World Series of Blackjack

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The World Series of Blackjack is a televised blackjack tournament created and produced by the cable network GSN. It is a closed tournament; players are either invited to play or can attempt to win a spot via a satellite tournament. Rounds are edited into 1-hour episodes and broadcast on GSN. Matt Vasgersian and Max Rubin provided commentary for the first two seasons.

The third season began airing weekly on June 5, 2006 as part of GSN's Casino Night programming block, with new hosts John Fugelsang and Ben Mezrich. Two major changes have been made to the tournament rules:

  • Two "knockout cards" are added to each card shoe. When a knockout card appears in the course of a hand, the player with the lowest chip total at the end of the following hand is eliminated. The knockout card also signifies an increase in the minimum bet per hand. If a player has already been eliminated before a knockout card appears, no additional player is eliminated.
  • The "Burger King Power Chip." Each player receives one such chip per game. Using the chip allows the player the one-time chance to discard one card from his or her hand and replace it with the next card from the shoe. If used on a double-down hand, the chip allows the player to look at the double down card and decide to keep it or exchange it.


Contents

[edit] Season 1 Results

Round Winner Runner-Up Other Players
Round 1 Regina Guzior Michael Konik
Round 2 "MIT Mike" Aponte "Hollywood" Dave Stann
  • Ken Einiger
  • Joanna "Queen of Spades" W.
  • Susan Pikor
Round 3 Micky Rosa Bobby J.
  • Bradley Peterson
  • Cathy Hulbert
  • Ashwin Patel
Round 4 Jimmy Pine Previn Mankodi
Round 5 Ken Smith Richard Munchkin
  • Jane Gamble
  • Franky DeRocco
  • Skip Samad
Wild Card Round "Hollywood" Dave Stann Bobby J.
  • Michael Konik
  • Previn Mankodi
  • Richard Munchkin
Finals Mike Aponte "Hollywood" Dave Stann
  • Jimmy Pine
  • Micky Rosa
  • Regina Guzior
  • Ken Smith

Mike Aponte, a former member of the MIT Blackjack Team, won the Season 1 championship and $100,000.

[edit] Season 2 Results

Round Winner Runner-Up Other Players
Round 1 Kevin Blackwood "Hollywood" Dave Stann
Round 2 Leann Moell Charlene Ono
Round 3 Stanford Wong Robert Blechman
  • Regina Guzior
  • Richard Taraska
  • Nicki Vermeulen
Round 4 Kami Lis Nancy Kubasek
Wild Card Round Charlene Ono
  • "Hollywood" Dave Stann
  • Nancy Kubasek
  • Robert Blechman
Round 6 Anthony Curtis Erica Schoenberg
  • Tyrone Washington
  • Rick Swogger
  • David Page
Round 7 Rick Jensen Ken Einiger
Round 8 Viktor Nacht Micky Rosa
Round 9 Jason Geraci Michelle Richards
Wild Card Round Ken Einiger
  • Micky Rosa
  • Erica Schoenberg
  • Michelle Richards
Semi-Final Rick Jensen Ken Einiger
  • Anthony Curtis
  • Viktor Nacht
Semi-Final Stanford Wong Kami Lis
  • Kevin Blackwood
  • Leann Moell
Finals Ken Einiger Kami Lis
  • Stanford Wong
  • Rick Jensen

Ken Einiger claimed the Season 2 championship, winning $250,000.

[edit] Season 3 Results

Round Winner Runner-Up Other Players
Round 1 Paul Haas Tommy Dyer
  • John Grannis
  • Sheila Taylor
  • Ken Einiger
Round 2 Charlie Montoya Kami Lis
  • Anthony Lu
  • Steve Bortle
  • Darrell Arnold
Round 3 Jeff Bernstein Angie "Moneytaker" Hardy
  • Jamie Root
  • David Weston
  • Mano Fuentes
Round 4 Henry Tran Randy Driggers
  • Jennifer Ortega
  • Ted Coustenis
  • Tommy Connor
Round 5 Tony Duong John Payne
  • Shawn Crowder
  • Vicki Reed
  • "Hollywood" Dave Stann
Round 6 Dominick Haven Ken Smith
  • Paul Eckstein
  • Val Hunter
  • Elie Karam
Round 7 Pat Nicholas Henry Fletcher
  • Mikki Padilla
  • Frank Calderone
  • David Matthews
Round 8 "Razor" Rob Boisvert Erica Schoenberg
  • Marshall E. Lafferty
  • Scottie Black
  • Randy Joyce
Wild Card Round 1 Kami Lis
  • Randy Driggers
  • Ken Smith
  • Tommy Dyer
  • Tommy Connor1
Wild Card Round 2 John Payne
  • Jamie Root1
  • Erica Schoenberg
  • Angie Hardy
  • Henry Fletcher
Semi-Final 1 Jeff Bernstein John Payne
  • Henry Tran
  • Paul Haas
  • Pat Nicholas
Semi-Final 2 Kami Lis Charlie Montoya
  • Tony Duong
  • Dominick Haven
  • Rob Boisvert
Finals Jeff Bernstein Tony Duong2
  • John Payne
  • Kami Lis
  • Charlie Montoya

Dr. Jeff Bernstein won the $500,000 grand prize for his Season 3 victory.

1Made Wild Card Round through random draw among all 3rd-5th place preliminary finishers
2Made Final Table through random draw among all 3rd-5th place semi-final finishers

[edit] See also

[edit] References

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