On June 19, 2007, while some of the youngest blackjack players in the CNMI were on a trip for the diamonds, some of the most interesting casino gambling action to be held at the Tinian Dynasty Hotel and Casino's gaming halls came when the continent's home of "Hit Me" awarded $142,000 during the Blackjack Championship.
28 year old office employee, Suga Hiroyuki, traveled all the way from Tokyo, Japan to participate in his first Blackjack event after reading about the Tinian Dynasty Hotel's Casino Blackjack tournament on the web. It seems he made the right decision.
He won $85,000. At first, Hiroyuki seemed to be destined to finish in third place with a 17 on the Blackjack table and a $13,000 purse as his prize money, but his supporters encouraged him to wager the farm by doubling down on his $1,000 wager.
Hiroyuki then bet another $1,000 chip that the next card would give him an edge against the dealer's card hand of 19, but it could have proved disastrous to Hiroyuki because if he failed, he would have lost $12,000 and slid off to the winners of $1,000. Yet it proved advantageous to Hiroyuki as he walked away with the top prize.
Lah Se Won finished in second place and Arai Hiroyuki finished in third place. Lah Se Won took home $40,000 in cash prizes and Arai Hiroyuki take home $13,000.
Blackjack Tournament Director, Travis Hanley, commented that he is happy with the player turnout at the event, commenting that there are about 142 players who have participated in it.
Monday, July 16 , 2007
Victor Copeland