Imagine yourself scrolling through your television listings at 2am looking for one of the many televised Texas Holdem poker tournaments. You've seen most of the "regular" tournaments that play over and over again as filler on the sports networks, but something else catches your eye.

Elimination Blackjack?

Since there's nothing else to watch, you decide to give this show a brief chance--either that, or it's reruns of Punky Brewster, or an infomercial trying to sell you self-sharpening knives.

For a moment or two it looks and feels like a regular poker tournament (they all have two cards), except that they're making really strange bets, and they aren't calling, raising, or folding. They're using terms like "hit me", "stand", and "insurance".

It doesn't take long for you to get hooked on the excitement of Elimination Blackjack, a curious blend of regular casino blackjack and the style of tournament poker.

Again, the object is to be the last man (or woman) standing (or sitting), and the process is that ever certain number of hands the lowest person is eliminated. That person doesn't even have to lose all their money! The old poker saying "a chip and a chair" doesn't hold any value in this game--because you could still have a chip, but if it's the lowest number of chips, say goodbye to your chair.

Watching Elimination Blackjack can be an interesting experience, because the players are always counting the other players chips, and calculating their bets not only to win the most money, but to be sure that you are winning more money than your opponents.

It's a curious blend of luck and strategy, because even if you lose, you can still win--if your opponents bet more and lose. Players will sometimes cheer for the dealer to win--not something you'll see everyday!

Winning at Elimination Blackjack takes some skill, and even more cunning, because it doesn't take much to find yourself low man (or again, woman) on the totem pole.

While it might not hold the same traditions as Texas Holdem, and the strict numbers of traditional blackjack, Elimination Blackjack provides an interesting alternative to the enduring tedium of watching the same tournament over and over again on the television set.