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Our Blackjack Tournament Pro and BJI columnist Kenneth R. Smith has written his first book, How to Win More Blackjack Tournaments, which summarizes the blackjack tournament strategies contained in his articles from Blackjack Insider (plus three new articles not available anywhere else!). $14.95 for the e-book, available immediately after purchasing. $200 signup bonus! BJI recommends Be The Dealer for online blackjack. Click here to learn why, and how to get your bonus.

Friends of Blackjack Insider... great sites from our authors and partners: A fantastic blackjack web site by Ken Smith, our regular Blackjack Insider expert on Tournament strategy. Great online basic strategy charts and test programs.

Blackjack Insider Newsletter, Nov. 2004, #58

Ken Smith hosts the popular website www.BlackjackInfo.com and the new site for tournament players www.BlackjackTournaments.com. Ken has written tournament articles for Blackjack Confidential magazine. You can subscribe to his free email newsletter for blackjack players at http://www.blackjackinfo.com.

One of the great things about writing articles about blackjack tournament strategy is that I always learn something during the process. This month’s topic is a great example. I set out to answer what I thought was a simple question. What I learned was a real surprise.

Consider this situation. You know for sure you’ll need to win two max bets to advance, but you’re almost out of hands in the round. This is a situation most likely to arise in a non-elimination accumulation tournament, but it could happen at an elimination round as well.

Let’s say its hand 29 of a 30 hand round, and you’re $2000 from where you need to be, but the max bet is only $1000. It’s obvious that you’d really like to be dealt a good basic strategy double-down on this hand. If you win it, you won’t have to worry about the next hand. It’s also pretty clear that you shouldn’t be as picky about what hands you’ll double in this case.

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