Tomorrow, 6 March 2012, Bet365 will be hosting a 24-hour long mobile blackjack tournament that begins at 00:00 GMT (midnight tonight, London time) and ends at 23:59 GMT. There will be a total of $1,000 in prize pool money available to win with the 1st place winner receive $200.

To be eligible to participate in this blackjack tournament, you must do the following (Bet365 does not accept US players, sorry):

1) Go to Bet365 Mobile by clicking here or by going to http://casino.bet365.com/en/ and clicking on the Mobile Casino link.

2) You will see their three most popular mobile games listed: European Roulette, Blackjack and Gold Rally. Click on the link that says Download Now below the Blackjack game screenshot as shown to the right.

3) The Select Game and Select Country will be Blackjack and United Kingdom by default. Change the Country if you do not live in the UK.

4) Enter in your Mobile Number starting with the International Dialing Code followed by the phone number. Then click on Submit.

5) You will receive a Service/Push message on your phone (similar to an SMS message). Open or read the message.

6) Select the option to download or retrieve the message. You may have to choose a location to save the application. The application will start to download.

7) Once the download is completed, either open the game straight away or you may have to find the mobile blackjack game in your Games or Applications section of your mobile phone.

The next step is very important!

8) In order to participate in the blackjack tournament, you must make a deposit of at least $50 into your casino account during this 24-hour period.

Once the tournament begins at midnight tonight (GMT), you will have 24-hours to collect as many Comp Points as you can on this mobile blackjack game. You will earn 1 Comp Point for every $10 that you wager on mobile blackjack.

The person who has accumulated the most Comp Points in this 24-hour period will receive $200. The prizes for the following players will be $150, $120, $100, $80, $70, $60, $50, $40, $30 and 5 players will receive $20.

I know that this isn’t the same as the other blackjack tournaments where you are facing other players; but if you are looking to have a chance to win some money, I would suggest you give the mobile blackjack tournament a chance.

While that may be great for trying to rank higher in the search engines, its repetitive and unnecessary. Once blackjack tournaments become popular, I’ll still be here to talk about it. There is a reason that I like blackjack tournaments as much as I do.

Basically, because it is a niche game (like mobile blackjack), there are less professionals that are competing which increases the average Joe’s chance of winning.

I liken the blackjack tournaments at 5Dimes to a slot machine. Sure, there is a little skill when it comes to placing bets and playing your hand. But in the end, luck is going to play a very big part of the game. Not only are you competing against the other players’ totals, you have to win your bets against the dealer in order to advance. A player can get lucky and hit a BJ when they are in desperation mode with a very large bet. It’s all part of the game that requires a lot less skill to play then a poker tournament.

Blackjack Bowl V

So there really is a reason for me to write a post today! The Blackjack Bowl begins at 5Dimes and you can be a part of the largest blackjack tournament that I have been able to find in more than a year!

Would you like to have a chance to play in the Blackjack Bowl V? You have plenty of time to earn you way into the game. The Blackjack Bowl V starts on Thursday, February 16, 2012. There is a $21,000 Cash Pot and the Top 12 players will get paid!

If you want to play in the Blackjack Bowl without earning you way in, you can do so for the steep price of $250 entry fee. Don’t want to pay that much to get in? I don’t blame you. That’s why you should sharpen your skills and try to earn you way into the Blackjack Bowl for as little as $3. Here’s how:

Blackjack Bowl V Schedule

Every Monday night at 10:30pm ET, you can play in the $3 Playoff. The entry fee is only $3.00! You will get a chance to win part of a $50.00 cash pot. The Top 3 players get paid and win a free seat to the $1,000 Bowl of the Week.

Every Wednesday night at 10:30pm ET, you can play in the $5 Playoff. The entry fee is $5.00 and you will be able to win part of the $75.00 pot. The Top 3 get paid again, but the Top 4 will receive a free seat in the $1,000 Bowl of the Week.

Every Friday night at 10:30pm ET, you can play in the $10 Playoff. As you might guess, the entry fee is $10.00. You can win part of a $100.00 cash prize. The Top 3 get paid part of the $100 and the Top 5 win a free seat into the $1,000 Bowl of the Week.

