In the past five years, one casino game that has become a very popular tournament game is blackjack, or "21.” This game is particularly big with younger gamblers, people in their twenties and thirties, who've learned that there is a way of playing blackjack, a certain strategy involved, which makes it somewhat a game of skill. In tournaments the players compete with one another, as well as with the house (as in roulette, craps, etc.). Here's how it works.

First of all, there are time limits on the tournaments (or a fixed number of hands to be played: one hundred) as well as restrictions on how much money is used. You will be eliminated from the competition or the round if and when you lose the original amount, which you have bought in for. You cannot replenish losses with fresh money; once the initial amount is lost—whether it be $500, S 700, or whatever—the player is out. The time limit is usually two hours to a playing session in a blackjack tournament. In two hours you can't really put together any great playing technique, especially when you're playing against the house and your fellow contestants at the table. So, luck and timing prevail in these tournaments. Let's say there is a $35,000 blackjack tournament, with a registration fee and buy-in of $600. The players, seated together at random, are required to bet each hand with a minimum bet of $5 and a maximum bet of $500. Even if someone has amassed chips totaling $2,000/$3,000, the limit that person could bet would still be $500.

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The object is to beat the dealer ond the other players seated around the table. There is one winner per table; the player who wins Round 1 at the table advances to Round 2. The players who lose Round 1 are out of the game, unless—and this is a recent amendment—they wish to pay another registration fee and begin again. The winner is not required to pay any additional fee. Prizes are sometimes awarded to the winners of the round. Round 2 continues much as Round 1, with the same betting limits and rules. Players must keep their chips visible to the other players. At the end of the two-hour play, the person with the most chips is declared the winner.

At the end of a round, each player gets to keep the chips in front of him or her. So even if the other five players at the table are deemed lo

sers of the round, they may still be ahead if they each finish with more than $600, which was the entry fee. At the end of the round, the chips are cashed in, because they are not good for any other game in the casino. At the end of Round 3, the winners are in what is called the Championship Playoff, and eligible to win as much as $75,000 in cash. That winner will be awarded a champion title, and likely a beautiful trophy, as well as a considerable amount of prestige.

The winners of Rounds 1, 2, and 3 receive bonus prizes of $25,000, $40,000, and $60,000 respectively, and nine runner- up prizes are awarded. These may include complimentary accommodations in the casino's other hotels. Also, the player who accumulates the highest number of total winnings in all three rounds is awarded the title of Cumulative Winner and automatically advances to the Championship Playoff. Even if this player did not win any preliminary round, if his rota/winnings in all three rounds are higher than anybody else's, he wins the privilege of playing in the championship round.

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Anyone with an eye to the big jackpot of a tournament should send away to the appropriate hotel or sponsoring casino for a rules brochure and read it over carefully. The rules are fairly easy to understand and therefore these tournaments attract a wide variety of people from all over; they provide an excellent opportunity to meet people in an exciting, high-rolling atmosphere.

These tournaments provide a great deal of fun and excitement for the few days of their duration, and they provide a lot of opportunities for players to win money and prizes. Reading gambling-related publications allows you to keep abreast of the various tournaments, rules, and dates.

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