Blackjack : Ultimate Blackjack Tour

Poker has been linked to the cable television since the late 1990's. With the World Poker Tour in 2003, however, the game transformed into a global phenomenon attracting millions of new players into the game.

The Ultimate Blackjack Tour (UBT), the conception of previous poker World Champion Russ Hamilton (who is also a terrible blackjack champion as well), is the attempt to create the same murmur around blackjack that has come to poker.

Anthony Curtis, the journalist of the monthly Las Vegas Advisor, the author of some top gambling books available and a professional blackjack tournament player, was invited to participate in the weekly "Casino Answer Man" show.

CBS (the mass media company with component elements that reach back to the beginnings of the broadcast industry, as well as newer businesses that function on the main perimeter of the media industry) found ratings ascending, with about 1.4 million viewers. It's no surprise. There's much to enjoy in the UBT format.

By applying the similar technology that's helped make televised poker so famous, the UBT lets the audience see the dealer's face down card. You constantly know precisely where all the hands stand.

Curtis found himself head-to-head with Ken Einiger, writer of the tournament blackjack players' guide Play to Win, a book published by Curtis' Huntington Press. Einiger begins with a $409,500 hand and Curtis with $325,500, leaving Curtis behind, given the tournament's highest bet of $100,000 per hand. Curtis went to the stand to write a secret bet.

That left Einiger thinking about what he had to do to protect his advantage. He gambled $60,000, and when dealt a pair of 6s in opposition to the dealer's 2, he admits defeat. By losing half of his total bet, Einiger went down with $379,500. He screwed up when he saw Curtis' bet of $95,000.

The result turned out to be one known to any blackjack player. Curtis had a hard 18, the dealer, with a 2 down, turned up an Ace, then another 2, and a Queen (hard 15). If the next card was an Ace, the dealer would have to draw once more.

Einiger would win with a 3 through 6. Curtis would win with a 7 through face. Eight ways to win and only four ways to lose, but Curtis lost. The dealer's final card was a 6 for a 21.

If you've never seen Ultimate Blackjack Tour, give it a chance and learn more about the tour by visiting playubt.com.