Every Sunday night at 10:30pm ET, you can play in the $1,000 Bowl of the Week. The entry fee for this game is $25.00, but you can win a free seat into this tournament. The Top 5 players will get paid part of the $1,000 cash pot. The Top 5 will also win a free seat in the $2,000 Bowl of the Month!

At 10:30pm ET on the Last or First Tuesday of every month, you can participate in the $2,000 Bowl of the Month. This tournament has a $55.00 entry fee unless you win a free seat. The Top 5 players will split this $2,000 and will win a Free Seat to the $21,000 Blackjack Bowl V.

If you are a fan of Blackjack tournaments, you won’t want to miss this opportunity to win some real money playing in a big tournament.

However, Slots of Vegas specializes in slot machines (surprise) and the casino game tournaments they offer are completely vacant. I offered a free buy-in to a tournament and got a modest tournament going, but this did not have a lasting effect. That being said, there aren’t too many gambling sites with the best online blackjack tournaments anymore.

Therefore, the homepage is still the best source for the websites that offer online blackjack tournaments. 5Dimes multi-table blackjack tournaments are still the recommended place for American players to participate. For players outside of the United States, I would suggest trying the blackjack tournaments at Gaming Club.

We are actually taking some steps backwards here. English Harbour offered some good blackjack tournaments; however they had to close their doors at the beginning of August.

2nd Non-US Blackjack Tournament Website

I did find another website that offers black jack tournaments. However, they currently cannot accept players from the US.

The casino is named Jackpot City. Players from countries like Canada, England and Australia will be able to play in the tournaments offered here.

Jackpot City offers at least two blackjack tournaments per week. I know this isn’t a staggering amount of chances to play, but at least I found somewhere new to show you. You have to take what you can get while most casino sites put blackjack tournaments on the back burner.

Jackpot City offers a $100 Survivor Elimination Blackjack challenge with a $4 entry fee. This tournament usually starts around 5PM EST on Friday. An Elimination Blackjack challenge is exactly how it sounds: you will need to get a high enough score to move on to the subsequent round. Check out the Blackjack Tournament Strategy page for more details.

The other tournament is called the $500 BlackJack Attack Final Elimination Blackjack. The entry fee for this blackjack tournament is $5 and it usually begins every Thursday.

I wish that I had more to offer to you, but most of the best online blackjack sites simply don’t offer blackjack tournaments. I’m crossing my fingers that this will change in the future. However, the progress of this hinges on the legality of online blackjack in the USA, where the game is most popular. I simply don’t see how an exciting player-on-player tournament battle like this doesn’t gain popularity.

It’s one thing to be betting against the dealer with the abstract idea such as a high score as your objective. It’s quite another to go toe to toe with other blackjack players as you try to determine how you bet in order to be one of the three highest scores in a group of 6.

I’m going to make this a pretty extensive post; and the reason for this is because I have seen some people have some confusion while playing in these blackjack tournaments. So I will go through the process from registering to playing to winning.

Registering at 5Dimes

This is the first step. Click here to go to 5Dimes. You will see a link in the upper-righthand corner that says Register Here. You are going to be asked the usual questions (name, address, etc) so you can set up an account.

You can play 5dimes software for free and they do have freeplay blackjack tournaments, but the next step in my example is to make a deposit. You can deposit between $50 and $500 at one time. When you try to make a deposit, you may be asked some verification questions such as “Do you recognize a street that is near you?” or “How long have you lived at your address?” or other questions that should be hard information to find.

You will be given an account number that starts with 5Dxxxxxxx. You are going to want to remember this. Put in your password and press enter. Don’t worry about the drop-down selection as you will be taken to the main screen for your account.

At the top of your account screen, you will see the main categories. You are going to want to select the Casino category and go to blackjack tournaments, which is at the bottom of the list. You will then see the following screen:

The next thing that you do is select the green Lobby button. Where you will be transported to this screen:

You will have to create a screen name in order to create your tournament profile with 21Gnet which is the company that runs the tournament software. If you select a username that is used, you will receive an error. Just select another name and click create again.

