Turn back the clock to May 2005 and something very exciting and historic happened. This was the first time that someone had ever won One Million Dollars in a Blackjack tournament. The tournament was held at the Hilton Hotel in Las Vegas and Sammy Vaughn walked away with the big prize after winning the event.
Thinking back to this day got us thinking about picking up pro tips from the best players out there. How much can you really learn by watching other players?
Watching and Learning
Sammy is clearly a very capable Blackjack player; you’d need to be to win a million dollars. But for us mere mortals, will watching him play actually help improve our gameplay? In my opinion, absolutely. This is not only true for Blackjack, but for any game out there that requires skill and knowledge. Something like Roulette, I don’t think it will help at all as that game is down to luck, but Poker or Blackjack, picking up tips from the best can absolutely help
Be Adaptable
However, one thing to keep in mind is that these pro players typically don’t only have one strategy that they can use. If you enter into a Blackjack tournament today and play with the exact same strategy used by Sammy without reacting to how other players are playing the game, it probably won’t go well for you.
It’s also important that you understand the strategy and why the pros have done certain things in certain situations. If you don’t you’re just going to be going through the motions, copying their plays without understanding why. This leads back to being adaptable and if you don’t understand, you can’t adapt.
Watching is not a replacement
While watching and learning from better players clearly has the potential to improve your gameplay, this is something you do in addition to playing yourself. Watching is not a substitute for getting out there and playing these games yourself, either at a casino or with friends.
There is no substitute for real-world experience, you’re not likely to win a Blackjack tournament if you’ve never played the game before and only read about how to play it. However, as I said, feel free to draw from the experience of the top players out there. It’s only going to improve your gameplay and who knows; maybe one day you’ll be winning some tournaments.
