The competition (and bragging rights) for the World's Greatest Blackjack Player (aka Grosjean Cup) was significantly different than previous years at this year's Blackjack Ball.
Instead of the usual 21-question "test," this year's blackjack competition was implemented in a sudden-death format where you had to answer each question to advance correctly. You were eliminated if you had an incorrect or no answer to a question.
Max showed the first question on the big screen. If you answered it correctly, you raised your answer card. As expected, quite a few contestants raised answer cards. Those who didn't get the correct answer placed their answer card on the table, and they were eliminated from the competition. This process was repeated for questions 2, 3, and 4. Below are the four questions.
(Note: Click here to read Part 1 of this article.)
Grosjean Cup Questions
1. It’s a double-deck live game in a casino, face up, first round. Who should take insurance?
2. It’s a double-deck game, dealer stands on soft 17 (s17), and a blackjack pays 3-2. According to Peter Griffin’s Theory of Blackjack , before you look at your hand, what is your expectation with the dealer showing a six upcard?
3. Which player’s hands are NOT one of Don Schlesinger’s Illustrious 18?
4. Four-deck game, dealer hits soft 17 (h17), and doubling down allowed after pair splitting (das). Indicate what the basic playing strategy is for each hand. If you miss one, you are eliminated.
(Note: The answers to the questions are at the end of the article.)
After the fourth question, there were only seven contestants with raised answer cards. They were invited on stage for a tiebreaker question.
Tie Breaker Question
"Name a Las Vegas casino with over 2,000 hotel rooms." Each contestant went in turn and named a casino. If they repeated the name of a casino or named a casino with fewer than 2,000 rooms, they were eliminated.
The three players who survived the tiebreaker were:
- Barry Meadow
- Michael Kaplan, and
- Stan
They joined John Chang, winner of the World's Fastest Card Counter (WFCC) contest, on the final table for the skills competition. This involved:
- Correctly playing your hand if you can see the dealer's hole card.
- Memorizing the sequence of cards spread on a table.
- Estimating the number of cards in a stack of cards.
- Inserting the cut card exactly at 17 cards.
Here are the result of the competition:
- John Chang won the Grosjean Cup and bragging rights as "The World’s Greatest Blackjack Player."
- Steve won the Munchkin trophy for second place
- Barry Meadow came in third place.
- Michael Kaplan finished in fourth place.
John Chang won both competitions this year: World’s Fastest Card Counter and the Grosjean Cup.
Winning Teams in Pari-Mutuel Competition
Based on the above winners, players in the Pari-Mutuel contest cashed in if they wagered on the three teams listed below.
- WIN: Hall of Fame Team #4 (included John Chang)
- PLACE: The Field Team #1 (included Steve)
- SHOW: Gambling Writers Team #10 (included Barry Meadow)
- FOURTH: Gambling Writers Team #10 (included Michael Kaplan)
Answers to the Grosjean Cup Questions
- Nobody
- $24
- 8-8
- 1-SR, 2-D, 3-D, 4-SR
Acknowledgments
I want to acknowledge that assistance of Michael Dalton (blackjackreview.com) for formatting that images, photos, and slides, and Max Rubin and Don Schlesinger for reviewing the article and providing me with some additional information prior to its publication.
Henry Tamburin is the author of the Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide. To read more of his articles on blackjack and video poker click here.
