Ken Smith | November 9, 2005
Well, the first season of the new Ultimate Blackjack Tour is a wrap. In a long but very exciting week, filming finished up in late October at CBS Studios in Los Angeles. The more than $1 million in prize money was big news, but the real impact of these events will come once they hit […]
Ken Smith | October 16, 2005
I’m just back from Vegas, where I participated in a new series of blackjack tournaments produced for TV. The new Ultimate Blackjack Tour adds some interesting twists to the usual formula of blackjack tournaments, and I think the new format will be great for TV.
Ken Smith | June 19, 2005
The James Grosjean and Michael Russo case against Caesars Palace and Griffin Investigations is done, and the jury ruled in favor of Grosjean and Russo, awarding $100,000 in actual damages. Caesars chose to settle with the plaintiffs before the punitive damage portion of the jury deliberations, but Griffin did not. The jury awarded an additional […]
Ken Smith | March 29, 2005
The Las Vegas Hilton’s Million Dollar Blackjack II finals were held in May 2004. And, finally, the Travel Channel shows from almost a year ago will air starting this week. Tune in Wednesday night on the Travel Channel, at both 8 PM and 11 PM Eastern for “Travel Channel Secrets: Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament: Semifinals”. […]
Ken Smith | February 18, 2005
An item in today’s Las Vegas Mercury discusses various casino advantage players and their tactics. It covers a broad spectrum including card counting, hole card play, sports betting, poker, and even craps. The article starts with a few paragraphs about Eliot “The Mayor” Jacobson. Stanford Wong weighs in on his new passion, beating the game […]
Ken Smith | February 13, 2005
From the Edmonton Sun: WINNIPEG — The Manitoba Lotteries Corporation has partially lifted a ban on French in the province’s casinos by allowing bilingual blackjack tables twice a week. Although Manitoba recognizes French as an official language, provincial rules normally forbid any language other than English at many casino tables to prevent collusion among gamblers. […]
Ken Smith | February 1, 2005
My hand-by-hand synopsis of week two in the World Series of Blackjack on GSN is now posted, and it’s available in time for you to use it to understand the rebroadcast of the show on Tuesday night (Feb 1st). GSN, 10 PM Eastern (and 10 PM Pacific I think). I was one of the players […]
Ken Smith | January 26, 2005
The premiere episode of GSN’s World Series of Blackjack lived up to all expectations, delivering an exciting and well-produced show. I stick with my comments made at the time; That tournament table featured some of the best play I’ve ever seen. If you’d like to read my hand-by-hand recap of the show and join in […]
Ken Smith | December 29, 2004
For the third year running, I’ve managed to win a seat in the final event in the Las Vegas Hilton’s Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament. It took a few tries this year, but in the December monthly qualifier I picked up one of the 16 big-event seats available. I went on to make the final table, […]
Ken Smith | December 23, 2004
I was recently involved in a final hand at a blackjack tournament at the New Frontier in Las Vegas, where an opponent had a tough decision to make. He had a soft 18 facing a dealer ten, and the tournament situation made it unclear whether standing or hitting was preferable. The complete situation, and an […]