WINNER: Ken Einiger

Ken Einiger just added a UBT Legends championship to his sterling resume. Incredible.

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PLAYERS:

The players are James Grosjean, "MIT" Mike Aponte, David Matthews, Stanford Wong, Ken Einiger, Anthony Curtis, and Ken Smith.

This is the first "Legends Tournament." Six of the players were chosen for their tournament-blackjack accomplishments and reputations, and David Matthews is in the field as the UBT's Tournament of Champions champion. James Grosjean is relatively new to tournament play, but he's already contributed some excellent research on tournament strategy and is considered one of the game's top players. MIT Mike was GSN's first World Series of Blackjack champion. Stanford Wong is considered the godfather of tournament play, having formed one of the early tournament teams and written the classic book Casino Tournament Strategy. Ken Einiger was the 2005 World Series of Blackjack Champion and the author of the book Play to Win—A World Champion's Guide to Winning Blackjack Tournaments. Anthony Curtis won the World Matchplay Blackjack championship and is the publisher of the Las Vegas Advisor. And Ken Smith is simply the highest-regarded tournament player in the world today.

This is probably the most star-studded tournament table in history.

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ELIMINATION:

Hand 5: After falling to last place early, David Matthews makes the play that won him the UBT title, but his early all-in fails to produce this time. Almost fittingly, the young gun is first off the table.

Hand 8: Despite betting last, Ken Smith gets in trouble with the low chip count and these players make him pay. Ken makes an excellent all-in bet (see "Strategy Notes"), but is eliminated when the dealer turns a blackjack.

Hand 15: Finding himself well behind on hand 13, James Grosjean bet $76,000 from his $77,000 stack and lost. Two hands later, he loses his remaining chips and is gone.

Hand 16: Stanford Wong simply needs to win his hand on the second EH to survive, but busts.

Hand 22: Despite having $152,500, MIT Mike is far behind in the chip count by hand 22 and makes a good max bet and desperation double (see "Strategy Notes"). He loses, and the match is down to two.

Last Hand
With only three hands left till the final elimination on hand 25, Ken Einiger has more than a max-bet lead on Anthony Curtis. Ken increases the lead to $349,500 to $163,500 with two hands to go, but Anthony doubles up on hand 24. On hand 25, Ken is still ahead and bets second, but Anthony has a secret bet left. The secret bet is powerful and causes a misread by Ken that gives Anthony the advantage. But when the dealer draws a 6 for 21, Ken beats the odds and becomes the first Legends champion.

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SEASON ONE RECAP:
Episode 1: The final table is a powerhouse, featuring great play, a classic good-versus-evil scenario...
Episode 2: This is an emotion-packed contest, with tempers flaring (between Matthews and Pine) in later rounds...
Episode 3: If anything, this episode demonstrates that you're not out till you're out. Tyrone Jackson is down to just $15,000 on hand 9...
Episode 4: This is a strategy-packed match that provides plenty of fodder, as you'll see, for Strategy Notes...
Episode 5: The match is a roller-coaster ride of ups and downs, featuring a couple of excellent strategic plays and the first playoff of the UBT series...
Episode 6: It's a shootout. At hand 25, the three remaining players—Monica, Jennifer, and Angie—have nearly $1 million among them...
Episode 7: As has been the case earlier in this season, the repeat players, Gary Debernardi and John Cernuto, fair much better the second time around...
Episode 8: Dave gets battered mid-match and has to climb back from a significant deficit to get to heads-up play with Erica Schoenberg...
Episode 9: All of the players obviously have tournament chops. Ken Smith is the consensus favorite, but David Matthews, Adriana Jade, and Hollywood Dave are all considered prominent...
Episode 10: With huge bragging rights on the line (not to mention the prize money), the players are dialed in for this one and there are loads of high-end...

SEASON TWO RECAP:
Episode 1: This wasn't a timid table, but the eliminations came slowly and there were three players all the way to the 30th hand...
Episode 2: As it often does, it came down to cards in the end—but rather than it being about who got them, it was more about who didn't...
Episode 3: With two seasoned blackjack-tournament pros (Anthony and Blair) and one poker-tournament superstar...
Episode 4: This match will go down as one of the strangest and best in UBT history...
Episode 5: The blackjack players excelled on this day, with Ken Einiger and Adriana Jade steadily pulling away from the field..
Episode 6: Chips flew early in this match and three players, including Ken Smith, were already gone by the end of hand 8...
Episode 7: The final table of the UBT's first Poker vs. Blackjack Superstar Showdown features an interesting mix of poker and blackjack luminaries...
Episode 8: The three "favorites" mentioned above go out before the third Elimination Hand and the All-Stars contest comes down to the unlikely trio...