TOURNAMENT 2
EPISODE 1

NOTES FROM THE AUTHOR

What follows is a televised-hand-by-televised-hand account.  Obviously, since it's only a one-hour show, some hands are not televised so you're going to see a little of jumping of the dealer button.

So what do you get when you take celebrities away from the limelight, put $100,000 in chips in front of them and force them to play 21 hands of blackjack for charity?  You get the second season of CELEBRITY BLACKJACK!

This year, a full 13-week season will be contested. There will be ten four-player single-table matches with the winners getting $25,000 and advancing to the semi-finals. The top two from each of the two five-person semis will go to the Final Table for a crack at the $100,000 first prize, all for their charities. (It might be different but, according to the info on the official site on GSN.com, it would make the most sense.

Before we begin, though, a brief explanation about the game of blackjack and how this tournament will be contested:

Blackjack is one of the easiest casino games to win at...IF you get the basic idea of strategy.  The object is to get as close to 21 points with your hand without going over and to beat the dealer's hand.

First, you make a bet, then you are dealt two cards face up.  The dealer gets two cards as well, but only ONE of them is face up.  The two basic decisions to make at this point is to hit, meaning you'll take another card, or stand, meaning you'll keep the hand you have.  There are also special things you can do before your first hit.  You can double down, meaning you double your bet but only get dealt one more card.  And, if the two cards are of the same value (not necessarily the same rank), you can split them, making two separate hands to work with (though you'll have to double your original bet to do it).

Scoring in blackjack is simple.  10s and face-cards are worth 10 points, the other cards are worth what they say (a deuce is 2 points, a 7 is 7 points, etc.).  Aces are special, since they can count as either 1 or 11 points.  The closer you get to 21 points, the better.  But, if you go OVER 21 points, you bust and you lose your bet.

Once all players either stand or bust, the dealer flips his face-down card over.  Unlike the players, the dealer can't decide whether to hit or stand.  If he has 17 points or more, he MUST stand.  If he has 16 points or less, he MUST hit until he HAS 17 points or more.  Once the dealer stands, whoever is still in gets their hand evaluated against the dealer's.  If the player's hand is higher, he wins the amount of his bet.  If the dealer's is higher, the player loses his bet.  If they are the SAME, though, it's a push and the player neither wins nor loses anything.  Of course, if the dealer goes over 21, everyone still in the hand wins.

So what about this "blackjack"?  Well, if a player or the dealer has an Ace and a 10-point card in the first two hands, it is called "blackjack" and is an automatic winner.  Here, any player getting blackjack wins 1.5 times his bet, so a $100 bet would get him $250 back (his original bet and $150 from the dealer). In tournament blackjack, a player CAN, if s/he so desire, call the Ace a 1-point card and double-down, but taking the 3-to-2 is better than risking it for a chance at 2-to-1.  If the DEALER has blackjack, however, all the players lose!  So when an Ace is the dealer's face-up card, the dealer offers insurance to the players at a cost equal to one-half their initial bets.  If a player takes insurance and the dealer DOES have blackjack, the player loses the bet BUT wins double his insurance back...so he's lost nothing.  If the dealer DOESN'T have blackjack, however, they lose their insurance bets and the hand continues. If the dealer has an Ace or a 10-point card face-up, he must check to see if he HAS blackjack and, if so, flips it over and ends the hand.

Tournament blackjack is played until a set amount of hands are played (in this case, the amount is 21).  If a player runs out of the $100,000 worth of chips s/he starts with (or has less than the minimum bet), s/he's out of the game.  The bets for each of the first ten hands must be between $1000 and $25,000. The final 11 hands will have a minimum bet of $5000, but NO maximum; a player can go all-in if so desired. After the set amount of hands are played, whoever has the most money will advance to the semi-finals.  Tournament blackjack also introduces a "dealer button".  Unlike poker, this shows who can bet and play first, not where the first card is dealt.  In tournament blackjack, betting is VERY important, since you want to have the most chips by the end of the game.  So the player with the dealer button bets first, then everyone else bets in order.  Seeing what your OPPONENTS bet can help you decide on what YOU will bet.  The one with the "button" also plays his/her hand first.

Oh, yeah...and for this special tournament, six JOKERS have been added to the six decks they play with.  A Joker can be substituted for any card on the table still in play (meaning, once a hand is stood on, it's no longer in-play). There were four last season but, since there are only four players, they upped that number. Also this season is the addition of FIVE-CARD CHARLIE, the kid's rule that says that, if you get dealt five cards without busting, you automatically win.

Lets meet the four celebs competing tonight (and their charities):

Jason Alexander
(Oakwood School Capital Campaign)
CBJ1 veteran; George Castanza on Seinfeld; currently plays Tony Kleinman on CBS comedy "Listen Up"

Ricki Lake
(National Campaign to Prevent Teen Pregnancy)
Famous talk-show host; had debut role in the film Hairspray

Jeff Probst
(Animal Avengers)
Host of the ORIGINAL network reality show, CBS' Survivor (hey, shouldn't he be in Vanuatu right now?!)

Steve Howey
(Wilderness Society)
Best known as high school jock Van Montgomery on the WB's "Reba"; also appeared on "ER" and "The Drew Carey Show"

We have Matt Vasgersian back for the play-by-play and the "bad boy of Blackjack" Dave Stann back to deal the cards...so let's get it on!  Jason will always be "first base", where the dealer starts dealing the cards.  But the order shown, left to right, will be the betting and playing order starting with the "button".

Think about this during the next few hands: would you stand or split a pair of 9s when the dealer shows a 9? What SHOULD you do, according to "the book"? The answer will be later on. During the break, everybody won on a dealer bust. Jason keeps his lead... but Ricki and Steve are keeping pace. Jeff...not so much.

Heading into the halfway point, the stakes are raised to no-limit.  The minimum bet is $5000...but there is NO maximum!

OK, what should you do if you have a pair of 9s against a dealer 9? You should SPLIT them. In fact, you should split 9s at all times EXCEPT when the dealer has a 7, a 10-point card or an Ace (assuming a six-deck shoe, the most common why Blackjack is played in casinos).

It all comes down to this one hand.  The winner gets $25,000 for his or her charity and a spot in the Semi-Final Table.  The others get $10,000 for their respective charities.  For the final hand, the players all make blind bets, so nobody knows what the others have bet until its revealed!

So Oakwood School Capital Campaign gets $25,000 thanks to Jason Alexander lucking out on the final hand. The man who impersonates ESPN's Tony Kornheiser on network TV also goes to a Semi-Final Table!