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The Basic Structure A Blackjack Tournament is made up of a number of rounds. At the beginning of a round, each player starts with the same amount of chips (usually $5,000), regardless of their winnings or losses in previous rounds. All "money" in the tournaments is, of course, play money. Because of the forfeit rule described below, the total number of rounds in a tournament is determined by the number of players remaining at the end of the first round. Each player buys in with the amount of play money listed on the tournament entry pages, which is deducted from the player's Casino Tables bankroll at the time of entry into the tournament. Certain tournaments also require a pass for entry. Any play money winnings will be credited to the winning players' bankrolls as they are eliminated from the tournament. Some tournaments will award additional prizes. View the profile page help section on passes for more information. NOTE: Passes awarded in a tournament may not show up in the player profile until the tournament is completely finished. You may cancel your entry into the tournament and receive a refund of your entry fee as long as you cancel at least six minutues prior to the beginning of seating for the tournament, which is usually 15 minutes before the start of the tournament. Players will be seated at a random table in a random seat. Players who take their seats before the tournament begins may be moved to a different table just before the beginning of the first round. Forfeit Rule Any player that does not connect to the tournament and play at least one hand in the first round may be eliminated at the end of the first round. Their (play money) entry fee will be forfeit and will remain in the prize pool. They will not be eligible to win any prizes including passes. Playing a Round A round consists of either 30 or 32 hands. Normally, 30 hands are played, but if there are four players at the table in the final round, 32 hands are played. For each hand, the minimum bet is $100 and the maximum bet is $2,500. Unless otherwise stated, standard Blackjack rules apply. Any player who is not connected to the game when it's their turn to bet will forfeit the minimum bet, but will not receive any cards. Any player who has bet, but is not connected to the game when it's their turn to act will decline insurance or stand (regardless of the value of their hand), as appropriate. All player actions (making a bet, insurance decision, deciding whether to hit/stand/etc.) are made in order. After a player acts, the player to their left is next to act. Hands are settled (when the dealer collects losing bets or pays winning bets) in the reverse order of action. Thus, the player who acted last has their hand settled first and the player who acted first has their hand settled last. In order to minimize the advantage of position, a "First Base Button" is used. On the first hand of a round, the button is held by the player who wins a "race". At the beginning of each subsequent hand, the button moves one place to the dealer's right (player's left). The player that holds the button acts first and, assuming they did not bust, their hand is settled last. This is very important due to the Order of Elimination Rule (see below). Since the player at the far left seat (from the player's perspective) may not be the last player to act, the player to their left is also the player farthest to their right. (If you're having trouble with this description, it might make more sense if you think of it as if the table were completely round.) All tables proceed at their own pace during a round. The round is not over, and the next round may not begin, until all tables have finished the round. Order of Elimination Rule Any time a player's last remaining chips are collected by the dealer (this can happen when a player busts or when their hand is settled) the player is immediately eliminated from the tournament. See the examples in the Advancing to the Next Round - Round Ends Early section for more clarification. Advancing to the Next Round - Round Completes If there are 6 or fewer players in a tournament, there will be only one round. If there are 18 or fewer players in a tournament, there will be only two rounds. The top two players at each table will advance to the final round. Assuming there are 19 or more players in a tournament, there will be at least three rounds. During the first two rounds, the top two players at each table will advance to the next round. During each subsequent round until the semi-final round, the top (one) player will advance. During the semi-final round, if there are two or three tables, the top two players from each table will advance to the final round, otherwise the top (one) player will advance. "Top two players" means the two players with the largest amount of chips. "Top (one) player" means the one player with the largest amount of chips. See the Tie Rule section just below for what happens in case of a tie. Tie Rule In the case of a tie, the player that acted earlier during the final hand is awarded the tie-breaker. Advancing to the Next Round - Round Ends Early If the number of players remaining at a table is less than or equal to the number of players who will advance to the next round, the round is immediately over for that table. Remaining players will not act on their hands, and remaining hands will not be settled. The remaining player(s) will advance, assuming they're not subject to the forfeit rule. During the first round of a tournament, any players subject to the forfeit rule will be eliminated just after the hands are settled, so be careful not to lose all your chips if you know that enough other players will be eliminated. Some examples:
The Final Round and Prizes Only during the final round are individual places calculated. A player's finish position is based on reverse order of elimination (see "Order of Elimination Rule" above). For example: if there are six players at the final table, the first player eliminated would earn sixth place. For those players that complete the final round without losing all their chips, placement is determined by their final amount of chips - first place going to the player with the most chips. If players are tied for any position, the player who acted earliest in the final hand is awarded the tie-breaker (same as the Tie Rule for advancing). For example: if three players are tied for first place, the tying player who acted first in the final hand is awarded first place, the tying player who acted second in the final hand is awarded second place, and the remaining player is awarded third place. The total number of prizes awarded in a tournament are dependant on the number of entries in the tournament. For smaller tournaments, approximately 10% of the players who enter a tournament, rounded down, will be awarded prizes. For tournaments of 19 or fewer players, only one prize will be awarded. 20-29 entries pays two spots, and so on. For larger tournaments, we attempt to pay 10% (usually falls between 8% and 14%) of the players. Payouts are available on the tournament details page at the end of the first round. Prizes may be awarded to players who don't make the final round if there are enough entries into a tournament. In this case, prizes will be awarded to all the players who were eliminated in a particular round. For example: in a big tournament with six rounds, the final round is (obviously) Round 6. All the players that are eliminated in Round 4 and 5, as well as the players that made it to Round 6, could get prizes. |