A round of Elimination Blackjack in most cases is thirty hands in length. Depending upon the organization hosting the event, a player will start with between $10,000 and $100,000 worth of chips. While certain organizations have their own house rules, Elimination Blackjack usually follows the following rules:
The house must hit on soft 17 and anything below, and must stay on hard 17 and anything above.
A player may split pairs up to four times (with the exceptions of aces).
A shoe of six decks is used.
A player's bet must stay within the minimum and maximum bet allowed at the table (this rule is excluded in the World Series of Blackjack).
A player may surrender their hand, and recover one half of their original bet.
A player may buy insurance if the up card for the house is an ace.
A player can only double down with two cards.
A max of seven players is allowed per table.
A player has twenty five seconds in a normal hand to make a decision. In an "elimination hand" a player has forty five seconds.
Some organizations allow a "Secret Bet" where the players at the table do not know the value of that player's bet, until after that player's hand is concluded. In most organizations, this option can be used only once during any round of the tournament.
Eliminations
Depending on the organization hosting the event, a player is eliminated from the tournament in three ways:
Losing all of his or her chips.
Not having enough chips to meet the minimum required bet.
Being the player with the fewest chips after a certain number of hands are played. In this case, the usual cutoff points are hands #8, #16, and #25 (called "elimination hands").
A player is ALWAYS eliminated from the game in an "elimination hand" even if a player has been eliminated in the previous hand.
Winning
Usually the last player left at the table is the winner, or the player with the most chips after 30 hands have been played.
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