King of Vegas - Format

Format

Unlike other gambling series on television, King of Vegas includes competition in eight different casino games; four per week, all starting with Blackjack and ending a final game of Texas Hold 'Em. All games are played with players getting a fresh set of $10,000 in chips (the format would later change a bit, but the $10,000 chip gain remained constant until the final episode). All games are played with limited hands/rounds to fit with the show's fast pace and hour-long time slot. All games have no limits on betting.

The show features twelve players, gathered by the producers/creators of the show. Six of the players are gambling pros of varied games and ages. The other six are unknowns in gambling, never having broken into the pro circuit of any game, some of which possibly involved in games on a small level (such as a card dealer). Each week, one player is eliminated, leaving the show with no prize whatsoever. The winner of the tournament takes home $1,000,000 and is crowned King of Vegas.

To start, the players are randomly divided into two groups. One half plays one game (called a "Round"), with a certain number of players with high scores going to the "Sitting Pretty" couch, meaning they are safe from elimination for that week. The other half then play a different casino game with a certain number of players again "Sitting Pretty." A third game is then played with the players who still haven't qualified. Again, a certain number "Sit Pretty." The episode then culminates in the "Texas Hold 'Em Death Match," which includes four players (until the final two episodes). Players try to double their chip stacks to automatically sit pretty. The first two players to Bust go to head-to-head "Sudden Death," same rules as Death Match, where the loser is out of the tournament.

When the player count thins down, the format changes a little bit. When six or less players are left in the competition, all players will play in all three opening games. At six players, all chips won in Round 2 carry over to Round 3. When five or fewer players are left, chips won in both Rounds 1 & 2 will carry on. All players still get a fresh $10,000 in chips at the beginning of all games, on top of whatever they carried over from previous rounds. At the end of the three games, the player on top of all the others in chip count goes to the Sitting Pretty couch while the rest go to the Death Match. When the show drops to three players left, there are no Sitting Pretty seats. Instead, the player with the lowest chip count is eliminated from the tournament after the first three games, and the remaining two players battle it out in the Death Match with $500,000 in chips each. Doubling the chips up wins the tournament and the King of Vegas title.