The Ultimate Blackjack Tour was a televised series of Elimination Blackjack tournaments that aired in syndication. It debuted on September 16, 2006. The show consists of a series of televised Elimination Blackjack tournaments. The winner of each weekly tournament returns for the final Tournament of Champions.
Along with professional blackjack players and Internet qualifiers, the producers included a number of professional poker players not normally known for playing blackjack to draw attention to the poker elements inherent in the unique format of Elimination Blackjack tournaments.
The show was executive produced by Houston Curtis and his production company with additional EP's, Jon Moonves and Sam Korkis. UBT was hosted by Max Rubin and Mati Moralejo, with Nikki Ziering and Shandi Finnessey serving as sideline reporters. Nikki Ziering did not return for the second season. Anthony Curtis conducted the analysis of all hands shown and wrote the commentary.
Featured players of the Ultimate Blackjack Tour are members of Team UBT, which is made up of poker stars like Johnny Chan, Robert Williamson III, and Phil Laak and professional blackjack players like world champions Ken Einiger and Anthony Curtis, Mike Aponte, James Grosjean, "Hollywood" Dave Stann and Monica Reeves.
Season 1 The first season consisted of ten televised tournaments. The winner of each of seven preliminary tournaments returned for the final Tournament of Champions. Players competed for a share of over $1 million. Two of the episodes, "Ladies' Night" and the "UBT Legends Tournament," were not qualifiers for the Tournament of Champions.
Tournament results Tournament Winner Runner-Up Other Players in Finish OrderTournament 1 Ken Smith "Hollywood" Dave Stann Michael Postle "Miami" John Cernuto Michael Castellana Alex Brenes Chuck GorsonTournament 2 David Matthews Joanna "Queen of Spades" W. Jimmy Pine Eric Bloore James Grosjean Robert Blechman Antonio EsfandiariTournament 3 Lupe Sherman Tyrone Jackson Willard Dubois Erica Schoenberg David "Devilfish" Ulliott Fred David Ron SaccavinoTournament 4 Monica Reeves Chuck Gorson Klara Lato Mark Kroon Michael Castellana Steven Suh Gary "Debo" DeBernardiTournament 5 Adriana Jade Blair Rodman Spencer Mohler Patrick Taylor Norm Sheridan S.H. Long Dewey Tomko "Ladies' Night"1 Angie "Moneytaker" Hardy Monica Reeves Jennifer Tilly Erica Schoenberg Klara Lato Annie Duke Clonie GowenTournament 6 "Rock & Roll" Darrell Arnold Gary "Debo" DeBernardi "Miami" John Cernuto Kevin Blackwood Artie Cobb Shawn Rice Previn MankodiTournament 7 "Hollywood" Dave Stann Erica Schoenberg Skip Samad Freddy Deeb Dennis Novinskey Matt Davidow Jennifer Tilly Season 1 Championship David Matthews Adrianna Jade Darrell Arnold "Hollywood" Dave Stann Ken Smith Tyrone Jackson Monica Reeves"UBT Legends Tournament" Ken Einiger Anthony Curtis"MIT Mike" Aponte Stanford Wong James Grosjean Ken Smith David Matthews 1 Not a qualifier tournament for the Season 1 Championship table
Season 2
Tournament results Tournament Winner Runner-Up Other Players in Finish OrderTournament 1 Cosimo Tripodl James Nguyen Gleb Bourianoff "Miami" John Cernuto Marie Hua Gary Biedrzyck Huan Quan MaiTournament 2 Erlinda Sotto Brian Soper "Hollywood" Dave Stann John Smith Ahmet Akdeniz Matti Shuale Michael ToomeyTournament 3 Blair Rodman Anthony Curtis David Crawford Christian Guitron Kevin Zarnick John Schultz Antonio EsfandiariTournament 4 "Hollywood" Dave Stann Annie Duke Johnny Chan Jennifer Tilly Joe Pane Anthony Curtis Fred DavidTournament 5 Adriana Jade Ken Eineger Freddie Deeb Martin Pollak Phil Hellmuth Barry Shulman David MatthewsTournament 6 James Grosjean Robert Williamson III Monica Reeves Blair Rodman "Miami" John Cernuto Antonio Esfandiari, Ken Smith (tie)"All-Stars Tournament" Phil Hellmuth René Angélil Freddie Deeb Annie Duke "Hollywood" Dave Stann Robert Williamson III Ken Einiger
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