Tournament Strategy Question

In Stanford Wong's "Casino Tournament Strategy" the table for the strong variation of Curt's Revenge is silent on face down games. I'm attending a pitch tournament this weekend. If I find myself needing to utilize Curt's Revenge, how do I play my hand? One would think you'd use the double on anything strategy for dealer upcards 2 through 7 because BR1 will likely win, and play basic strategy for dealer upcards 8 through A because BR1 will likely lose, but this is just a guess. Do any of you experienced tournament players (or Stanford) have any thoughts on this?

Are you playing elimination or accumlative? Where is the tournaments?

It's an elimination format. Two deck pitch at Ho-Chunk. In the qualifying rounds two advance from a seven player table. In the semifinal round one player advances from a seven player table. I was told Ho-Chunk's pitch game rules will apply, but I haven't seen a brochure. I know naturals pay 3-2, not 2-1 like in their shoe tournaments, but I don't some other exact details like if you can double down on a natural.

Start off with minimum bets,(reason if the dealer starts off hot you can't lose much and if they start off cold you can always bet bigger to catch the others).

Don't worry about DD's and splits in till you need to. All you want is to be one of the top two at the end so you can advance to the next round.

I assume this tournament is played with "NO CASH VALUE" chips so get caught holding chips at the end if you are behind. Big problem I see with new tournament players is they want to play out the entire round. Why? If you fall behind late in the game (last 5 hands) is normal rule as far as increasing your bets and then only if you have to.

Be aware of where the puck will land on the last hand,(assuming the deal rotates)if you are on or in front of the puck and you should bet so that you have the lead prior to the last hand or two. If your behind the other (betting order) on the last hand you have the advantage of know what you need to do as far as betting.

Last hand rule! If you have a bust hand, "DON'T HIT IT", if you cannot afford to lose. If you bust you lose take your chance's with the dealer busting, at least it keeps you alive.

Don't get crazy doubling and spliting 20 because someone told you thats how you play tournaments, let others do that crap. Those are only plays that need to be done when needed to.

but lost my second. There were a couple conditions I wasn't aware of until I got to the casino. Ho-Chunk does, indeed, have DAS in their pitch games. Also, this particular tournament had a quarterfinal round in which three advance out of six (this is the round in which I got eliminated.)

An odd thing happened in this quarterfinal round. In the second last hand, I bet second, and requested a count. BR1 on my immediate right threw a bet out, triggering the tournament rule that forbids a count once a bet is placed. I complained, but to no avail. I was tempted to ask the tournament director to disqualify the guy, but held my piece. He was probably within his rights anyway. Then I started carefully counting the other players' stacks, and the dealer asked me in an annoyed tone of voice why I was counting every chip. She wanted to move things along. I wanted to be sure I made the correct bet, which was to try to become BR2. The bankrolls were so close that I couldn't afford a rough estimate. I lost the hand anyway, and wound up as BR4 with the button on the last hand.

I need to become more proficient at counting chip stacks. Any other thoughts on what to do about players like BR1 who threw his bet out just to stop a chip count?

Old rule of thumb in tournament play, "When in doubt, push it out". It is better to bet to much then end up a little short from mis-counting others chips.

Don't feel bad about having trouble counting others chips, most everybody has problems with that. Even the Pro's will miss sometimes.

Better luck next time. You should try some practice tournaments at www.Global-Player.com they offer $15 Sit and Go tournaments 24/7. You only play against 4 others (5 total players). The payouts are very good right now 1st = $50, 2nd = $25, and 3rd = $20 (limited time bonus). Not bad $75 total entries and $95 for prize payouts.

Use the bonus code: "Cruise" and receive additional bonus for sign up.

When I play tournaments there, unless the rules have changed, you have a max bet of only $200. I've seen people up to $2500 by the 24th hand (25max hands). So at HoChunk tournaments you really need to keep up with the leader to have a chance.

The pro's strategy of betting nickles for most of a round doesn't seem to work in typical tournaments. I think betting strategy in early to middle hands of a round should be tailored to the type of competition you're facing, and the rules of the tournament. At Hinckley you're started with a $500 bankroll and betting limits are $5-150. I got beat by a guy who came out firing with max bets right from hand 1, and after almost busting out initially took a lead by about 600-800. I stuck with nickle bets until he started sitting on his lead, but his lead was insurmountable. The best I could do was to pull to between one and two max bets by the end of the round. He used the same strategy to make it all the way to the final table. Most players at Ho-Chunk and Hinckley start off betting green and just go up from there. Two or three always seem to bet themselves off the table, but one or two usually seem to build up big leads. The only way it seems to have a chance is to bet big along with them and hope for the best, or go to max bets in high counts in an effort to stay in contention.

If you find yourself a max or over a max bet behind you have to start increasing your bets. You need to stay within a max bet always.