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Two seasons of coverage for top blackjack players and ordinary joes vying for a million dollars
Move over, poker here comes blackjack could be the cry from US television broadcaster CBS which this week announced a two season commitment to screening a major blackjack oriented TV show titled Ultimate Blackjack Tour.
The first season of the show starts September 16 at 2.00pm Eastern time, with a second season scheduled to run in the Spring of 2007.
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"CBS is the perfect partner for this venture," said Ultimate Blackjack Tour executive producer, Houston Curtis. "After meeting with the top broadcast and cable outlets in the country, we consider it the ultimate validation of our concept to be associated with one of the world's foremost leaders in sports programming."
"Elimination blackjack" is the concept of the tour, which pairs the skill of blackjack with the elimination factor of poker. Every eight hands, one of the competitors is eliminated from the table, which places a premium on aggression and strategy as the tournament plays out. Once the table is worked down, there is a final "secret bet" that determines the winner of each stage of the tournament. At stake in the event is a cool $1 million.
Poker big names are endorsing the event, pointing to the runaway success of poker as an example. Phil Hellmuth, the ten-time WSOP Champion says: "Now you have another tournament game of skill. The UBT is going to be huge." Annie Duke also seemed enthused by the new challenge as she commented: "The UBT has figured out how to make blackjack exciting for television and I'm absolutely hooked. It was a blast to play and equally exciting to watch."
The ten episodes that will run starting in September will feature not only the best from the blackjack world but will also draw heavily from the poker world as well. Blackjack champion Ken Einiger is joined by fellow blackjack professionals "Hollywood" Dave Stann, Anthony Curtis and Monica Reeves. Poker professionals are going to be a big part of the tournament, including former World Champions Russ Hamilton and Hellmuth, Phil "The Unabomber" Laak, Jennifer Tilly and Duke.
For the second season of the Ultimate Blackjack Tour, there are plans for a true tournament championship. Players can learn how to play the game at a dedicated website and everyday folks will be able to earn the right to participate in the second season.
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