Mississippi casino hosting $50,000 blackjack tourney

6 March 2012

By Rudi Schiffer

MEMPHIS, Tennessee -- Find a four leaf clover, rub a blarney stone, and maybe some the luck hanging in the air on St. Patrick’s Day weekend will shower down on you, even if you’re not Irish, at Gold Strike Casino Resort’s $50,000 Go For The Green blackjack tournament on March 16-18 in Tunica, MS.

“We’re expecting a large turnout for this event, “ said Phil Hunter, Director of Casino Operations,” not just for the significant prizes offered but also because of the low buy-in of only $100.00.”

This tournament is different than the previous one hosted by Gold Strike recently where players played head on with a dealer to gain chips where the person earning the most won out. The tournament is a five round format and you have to win your table against other players to move forward with the total chip count determining the winner and five deep finalists. It includes a semi-final and final round of six.

First place is $12,000 cash and $12,000 in table play which is 48 % of the prize pool. The other 52 % is broken down as follows in table play awards: 2nd place-$14,000; 3 rd-$6,000; 4TH-$3,500; 5TH-$1,500, and 6 th-$1,000.

Crystal Stone is tournament director for the event and said re-buys are offered at $100.00. Each player will receive $25,000 tournament chips for each round and each round will consist of 25 hands from a six-deck shoe. The minimum bet is $500 and the max is $10,000 per hand. Standard blackjack rules apply.

Another twist players like is the wild card drawing that is held 15 minutes before the last round for a seat on the final table. More than once in this writer’s tournament experience, wild carders have won out. So it is worth sticking around if you fail to qualify earlier.

Registration opens Friday the 16th from 5-8 p.m. at the registration table located on the casino floor between the elevators. Late registration is on the 17th from 9 a.m. to noon. Wearing “of the green” is optional.