How good is your imagination? Can you see yourself sitting at a blackjack table competing against some of the big guns of poker and blackjack with a TV audience of millions of viewers watching you? Can you see yourself being interviewed on national TV with a stack of money so high that you need to stand up so the cameras can see your mug? If this is what you’ve always dreamed about but always seemed to find an excuse as to why it couldn’t happen to you, I’m here to tell you that your time has come and there are no more excuses. The Ultimate Blackjack Tour (UBT) has everything you have ever dreamed about and its all there for the taking.

Unlike many land-based blackjack tournaments, there are no playing requirements for the UBT. Yep, you read that right, you can forget about having to grind out the usual eight hours of play-time over two days with an average bet of $400 and a cash deposit of $15,000 in the cage or worse, losing a minimum of $8,000 before they deal you in. In Las Vegas (and for that matter just about every casino that holds blackjack tournaments) these play requirements are the hoops you must jump through to participate in these big money tournaments. With the UBT, you can forget about them because there aren’t any. So, if want to play for large sums of money that just might change your life style and make you a household name at the same time, keep reading. If you can say U-B-T, your blackjack world and your opportunity for fame and fortune is about to change.

For the first time there will be a blackjack tournament that allows all players regardless of their age or blackjack playing experience, the ultimate chance to show off their skills to not just a few people standing behind their table in a casino, but to the millions of viewers who will be watching them on CBS TV. Will you be the blackjack- version of poker star Phil Hellmuth, hated by most but watched by all, or will you be adored like Annie Duke, who is in just about every household in America that owns a TV. Will you like to play against some of the top blackjack players in the world, the same ones that casinos fear and banish from their tables? You can in the UBT with a format that levels the playing field so that you stand a fair chance to compete against the "BIG GUNS" of blackjack and poker.

Think about this. Could you play one-on-one against Michael Jordan in basketball and beat him? Of course you couldn’t. How about playing a round of golf against Tiger Woods and win? I don’t think so. The point is that the UBT allows average players the chance to compete on a fairly level playing field against some of the best blackjack and poker players in the world. You could be the one that makes Phil Hellmuth roll on the floor crying from the "bad beat" you put on him to take him down while you are standing in front of the huge pile of prize money with the whole world watching on the number one TV network. This will certainly be something you will never forget - your 15 minutes of fame that everyone will see and remember for a lifetime.

OK so much for the accolades about the UBT. Let’s get down to the nuts and bolts of how you can participate and what they have done to the rules to make the tournament more exciting for players and viewers while at the same time leveling the playing field. The BIG announcement came on May 11, 2006, a day that will go down in infamy in the world of blackjack. The UBT signed a 2-year deal not with a cable network, but with the world’s biggest TV network, CBS TV! If you haven’t seen the press release announcing the UBT here it is:

May 11, 2006

CBS SPORTS DEALS "ULTIMATE BLACKJACK TOUR"

CBS Sports announced today a two-season commitment to broadcast the ULTIMATE BLACKJACK TOUR as complementary programming to its fall sports lineup.

CBS Sports will broadcast the first of ten ULTIMATE BLACKJACK TOUR programs on Saturday, Sept. 16 (2:00 PM, ET). Additionally CBS Sports has committed to broadcasting a second season beginning in Spring 2007.

THE ULTIMATE BLACKJACK TOUR, founded by world-renowned gaming expert Russ Hamilton, is a special series of Elimination Blackjack™ tournaments with a unique patent-pending format that gives the "average Joe" a chance to play alongside the best players in the world such as World Blackjack Champion Ken Einiger, as well as poker champions like Phil Hellmuth, Johnny Chan, and Annie Duke.

"This special Elimination Blackjack™ is a unique format that should create excitement for the viewers," said Rob Correa, Senior Vice President Programming, CBS Sports. "We feel this will be a great companion to our existing Saturday afternoon lineup."

"CBS is the perfect partner for this venture," said UBT 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."

