This is the newest form of blackjack being dealt, and it is tremendously popular!
Elimination Blackjack is dealt in tournament format. Players are each playing the game against both the dealer, and each other.
I've been playing elimination blackjack games at Ultimate Bet, so I'll describe their tournament set-up.
The idea in an elimination blackjack tournament is to amass more chips than your opponents. That sounds simple enough, but they've added some extra twists to the game to bring in a lot more strategy, and excitement.
Instead of playing for a set amount of time, the game is played for a set number of hands. The Sit and Go tournaments are played for 30 hands.
During the round of 30 hands, several hands are designated as elimination hands, hence the title of the game. The player with the least amount of chips at the end of an elimination hand is dismissed from the table. So, not only must you strive to gather more chips than your opponents, if you fall behind the pack at the wrong time, you'll find yourself losing your seat.
At uBet hands 8, 16, and 25 are the elimination hands. If anyone is tied for last place after an elinination hand, those players are involved in a short playoff to see who stays and who goes.
Because you're playing against your opponents as well, the amount that you bet on each hand is an important piece of information. And, as in poker, table position comes into play. So, there is a dealer's puck that passed around from player to player after each hand. This way, everyone has a chance to act from early, middle, or late position depending on the hand.
There is an additional twist added to the betting strategy. Each player is given one "secret bet". This is used to completely disguise the value of your bet, so the other players at the table cannot then bet accordingly. Insightful use of this secret bet is one of the things that separates the better elimination blackjack players from the pack.
Game Subtleties
The dealer uses
six decks in elimination blackjack. The cards are shuffled after
every hand.
With a ten upcard, dealer checks for blackjack before players act on their hands.
Blackjack plays 3:2. If the dealer and a player both have blackjack, it is a push.
After splitting Aces, a hand that receives a ten or a face card is considered a 21, not a blackjack, and it does not pay 3:2.
Surrender is an option.
Also, it is not offered in place of insurance, so when the dealer shows an Ace, you cannot surrender until after he's checked, and perhaps declared blackjack.
There is a max bet, so once you've accumulated a stack of chips, your betting options are limited on both the low, and high ends. Betting limits for Sit and Go's and the preliminary rounds of a larger tournament are $500 - $25,000. At the final table of a multitable event, the limits are moved up to $1,000 - $100,000.
This page last updated Januray 7th, 2007.
