In a final heat which TDHC marketing and promotions coordinator Kiri Jackson considers as “unusual”, O. Shigeo grabbed the trophy after he emerged as the grand prize winner for beating the six other players at the final table.
Coming in second was F. Kiichi who bagged the $25,000 prize, followed by H. Isamu who grabbed the $15,000 third prize.
Fourth to 7th place winners who went home with $1,000 prize each were U. Yoshihide, T. Kaname, K. Nobuo and I. Yasuo.
“What makes the tournament unusual was that the seven finalists were all males and all Japanese,” Kiri Jackson said. She added that it had been a long time since the final table had been dominated from players of one country.
“We usually end up with a mix of Koreans, Japanese and even locals. In some cases there are women who make it to the finals,” Kiri said.
The tournament started with the players competing in three heats at seven tables for the preliminary rounds on Saturday evening.
On Sunday evening, the winners from each table were pitted against each other for the semi-final round before finally coming up with the seven final players. Fifteen Koreans joined this year’s final Blackjack Challenge while the rest are Japanese and others.
Tournament director Tony Jackson said that the turnout of the Blackjack Challenge was very good.
“This is the last one for the year, and although the number of players is a little bit lower than average, the turnout is successful, and we are very thankful for our clients who joined us and kept coming back for all the tournaments at the TDHC not only for this year but for the past years,” Tony said.
“We are looking for bigger and better tournaments in 2009,” he said.
He added that they are looking forward to drawing more participants for the five Baccarat Challenges and two Blackjack Championships slated next year.
Baccarat Challenges are scheduled for Jan. 18-18, March 14-15, July 11-12, Sept, 12-13, and Oct. 17-18, 2009. The first Blackjack Championship is set for June 13-14 while the second and final Blackjack Championship is scheduled for Dec. 12-13, 2009.