The deal with CBS Sports foreshadows big things for the UBT as Blackjack is already a significantly more popular game than poker in the U.S. and worldwide. "Poker has gone crazy," said Hellmuth, a nine-time WSOP Champion. "Now you have another tournament game of skill. The UBT is going to be huge."

The special, patent-pending "elimination" format contains "forced eliminations," "secret bets," and, for the first time, reveals the dealer's hole card to the audience. These elements combine to add a heightened sense of drama that's unlike anything the genre has ever seen. "The UBT has figured out how to make blackjack exciting for television and I'm absolutely hooked," said poker champion Duke. "It was a blast to play and equally exciting to watch."

UBT producers invited more than 100 of the world's top card players to compete in Las Vegas for a chance to play in one of seven "Final Table" championship events in Los Angeles and win a share of over one million dollars in prize money. The seven championship programs, along with two special programs – the "Legends of Blackjack" and the "Ladies of Blackjack" – plus the "UBT Tournament of Champions" were shot at CBS Television City.

The second season will follow a defined worldwide tour schedule and be open to the public. Additionally, players will be able to compete for a seat at each event's final table by playing in free Elimination Blackjack™ competitions on the ULTIMATE BLACKJACK TOUR’s official website, PLAYUBT.COM. The site will also provide Elimination Blackjack™ playing tips and in-depth analysis of the televised events.

In an effort to generate massive awareness about the Tour and enhance the standard slotting of network promos, UBT Chief Marketing Officer Larry Kopald said that discussions are underway with major sponsors and promotional partners in preparation for a national media blitz scheduled to coincide with the launch of the series on September 16.

The UBT is produced by Blackjack Entertainment, headed by executive producers Houston Curtis of Big Vision Entertainment and top entertainment attorney, Jon Moonves. Also serving as executive producers are Sam Korkis and Mark Ganshirt of Red 23 Entertainment.

Season 1 of the UBT will consist of 10 shows premiering on CBS beginning Sept. 16 at 2pm ET, the perfect lead-in to their Prime Time Saturday College Football Game of The Week. How’s that for ultimate exposure?

Actually, the preliminary rounds for Season 1 were filmed last October at the beautiful Lake Las Vegas and the finals were filmed a few weeks later at a CBS studio in Los Angeles. This first UBT tournament was by invitation only and as many of you already know, several BJI writers, including me, were invited to play.

UBT Season 2 will be your opportunity to play against the big boys on national TV. Come on, you know while watching those poker and blackjack tournaments on TV you’ve said to yourself a hundred times, "I could beat these guys if they would just let me play against them." Well Christmas came early this year because now you get that chance. There are no more excuses because if you don’t want to pay the entry fee to play in the UBT events you can win your seat on line for free. That’s correct PlayUBT.com will be giving away one seat directly to the final table for every tournament. There are at least 18 tournaments scheduled for Season 2 so will have the chance be in the money and on national TV eighteen different times for free.

There also will be on line tournaments where you can win your seat into a UBT tournament with entry fees staring as low as $1. Or you can pay the $2.5K entry fee to participate in a UBT tournament much like poker players pony up $10K to enter the World Series of Poker.

The first tournament of Season 2 will be held in Aruba the week of Sept. 24, 2006. Additional UBT tournament stops for Season 2 will be held in these cities:

Las Vegas

Atlantic City

California

Caribbean

Paris, France

Other locations will be announced shortly.

Here are some of the big players that you will be facing on national TV:

Phil Hellmuth (WSOP Champion)

Annie Duke

Johnny Chan (Two Time WSOP Champion)

Phil "Unabomber" Laak

Freddy Deeb (Ultimate Bet Champion 2005)

David "Devil Fish" Ulliott

Robert Williamson 111

Layne Flack

Jennifer Tilly (actress and WSOP Women’s Champion 2005)

Anthony Curtis

Kenny Einiger (WSOB 2005 Champion)

Michael Castalana

A chance like this comes along once in a lifetime so don’t let it pass you by because now you have no more excuses.

"May all your aces have a little paint on them, especially in the UBT."

LV Tournament Pro