Tournament Blackjack

In my area, there are blackjack tournaments every Tuesday - buy ins are $25 per round and 1st place delivers a $600 payout. I have been to three of these tournaments as of late and been utterly spanked on two of them. The third came down to a vital hand and didnt go in my favor, thus destroying my chances to get a seat in the final round.

To Ken Smith - I have been reading a lot about tournament blackjack and I have heard several different playing strategies. I am tempted to try a new stragtegy I have just read which would involve me flat betting the table minimum all the way up until the final 5 hands. At this point, my source recommends that I bet aggresively in correlation with the other players (if they are waay ahead of you, push out most if not your entire bankroll, if they are below you are on par with you, match their bets) What is your opinion on this matter? As an avid tournament player, I would trust your word more than most. The only strategy I know for certain is that medium sized bets generally dont help/get you anywhere.

A minimum bet strategy until late in the round is pretty good. I've made a lot of money using something like that. In recent years, the competition has gotten tougher, and I find myself taking more risk early in the round. But, it depends on the skill of my opponents.

However you get there, you should be trying to bet opposite your opponents if you are trailing near the end, or correlating with them if you are in the lead. So, if you are trailing but the leaders are betting big, you can bet small and hope the dealer cleans the table. If they are betting small, you should be betting large and hoping to catch up.

If on the other hand you are in the lead, you should roughly be correlating with the bets of those trying to catch you. If you're betting in front of them, you should probably be betting most of your lead, to make it difficult for them to get an oppositional bet going.

These are obviously simplifications, and every situation is different. You'll find a ton of discussion on these kinds of topics at my other site https://www.blackjacktournaments.com/

Thanks Ken!