Jeff Haney notes the similarities between blackjack and poker, and the differences between blackjack and its tournament version

Monday, March 6, 2006 | 7:30 a.m.

It takes plenty of skill and a healthy dose of "card sense" to compete successfully in a blackjack tournament.

Yet, in a paradox, much of the skill required has little or nothing to do with playing the game of blackjack at a high level.

In a tournament - where you compete against your fellow entrants rather than the "house," or casino - skills such as managing your chips and sizing your bets properly are of paramount importance. The fundamentals of blackjack are almost incidental.

That's the challenge faced by the producers of the World Series of Blackjack, which was filmed last week at the Las Vegas Hilton and is scheduled to begin its third season of shows in early June on GSN, the Network for Games (Cox cable channel 344).

"Tournament blackjack is different from regular blackjack in that you're going against the other players," said author Ben Mezrich, an analyst on the GSN broadcast. "You have to get people to understand that it's a competitive game, a competition. It has a lot of the same elements that a poker tournament has."

Mezrich chronicled the adventures of card-counting teams and blackjack pros in his bestseller "Bringing Down the House" and 2005 follow-up "Busting Vegas."

So he's well aware of another difference between tournaments and "live" blackjack play: Once you show any proficiency at all at the blackjack tables, the casino won't hesitate to show you the door.

Like others in the betting world, Mezrich uses the term "advantage player" to describe such a gambler, one who has an edge against the house.

"If you're an advantage player, you're going to get kicked out," Mezrich said. "There's a difference between being a great tournament player and being an advantage player - although there is some overlap. You find a lot of advantage players who are also great tournament players."

Though it's less established and takes place on a smaller scale than the big televised poker tournaments, Mezrich draws a parallel between the World Series of Blackjack and its poker counterparts.

"Poker has exploded over the last few years," Mezrich said. "Once they figure out the best way to televise blackjack, I think it will become as popular as poker."

Kevin Belinkoff, vice president of programming for GSN, also thinks blackjack tournaments can become a poker-like staple on television.

"We're the only network that shows blackjack," Belinkoff said. "We consider ourselves the home of blackjack, and we are really committed to it. We think it hasn't received the kind of exposure it deserves."

The third season of the World Series of Blackjack carries a $1 million prize pool, with $500,000 going to the winner.

The tournament has a field of 40 players and will be divided into 13 TV episodes.

Whereas all of the players in the first two seasons were simply invited to compete, more than half of this season's field qualified by winning promotional tournaments held at casinos throughout the country. The rest, including some established blackjack tournament experts, were invited to play.

Producers plan to rely more extensively on qualifying tournaments in forthcoming seasons, a model reminiscent of "satellite poker tournaments - smaller, less expensive events that award entry into larger, more lucrative tournaments.

"Absolutely, we want that aspect of it to grow," Belinkoff said. "We've spoken to a lot of casinos, and we expect the number of satellite qualifiers to grow.

GSN has introduced a couple of twists to its telecast of the third season of the WSOB, including a so-called "knockout feature" by which the player with the smallest stack of chips at the table periodically gets, well, knocked out.

It's all part of the evolution of blackjack on TV, Belinkoff said.

"Look at how baseball has been televised over the last 50 years," Belinkoff said, "with statistics on the screen, instant replay, super slo-mo ... there's always a question of how much information you give (the viewer), how much is too much and what's the right amount.

"We're really building televised blackjack from the ground up."

A number of professional poker players, including 2003 World Series of Poker champion Chris Moneymaker, are scheduled to play in a charity poker tournament Tuesday and Wednesday at Caesars Palace to benefit the Jeff Gordon Foundation.

Gordon, fellow NASCAR star Tony Stewart and bull-riding champion Ross Coleman are among the other celebrities expected to play in the tournament, which carries a $1,000 buy-in and will also award a seat in this year's World Series of Poker.

The Jeff Gordon Foundation, designed to support the physical, social and intellectual needs of children and their families, is the official charity of the World Series of Poker.

To register for the Jeff Gordon Foundation Poker Classic, call (800) HARRAHS.