Hello all! I'm back again for the second full weekend of PBR activities.
Well, I never left Vegas but took a few days off with the PBR Bullriders and just enjoyed my time in 80 degree weather. However, last night found all the guys out and roaming the Mandalay Bay Resort & Casino due to the PBR's annual Resistol Relief Fund Blackjack Tournament. It's a night where the mood is relaxed and having a good time out on the town with all the fans and playing cards.
I happened to get there a little early as usual and was asked to announce the event, which I have done in previous years. It was fun to get to see the guys on the outside of the arena just being one of the guys and interacting with their fans. For 14 years now, the blackjack tourney has been able to raise awareness and funds to benefit the injured riders and personnel of the PBR. Many of our talented young men at some point in their career may need to call on this fund to take care of a bill during their incapacity. As you all know when you ride rank bulls for a living, it's not if you get hurt, but when and how bad.
On Halloween night, we had 24 tables of six players each, with the majority of the teams with two or three PBR Riders. The cost per team was $1,000 dollars, so you do the math. The event was underway at 7 PM.
As I stated earlier that I was the announcer so I tried my best for three hours to keep the fans and players abreast of the action at each table. The action at times was fast and furious but after the first 2 rounds and the semifinals, there were six players remaining. They got to sit at the finals table, which is where you want to be at the end of the evening. It was five gentlemen and one young lady, who wasn’t backing down to the guys.
The finals table consisted of 12 hands to bet and everyone started out with $2,500 in chips. The maximum bet was $1,000 for the first ten hands, and all the rules applied as in regular blackjack, like double down and splitting the cards and of course the famous blackjack paid back 1-1/2 times your bet. If I confused any of you I apologize but the game is pretty simple; if you all can count to 21, you can play this game...it's that simple!
Back at the table after 10 hands of everyone watching each other's chips, it was time for the last two hands and everyone had enough chips to start to get creative. The players were riders Billy Robinson, Mark Lopes and Jared Farley, bull fighter Darrel Diefenbach, Chris Woodruff and Shelley Quarteri. The last hand and the final player with the most chips in hand would win the Gist Belt Buckle. All the members of that team would get a buckle as well, so even if you didn't move on through the rounds, you could still win if anyone from your team moved on.
That was the case Wednesday night as the last card dealt was a blackjack for the dealer and it cleared the table. Chris Woodruff and Jared Farley put all their chips in the last hand and came out with nothing. The other four teams had chips left as Mark Lopes and Shelley Quarteri ended the night with a $100 chip and spilt third place which won them beautiful PBR Knives. The second place spot went to Billy Robinson of Virginia and his team put on the 20x Resistol Hats donated by Arena Brands and Resistol. The buckles went to the team of PBR Bullfighter Darrel Diefenbach and his other 5 members and of course all were brought onstage to talk about their night.
If any of you have followed Darrel's career, you will know that he has needed the assistance of the Resistol Relief Fund and was a gracious gentlemen up on stage. He thanked everyone involved in tonight's events and the night ended with his brief speech. It was a great time and fun was had by all.
I'll end by saying see you all tonight (Thursday) with my report of round four and until then, make the best of the rest of your day
J.W. Kinder
Professional Rodeo Announcer
Casper Wyoming
