Blackjack Burnout
[00:00:09] Michael Shackleford: Hi, this is Mike Shackleford with the Wizard of Odds at the 2016 Cutting Edge Table game show at the Flamingo in Las Vegas. I'm here with Angel Espino, promoting the game Blackjack Burnout. Thanks, Angel, can you tell me more about it?
[00:00:23] Angel Espino: Yes. Blackjack burnout is a blackjack variation. The only thing is that we have the burnout option. What the burnout option does, it allows the player to take a hit after they see their two cards. They don't like that card, or their card is a bust card, they have the opportunity to burn the card and then hit again. It can be their third card or their fourth card, but they got a shot at burning the card they don't want, or the bust card, but they must take the very next card. That feature allows the player, it gives them a second chance at winning.
[00:00:58] Michael: So, the player gets a second chance of winning, so he can replace any card he wants at any time. How does it work after splitting?
[00:01:07] Angel: Once you split, a pair for example like eights, then you forfeit the burnout option, because now we can't give them the burnout on both two hands, two splits, or four splits, or whatever. When they don't use the option, for example, they get a blackjack or a 20, and they don't want to burn, they forfeit the 20% fee.
[00:01:27] Michael: All right, so the player pays for it with the 20% fee, nice and simple.
[00:01:32] Angel: Simple, yes. The numbers come out great because when the players betting up, for example a $5 bet, it's $1 per every five, $5 chip per every $25 chip, which is a green chip $25. It keeps the math simple for the player and the dealer.
[00:01:47] Michael: That's good because I think a lot of us Americans don't know how to calculate 20%.
[00:01:52] Angel: Well, it makes it easy for dealers, too.
[00:01:54] Michael: Yes. I also notice that there's a two, three, and four on the layout. What is that?
[00:01:59] Angel: That's an optional bet. What you can do is you can bet that, you don't necessarily have to bet at any time, just like the burnout option. You don't have to bet it ever, but you can bet both at the same time, or you don't. What that does is it has three circles, number two, three and a four. The two signifies that you’re on your second winning hand. So, if you win two in a row, we'll pay you two to one. Then you move on to the third in a row, that pays you four to one, and then if you went four in a row, we'll pay you eight to one.
That feature bet, what's really neat about it is going to entice you to bet the burnout option, because it's going to save, you're in a hot streak, you're on the fourth one, it pays you eight to one, you definitely want to bet that burnout option because it saves your -- because if you bust, it gives you a second shot at saving that bet. So, I think they're going to go hand in hand very well.
[00:02:49] Michael: We may or may not see those parlay bets with the burnout option?
[00:02:54] Angel: Correct. Yes, it's an opportunity for any casino that likes them, maybe they want straight out burnout, and then take out those feature bets, or you can put them together. Then the player also, if they don't want to bet it, they don't have to bet it. They can just bet the burnout, or bet the other feature bet.
[00:03:10] Michael: Thanks, Angel. Can you show me a few examples?
[00:03:12] Angel: Sure, yes, no problem. What happens here is that you have your main bet and you're applying the burnout option. What that allows you to do is take a hit after you see your two cards, and if want to burn a card, you can burn a card if you wish.
So, let's say you have that. You come around, you have 11 up against the five, correct? Now, you want to double down. How many times does it happen when you double down and you get one of those? Many times, right? So, give me one of these signals. That means burn. You burn the card, then you get the next one. The other comes around, comes over, plus it gives you a second chance at winning.
You have two opportunities. You bet the 20%, that's what gives the house that edge because if not, the player would have a huge advantage. So, that brings it back to 1.74 favor in the odds for the house.
Now, we have another feature bet. What this does, for example, you're there. You can bet here, here, here; two, three and four. What that means is that you can bet, if you want to win two hands in a row, we mark it, you win the next one, we pay you two to one on that. Now you can bet that, like that, or you can change it up like this. It doesn't necessarily, you can just bet that, but as you go, we pay you as you go.
For example, we pay you two to one on that, we go to the next one, four to one on that, go to the next one, pay you eight to one on this one. You don't have to bet these. You can bet that, or you can bet this and not this. They're both options to this.
