The ''World Series of Blackjack'' is a televised
blackjack
Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...
tournament
A tournament is a competition involving at least three competitors, all participating in a sport or game. More specifically, the term may be used in either of two overlapping senses:
# One or more competitions held at a single venue and concentr ...
created and produced by the cable network
GSN. It is a closed tournament; players are either invited to play or attempt to win a spot via a
satellite tournament
A satellite tournament is either a minor tournament or event on a competitive sporting tour or one of a group of such tournaments that form a series played in the same country or region.
Poker
A satellite tournament in poker is a qualifying event. ...
. Rounds are edited into 1-hour episodes and broadcast on GSN.
Matt Vasgersian
Matt Vasgersian ( '; born 1967) is an American sportscaster and television host. Vasgersian is a play-by-play announcer for the Los Angeles Angels, as well as a studio host for MLB Network and Major League Baseball on Fox, FOX Sports. In the pa ...
and
Max Rubin
Max Rubin is a gambling expert and author best known for his book ''Comp City: A Guide to Free Gambling Vacations''. The book teaches players how to maximize casino perks with little actual wagering. Rubin is also a gambling analyst for televisio ...
provided commentary for the first two seasons. Tiki Arsenault was the dealer for Season 1 as Deanna Bacon was the dealer for Seasons 2 and 3 while Jessica Knight was the dealer for Season 4.
Season 1 premiered weekly from March 15, 2004 to April 26, 2004 with a co-host, Melana Scantlin.
Season 2 premiered weekly from January 21, 2005 to April 22, 2005 with a new co-host, Megan Riordan.
Season 3 premiered weekly from June 5, 2006 to September 4, 2006 as part of GSN's ''Casino Night'' (retooled, with ''
High Stakes Poker
''High Stakes Poker'' is an American cash game poker television program. The poker variant played on the show is no limit Texas hold 'em. The first four seasons ran from January 16, 2006 to December 17, 2007 on GSN. The next three seasons ran fr ...
'', as ''Vegas Night'') programming block, with new hosts
John Fugelsang
John Joseph Fugelsang (born September 3, 1969) is an American actor, comedian, writer, television host, political commentator and television personality.
Early life and education
Fugelsang was born on Long Island, New York. Of Danish, German, a ...
and
Ben Mezrich
Ben Mezrich ( ; born February 7, 1969) is an American author.
Early life and education
Mezrich was born in Boston, Massachusetts, the son of Molli Newman, a lawyer, and Reuben Mezrich, a chairman of radiology at the University of Maryland Schoo ...
.
Season 4 premiered on GSN from June 4, 2007 to August 27, 2007. A field of 40 players, including
Celebrity Blackjack
''Celebrity Blackjack'' is an American television show where celebrities played tournament style blackjack for charity. The show, which ran on Game Show Network, was hosted by Matt Vasgersian (and Alex Borstein in the first season). Dave Stann w ...
champion
Caroline Rhea
Caroline Gilchrist Rhea (; born April 13, 1964) is a Canadian actress and stand-up comedian, who is best known for her role as Hilda Spellman on the ABC series ''Sabrina the Teenage Witch''.
She has performed numerous comedy specials, including t ...
, baseball star
Orel Hershiser
Orel Leonard Hershiser IV (born September 16, 1958) is an American former baseball pitcher who played 18 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB) from 1983 to 2000. He later became a pitching coach for the Texas Rangers from 2002 to 2005 and a bro ...
and magician
Penn Jillette
Penn Fraser Jillette (born March 5, 1955) is an American magician, actor, musician, inventor, television presenter, and author, best known for his work with fellow magician Teller as half of the team Penn & Teller. The duo has been featured ...
competed for a $1 million prize pool. Vasgersian returned as a commentator.
Rules
The rules (as of season 4) are as follows:
*Each player begins with $100,000 in chips ($10,000 in chips in Season 1).
*The initial minimum bet is $1,000, the maximum bet is $50,000 (minimum bet is $100, the max bet is $5,000 in Season 1).
*There are six decks.
*Each player gets one "
Burger King
Burger King (BK) is an American-based multinational chain store, chain of hamburger fast food restaurants. Headquartered in Miami-Dade County, Florida, the company was founded in 1953 as Insta-Burger King, a Jacksonville, Florida–based res ...
Power Chip" per round, which allows a player to switch one card with the next card in the shoe. If used on a double-down hand, the player may look at the double-down card and replace it if desired. The power chip was added as of season three.
