The World Series of Blackjack was created back in 2004 and became an instant hit. It is the world’s most acclaimed Blackjack tournament. What attracted players the most was a million dollar prize money. It is a closed tournament, which means, the tournament was open only to those who were invited to play. However, some spots were reserved for the players who won their seat by competing in satellite tournaments. All the rounds were televised on Game Show Network (GSN) and the rounds were edited into a one-hour episode. The World Series of Tournament ran for a few seasons.
As this is by invitation only, so there was no entry fee. In each of the four seasons of the World Series of Blackjack, 25 to 40 players competed for the grand prize. Some of the players were professional, while others had won local tournaments to appear in World Series of Blackjack. Players started with a $100,000 bankroll. The initial bet limit was $1,000 minimum and $50,000 maximum.
The format of the World Series of Blackjack tournament was simple. But, it had a different format from how 21 is normally played. In this tournament, every player begins with the same number of chips and after a set of 30 rounds, whosoever ends with more chips wins. This format in the tournament completely changed the Blackjack strategy. The rules were according to the standard Blackjack casino rules. Though, many exciting variations were added to give the tournament a special twist. Modifications and changes were done to keep the audience interested in the tournament. For example, in the third season of the show, “Knockout” card was added to each shoe. In “knockout”, the player with the lowest chip stack, hold at the end was eliminated from the Blackjack tournament. The other change was “Burger King Power Chip”. In this, each player was awarded a “Power Chip” at the beginning of each game and the players were given one-time chance to swap one card within the next card from the shoe. These changes not only made the game intriguing but attracted the attention of so many players to the World Series of Tournament.
For the first time in the fourth season, celebrities such as Shannon Elizabeth and Baseball player Orel Hershiser showed up to play. Also, the future Poker Player Tiffany Michelle and celebrity Blackjack Champion Caroline Rhea all have been part of the tournament. It was a tournament full of excitement and drama of a high stake game.
Below are the winners of the World Series of Blackjack where the players competed for the attractive title and the huge stakes.
Season 1: The winner of the first season was Mike Aponte, who was a member of the MIT Blackjack team. He walked away with the prize money of $100,000 USD grand prize.
Season 2: Ken Einiger claimed the season 2 championship winning with the amount of $250,000 USD grand prize. He was also a part of the ultimate Blackjack tour.
Season 3: This season was sponsored in the gambling capital of the world, Las Vegas. Dr. Jeff Bernstein claimed the championship and walked away with the prize of $500,000 USD grand prize.
Season 4: The title was claimed by Alice Walker, the first woman to win among 40 worldwide players in the 2007 World Series of Blackjack and won $500,000 USD grand prize with her amazing skills.
The World Series of Blackjack is an astounding program to watch, even for those players who have never played a round of Blackjack. New and experienced players can learn some of the strategies of the most experienced players in the world and can give a shot in an online blackjack game.