5Dimes Blackjack Tournament Lobby

Here is a picture of the lobby as you will first see it:

Notice how it shows the single table tournaments by default. You can play at one of the single table tournaments, but the tournaments that I am looking for are the Multi Table blackjack tournaments. Click on the Multi Tournament button to see the different tournaments being held.

There are multiple tournaments every day to play. You will be able to see how much time you have left to register for a tournament. Once registration is complete, you will have 10 minutes before the tournament starts.

Registering for a Blackjack Tournament

Click on any tournament that has not started and you will see the screen above. The important information to be aware of is the time left and the entry fee for the tournament. To register for a tournament, click the Register in this Tournament button on the left side of the screen. This section will change to let you know that you are now registered for the tournament.

When the time expires on the registration, you will see this screen in the tournament lobby. You will then have to wait approximately 10 minutes before the tournament starts. The table that you will be seated at is highlighted in light green along with a yellow player icon. Click on that table and click the Join button in the middle of the screen.

One important thing to note for the screenshot above: In the right hand side of the screen, you will see the blackjack tournament structure. The first table you play at will be Level 1, which has no payouts and only 2 players advance to the next level in this example. Under that, if you make it to Level 2, only three of the remaining six players will win money in this tournament with the majority of the money going to the top player. This info will differ between tournaments.

You will now see where you are sitting at your table. The important things to notice are the starting chips (usually 2000), the number of rounds or hands to be played (usually 5, 10 or 15) and the Min and Max bet at a table. This is all really important information when it comes to betting. You can also click the Lobby button in the upper-right corner of the screen to go back to the tournament lobby.

Back in the tournament lobby, you can see which table you are at under the section labeled My Tables. Click on the green box with your table number to go back to your tournament table.

When the time to wait for the tournament is over, you will see a Countdown to start. The blackjack tournament is now about to begin.

Playing in a Blackjack Tournament

The first thing that you will see is the dealer shuffling the deck. Every player will be dealt a card to see who will be given First Base, which means the person who will be betting first in the initial round.

You will receive a prompt to bet. You will have a total of 20 seconds to place a bet; if you do not make a bet in time, you will automatically place the minimum bet for the round. You can either click on the chips and press bet. You can bet Max, bet your Last bet, or Clear your bet if you want to change the amount you want to bet.

When it is your time to play, you will see the bar pictured above. You can double down or surrender at any time as long as you have not already hit. You can split any two 10′s, but otherwise you can only split pairs.

You will be offered a chance to take insurance if the dealer is showing an ace, but not when the dealer shows a 10 and has an ace in the hole.

When you get close to the end of the level of a tournament, watch for people making large bets in order to catch up. Depending on whether 2 or 3 people advance to the next round, you may also want to make a large bet.

For more information about betting, visit the blackjack tournament strategy page.

If you qualify for the 2nd round, you will go back to the tournament lobby. There you will see if any of the other tables are still playing. You can click on a table still in progress and press Join to watch or you can wait for all tables to finish. Once all tables are finished playing, you will be able to enter the new combined table. Players will have a minute before the next round begins.

If you cannot play in the tournament after you register, you will have until the 7th hand in a 10 round tournament or the 12th hand in a 15 round tournament to return. After that, you will be disqualified and will not be eligible to play in the next round.

At the end of the last round of the final table, you will see the winners results and see the amount won by each player.

Cashing Out

Let’s not forget about the importance of cashing out. For players in the United States, your options are limited as far as taking money out of your account. I have the payout methods open so you can see the choices. Unfortunately, players in the US cannot use Money Bookers, NETeller, InstaDebit or Click2Pay.

In order to request a Bank Wire, you must withdraw at least $1501. In order to request Fed Ex, you must withdraw at least $1001.

If neither of those are options, you should choose the ACH or Electronic Check.

You are going to need to provide your banks routing number and account number as well as the Bank name and address. There is a $25 fee for using this method.

On your first withdrawal, you will also need to fill out this verification form which 5dimes will send to your email address. This only needs to be complete once upon your first withdrawal request.