*There are two "knockout cards" in the shoe. Once a knockout card is drawn, the player with the lowest amount of chips after the next hand is eliminated. After the first knockout card, the minimum bet increases to $2,500, after the second, the bet increases to $5,000. The deck is shuffled after each knockout card. If there are only four players when the first is drawn and three when the second is drawn, no players are eliminated, but the minimum bet still increases. The knockout cards also appeared first in season three.
*Players can split, double-down, and insure for less than their bet.
*Players can double-down on anything.
*Surrendering the hand is legal, which allows players to give up half their bet and concede the hand.
*If a player can't make the minimum bet, they are eliminated.
*Blackjack pays 3 to 2, dealer must stand on all 17s and higher (including soft hands).
*After 30 hands in Season 1, the player with the most chips wins.
*After 25 hands in Season 2-4, the player with the most chips wins.
Season 1 results
The World Series of Blackjack Tournament was held at
Mohegan Sun
Mohegan Sun is an American casino, owned and operated by the Mohegan Tribe on of their reservation, along the banks of the Thames River in Uncasville, Connecticut. It has of gambling space.
It is in the foothills of southeastern Connecticut, ...
Casino & Resort in Connecticut. First place will win $10,000 and move on to the Final table while Second place will win $5,000 and move on to the Wild Card table. The winner of the Wild Card table will move on to the final table. First place at the final table will win $100,000 USD grand prize.
Mike Aponte
Mike Aponte, also known as MIT Mike, is a professional blackjack player and a former member of the MIT Blackjack Team. Aponte was part of a team of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) students that legally won millions playing blackjack at ...
, a former member of the
MIT Blackjack Team
The MIT Blackjack Team was a group of students and ex-students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and other leading colleges who used card counting techniques and more sophisticated strategies to beat casinos at bla ...
, won the Season 1 championship and $100,000.
Season 2 results
The World Series of Blackjack Tournament was held at
Golden Nugget Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The first place will move on to the Semi-Final table while the Second place will move on to the Wild Card table. The winner of the Wild Card table will move on to the Semi-Final table. The top two finishers in the Semi-Final table will move on to the final table for a chance at winning a $250,000 USD grand prize. First place at the final table will win a $250,000 USD grand prize.
Ken Einiger claimed the Season 2 championship, winning $250,000.
Season 3 results
The World Series of Blackjack Tournament was held at
Hilton
Hilton or Hylton may refer to:
Companies
* Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name
** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...
Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The first place will move on to the Semi-Final table while the Second place will move on to the Wild Card table. The winner of the Wild Card table will move on to the Semi-Final table. The top two finishers in the Semi-Final table will move on to the Final Table for a chance at winning a $500,000 USD grand prize. First place at the final table will win a $500,000 USD grand prize.
Dr. Jeff Bernstein claimed the Season 3 championship, winning the $500,000 grand prize.
1Qualified for Wild Card Round through random drawing among all 3rd-5th place preliminary finishers.
2Qualified for Final Table through random drawing among all 3rd-5th place semi-final finishers.
Season 4 results
The World Series of Blackjack Tournament was held at
Hilton
Hilton or Hylton may refer to:
Companies
* Hilton Worldwide Holdings, Inc., a global hospitality company based in the United States that owns several hotel chains and subsidiary companies containing the Hilton name
** Hilton Hotels & Resorts, fla ...
Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The first place will move on to the Semi-Final table while the Second place will move on to the Wild Card table. The winner of the Wild Card table will move on to the Semi-Final table. The top two finishers in the Semi-Final table will move on to the final table for a chance at winning a $500,000 USD grand prize. First place at the final table will win a $500,000 USD grand prize.
Alice Walker (who had previously won GSN's million-dollar
Three card poker championship) took first place and $500,000.
1Qualified for Wild Card Round through random drawing among all 3rd-5th place preliminary finishers.
2Qualified for final table through random drawing among all 3rd-5th places semi-final finishers
See also
*
Celebrity Blackjack
''Celebrity Blackjack'' is an American television show where celebrities played tournament style blackjack for charity. The show, which ran on Game Show Network, was hosted by Matt Vasgersian (and Alex Borstein in the first season). Dave Stann w ...
*
World Blackjack Tour
*
Ultimate Blackjack Tour
The ''Ultimate Blackjack Tour'' was a televised series of Elimination Blackjack tournaments that aired in syndication. It debuted on September 16, 2006. The show consists of a series of televised Elimination Blackjack tournaments. The winner of eac ...
References
AOL BlackjackWSOB InformationBlackjack Hero summary
External links
*
{{Game Show Network
Blackjack television shows
Game Show Network original programming
2004 American television series debuts