King of Vegas is a JOKE!

[phydaux]

I just watched Spike TV's new game show King of Vegas.

They have 12 "professional gamblers." In the first show, they divided the field into two groups of six players.

The first group played Blackjack. Each player got 10,000 chips. They play until three of the players bust out. The winners go to the "free ride" couch and the loosers go on to the next game.

Then the second group of six play. They played Carribian Stud. Same deal - 10,000 chips to start, and you play until three players bust. Top three go to the couch, bottom three go on to the next game.

The next game was Roulette. The six loosers from the previous games face each other. Again, 10,000 chips, but this time they play until four players bust. The two winners go to the couch and the four loosers go on to "Sudden Death." [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Sudden Death is No Limit Hold'em. The four players each get 10,000 chips, but there's a twist - All you have to do to "win" is to double your stack. As soon as a player gets 20,000 chips he takes his chips and goes to the Free Ride couch. The other players play until two more players each break 20k. The last player is kicked off the show.

Sounds interesting, right? After all, all these people are "professional gamblers," right?

Well, sort of.

One is a Baccarat dealer.
One is a retiree who's been gambling since he was 13.
One is a pit boss.
One is a guy who bet $100 on a longshot in the Kentucky Derby and won.
There are two Blackjack tournament winners.
And one guy is Mike the Mouth. [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

Mike first had to play Blackjack. He bet his whole stack on one hand, asked for a hit on 17 and busted. Damn, now Mike has to try his luck at Roulette.

At the Roulette table, first spin Mike bet his entire stack on black and, big surprise, lost.

Damn! Now Mike might be in trouble. The Mouth is now forced to play short-handed No Limit Hold'em with three amatures. And he doesn't even need to bust the table - All he had to do is double up.

Oh my God! What cound possibly happen? [img]/images/graemlins/shocked.gif[/img]

What a royal joke!

Why don't they just hand Mike the $1,000,000.00 now and save everyone the pain of watching a badly produced TV show. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

BTW, watching poker on TV is somewhat interesting, watching Blackjack on TV is kind of iteresting, but watching Roulette on TV is painful. [img]/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

[Nottom]

[ QUOTE ]

Mike first had to play Blackjack. He bet his whole stack on one hand, asked for a hit on 17 and busted. Damn, now Mike has to try his luck at Roulette.

At the Roulette table, first spin Mike bet his entire stack on black and, big surprise, lost.

[/ QUOTE ]

Funny part is this is probably the best way to play.

[DrPublo]

I also thought this game was horrible. Here's another flaw I found in the show. Unless they do some heavy editing, it looks like they get about 4 or 5 hands in at each game before going to the next game. This essentially means the entire game is decided by the first hand. Since all you have to do is be in the top 3, by watching how the others bet you can pretty much avoid elimination altogether. Example: make a smallish bet on the first hand. Win. Assuming some others lost, then all you need to do to avoid being in the top 3 is bet the minimum until you are in danger of being surpassed.

Moreover if they want to make the show about determining the all-aroudn king of gambling, then 5 hands at each game isn't going to determine anything, due to variance, etc.

Actually the only thing that made the show worth watching tonight was the guy in the bright red dick tracy suit who kept on doing the make-believe chainsaw. Priceless!

The Doc

[kibble420]

How would playing a game that's -EV make you the king of gambling anyway?

[Quicksilvre]

[ QUOTE ]
The first group played Blackjack. Each player got 10,000 chips. They play until three of the players bust out. The winners go to the "free ride" couch and the loosers go on to the next game.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wouldn't this encourage players from betting the minimum every time, hoping the other numbskulls bet it all on one hand and lose?

[Photoc]

[ QUOTE ]
Mike first had to play Blackjack. He bet his whole stack on one hand, asked for a hit on 17 and busted. Damn, now Mike has to try his luck at Roulette.


[/ QUOTE ]

Nope, it was a 14 that he drew a 9 on. The guy "Big Boy" is the one who took a hit on 17 against a 10 and drew a 4 and was the only one to win that hand.

[Kevmath]

I think Mike hit with 12 against a 6 the very first hand.

[DrPublo]

[ QUOTE ]
How would playing a game that's -EV make you the king of gambling anyway?

[/ QUOTE ]

Presumably the King of Vegas can count cards well enough to turn a +EV profit. Of course its hard to squeeze out that .5% profit from 5 hands or whatever they played.

Also the idea is that each player has strengths and weaknesses, so you can get lucky in a game thats -EV for you as long as you make it up in the games that you are better at.

The Doc

[DrPublo]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]
The first group played Blackjack. Each player got 10,000 chips. They play until three of the players bust out. The winners go to the "free ride" couch and the loosers go on to the next game.


[/ QUOTE ]

Wouldn't this encourage players from betting the minimum every time, hoping the other numbskulls bet it all on one hand and lose?

[/ QUOTE ]

Betting the minimum doesn't seem very king-like to me.

The Doc

[Beck]

[ QUOTE ]
[ QUOTE ]

Mike first had to play Blackjack. He bet his whole stack on one hand, asked for a hit on 17 and busted. Damn, now Mike has to try his luck at Roulette.

At the Roulette table, first spin Mike bet his entire stack on black and, big surprise, lost.

[/ QUOTE ]
Yeah, if you had to win a certin amount.
But if it's last man standing-thing, why not just keep betting the inimum on the even chances waitig for the other players to bust?

Funny part is this is probably the best way to play.

[/ QUOTE ]