I would like to thank the 12 participants that we got in our free blackjack tournament. I was hoping to get a few more people, but I only gave people a 1 1/2 day notice. Congratulations Dave for winning the tournament with an impressive score of $5,325 (starting balance of $1500 in a one hour tournament). He took down the one and only prize – $342.

If I can set another one of these up in the future, I will try to give you more than a days notice before it starts. That didn’t seem to work very effective. You can still practice on the free blackjack game listed below.

Would you like to be able to play in a real money blackjack tournament for free? I have been given the opportunity to host a $30 buy-in blackjack tournament held at the Slots of Vegas casino.

But I thought you said this would be free?! Well this is going to be your lucky day. I have a deal in place with Slots of Vegas that will give all new players a $30 free tournament chip. This is a no deposit bonus that can only be used to play in the casino tournaments! (more on this bonus below)

Specifically, I’m hoping to get a nice showing of people to help Slots of Vegas out. They recently set up a casino tournament section to their website that is completely unique to all other RTG casinos (which I’ll go through below). However, it takes more then a couple of players a day to make these tournaments any fun.

When is the free blackjack tournament?

I already have several people committed to playing in the tournament shown above. This free blackjack tournament will take place this Friday, June 17th between 7:00PM and 8:00PM Central Time Zone (GMT-5). That’s between 8:00PM and 9:00PM ET and between 5:00PM and 6:00PM PT and so on.

Depending on the amount of people participating, I’m anticipating that the top score takes the prize pool. There may be multiple prizes if I can get enough players to enter. The prize pool will be 95% of the total amount paid (5% goes to the casino) or $28.50 per participant.

Slots of Vegas Tournaments

Slots of Vegas has a different casino tournament setup then any other RTG casino that I’ve seen. Instead of the normal RTG slots tournaments that is played through RTG’s casino software, Slots of Vegas uses a flash based tournament lobby ran from their website.

In order to get to this free blackjack tournament, you must follow the directions below:

1) Go to Slots of Vegas homepage by clicking here.

2) Click on the Instant Play button as shown in the screenshot below:

3) This will take you to webplay.slotsofvegas.com. You need to get to the casino cashier in order to get your $30 free tournament chip. You can do this one of two ways: downloading and installing the casino software is the most obvious way.

But if you don’t want to download the casino software to get to the cashier, do the following:

a. Click on the Blackjack game and b. Click on Real Money

4) Click on the Create Account button as seen below:

5) You will need to create your account with Slots of Vegas. After you have done so, go back to the previous screen and log into the casino.

6) Take a look at the screenshot below: You will need to click on the Redeem Coupon button.

7) Enter the code TOURNAMENTCHIP in the box under Redeem Coupon Code:. You will see the following screenshot:

8) Do not use this $30 to play the blackjack game for real!

9) Wait for the tournament to start on Friday!

The Free Blackjack Tournament is about to start! Now what?

1) Go to Slots of Vegas homepage.

2) Click on the Tournaments tab, then click on the tournaments banner that appears. You will enter the Tournaments section of Slots of Vegas.

3) You will be able to see the current Casino Tournaments that are taking place as seen below.

You will not see the blackjack tournament in the list until we get close to Friday, 7:00PM Central Time.

4) Between 7:00PM and 8:00PM CT, you will be able to click the PLAY NOW button to enter the tournament (you may need to log in again).

5) You will see a screen that asks you to “Press continue to start tournament.” Click on the Continue button in order to use the $30 free chip and start your free blackjack tournament!

How the Blackjack Tournament Works

Once you enter the tournament, you will see a special flash version of Blackjack game inside of a Slots of Vegas Tournaments screen. You will not see other players at your table as it will be just you vs the dealer.

Each player will start with the same “Fun Balance” and will have an allotted time in which to post the highest score with their fun balance. If you bust out or don’t play more than 1 hand, you will not be eligible to win a prize.

After you are finished with your tournament, you can see how everyone did by clicking the View button under the leaderboard. If you have won money, you will receive this money in your casino account.

Practice Slots of Vegas Blackjack for Free