Wild Wild West Tournament Format/Rules

I'm thinking about entering the Tropicana's Wild Wild West Blackjack Tournament next week in Vegas. In preparation, I'm reading Stanford Wong's 'Casino Tournament Strategy' book.

Has anyone played in this tournament in the past or knows what the format and rules will be for this upcoming tournament. Specifically, I'd like to know the following:

1. How many rounds are played including the finals?
2. How many hands are played per round?
3. How many players advance in each round prior to the finals>
4. What are the rules (i.e. can you double for less)?
5. What is the minimum bet?
6. What is the maximum bet?
7. Are you allowed a secret bet and how does that work (i.e. do you write it down and place it face down in front of you?)
8. In you get eliminated in the first round, can you buy back in and if so, can you do this just once?
9. What the payout schedule look like. I know it's a $50K tournament and first place gets $25K. How many others would collect $?

I am sorry that I can not answer your questions because I do not know the Trop's BJ tournament structure. Maybe you can call them. Marketing people generally don't know squat about blackjack, but they can usually read the rules off a card. I will say that I've never played a BJ tournament that had a secret bet.

There is a Green Chip tournament page which gets a reasonable amount of activity from people who play casino tournaments.

Here is a post I wrote a while back in reponse to someone who said he started with $500 and thought he would need $3000 to advance.

I prefer betting the minimum and letting the others duke it out and then evaluate the chip position with about 5 or 6 hands left. You might find one or two people have already busted out by then. I have won a round of a BJ tournament one hand before the last hand because all the other people at my table busted out.

If someone has a comfortable lead mid-way and then they start betting minimums, then I start putting the big bets our earlier. I usually determine a bet that will put me slightly ahead of them. If I lose it, then I bet the max.

That's if you're playing at a table where one or two advance from your table. If you know for a fact that you have to have $3,000 or if you're playing against players at other tables and $3,000 is the norm for advancing, then you might as well bet big early. You'll determine whether you're a winner or not earlier. It'll save time. If you have to have $3,000 then I would start with $250 so you have double down, split, or insurance money. (I like taking insurance when no one else does and I need a swing.) If you have to bet the max though, you bet the max.

David