What's really neat about the game is that, let's say you're here, and you're already on your fourth bonus bet. That pays you eight to one, $800. Would you bet $2 to try to win nine hundred dollars? I would do it every time because you have that 15, you hit, you bust, burn it. Give me that four or that six or that five, make a hand, $2 saves you $900.
[00:05:22] John: Right, exactly.
[00:05:23] Angel: I would do it every time. So, this is going to entice this.
[00:05:28] John: Yes. It really increases the value of the burnout but, just last chance to make sure you got to win to get to that fourth row.
[00:05:33] Angel: Correct. This entices this, and this entices to do that. Now, we have two different layouts. If the house only wants a straight up burnout bet, we have that option also. If you want to just put it together, you can put it together also.
The numbers don't affect one or the other. It's all the same all the way across the board. So, let me deal out some hands and see what you guys think, and hopefully get some great opportunities. Now, if you stay, you forfeit the bet, whether you use it or you don't. So, you forfeit your dollar, and if you want to stay, which is the move to make. Now 13 against the seven --
[00:06:09] John: Right. I know if it was a five or six, it would take double [unintelligible 00:06:12] Can I gamble? Can I double anyway?
[00:06:13] Angel: Go ahead, you can do it.
[00:06:15] John: All right, I'm going to do it.
[00:06:16] Angel Espino: This is the cool part about it John is that, if you double down --
[00:06:21] John: Okay, burn it.
[00:06:22] Angel: Burn it.
[00:06:25] John: Let's see it. [laughs] I thought I had it.
[00:06:28] Angel: Let's say you didn't have that, you have something like this. Then you double down. Let's say you just hit. You don't have to burn this card. You can burn your fourth card or --
[00:06:44] John: Really?
[00:06:45] Angel: Correct, so you don't have to necessarily burn this one --
[00:06:47] John: So, I can take another hit, and I’d say, “Oh, burn that one.”
[00:06:51] Angel: That's the one I wanted burned.
[00:06:52] John: Oh, I thought it was only on the third time?
[00:06:53] Angel: Initially, there are typo, initially we're saying that it was, but it's not. It's just a typo on the card, but you can burn any one you want. Yes, it's more value for player because maybe you want to keep that third card, it gives you a 10, and then you want to hope so. So, we'll play it as it is. You have 14, what would you do after that?
[00:07:11] John: I would hit.
[00:07:12] Angel: You want a hit? I gave you four tries.
[00:07:15] John: I know. Four tries.
[00:07:17] Angel: All right, good luck, here we go. 10, 20, now when you lose a hand, all the future bets come down. Then we start over.
[00:07:25] John: So, what if I didn't use my burn back? What if I got a hand and --
[00:07:29] Angel: That you had a blackjack or a 20? You forfeit the bet. The other time when you split pairs, you forfeit that option also, when you split pairs because then they're going to see like 10, 10, 10. Everyone’s going to want to split all the 10s and that’s the reason --
[00:07:42] John: You're generous.
[00:07:44] Angel: Thank you guys, it was awesome.
[00:07:45] John: I want to do whatever the [unintelligible 00:07:46] I want a four before you get a two.
[00:07:47] Angel: Hey, I hit a hundred dollars on this one. The guy said, “I'm going to put you a hundred and double for us,” and we hit it. There you go. Good luck, guys.
[00:07:53] Female Speaker: Can’t wait to let you hit five hands in a row before you bet for the dealer.
[00:07:56] Angel: [laughs] I know, right?
[00:07:56] John: Like you hit and then burn [unintelligible 00:07:59]
[00:07:59] Angel: Yes sir. Once you hit, once you burn a card, you must take the next card. That’s it. You'll stay, forfeit the bet.
[00:08:07] John: I'll hit.
[00:08:11] Angel: I'll hit? All right up. Hit it again. Now, that's when it's advantageous because now you have -- you don't want that.
[00:08:19] John: Yes, I don't want that.
[00:08:20] Angel: Now, you won't hit that. You have 16.
[00:08:22] Female Speaker: Bring it back.
[00:08:23] Angel: Now, you're back to regular blackjack, traditional blackjack. You know the rules on that and the strategy on that, that's 17.
[00:08:30] Michael: Thanks, Angel, for those examples, and again this is Blackjack Burnout.
[00:08:34] Angel: Blackjack Burnout, thank you.
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[00:09:00] [END OF AUDIO]