rotating the deal from left to right will allow every player a turn to act first when playing their “Swap” token.
Each round will take approximately one hour, so if you want to have a three hour party you can do three rounds. However, if you want to do less, make sure that in the last round hands 15-20 have an unlimited betting cap. This is important to keep the tournament competitive to the end.

Each round, every player will start with a special chip or token, they will be able to use ONCE during each round, to swap their top card with any other player’s top card. This includes the dealers top card or taking the next card from the dealers shoe. If the player has a two card Blackjack their cards cannot be swapped. These special chips add to the strategy of the contest as well as to the excitement of having a good card taken from you, just remember that paybacks can be brutal.

All Blackjacks are paid out 2 to 1.
In the first round, limit the maximum bet to $500, the minimum will always be $25 regardless of round.
In the second round, limit the maximum bet to $2000.
In the third round, hands 1-14 limit the maximum to $5000 and hands 15-20 there will be NO limit.
If a player ever loses all of his chips he is out of the tournament. All other rules of Blackjack apply.

The Payoff

What’s nice about this tournament styled Blackjack event is that players indirectly play against each other, while playing against the dealer. You will find that as the tournament winds down and the players with chips will be keeping an eye on each other betting just enough to keep them in the lead or “shooting the works” and betting everything to win the great prizes. The fun and excitement will abound to the end and your guests will not soon forget the twists and turns of this tournament. This has worked well for us, and I hope you enjoy as well.

Remember, don't gamble on your next event, call 3 Aces Casino Parties.

Questions or comments? You can reach David here david@3acescasinoparties.com