Down Under Blackjack - 2017
Mike: Hi, I'm Mike Shackleford otherwise known as the Wizard of Odds and I'm here with Kyle Morris, the creator of the game Down Under Blackjack. Hi Kyle.
Kyle: How you doing, Mike?
Mike: Good and happy Groundhog Day!
Kyle: You, too!
Mike: Okay, so this is the game Down Under Blackjack. First of all, let me congratulate you for winning the best new table game at the 2017 cutting edge table game show and this is your lovely trophy.
Kyle: Thank you so much it was quite a pleasure to win and great to be voted by our peers the best table game of 17.
Mike: Yes, absolutely. Indeed, you were and there were some good games at that show so, again, congratulate.
Kyle: Thank you so much.
Mike: So, my viewers may remember that I interviewed you at the cutting edge show at 2016 but there have been a few changes in the game can you tell me about them?
Kyle: Sure, absolutely. So, in 2016 we actually took second place at the table game show but we were using specialty cards that the casinos would then have to buy or print themselves to play the game and that was actually quite a turn-off to casino managers to have to spend that extra money, so we actually created an optical card reader that'll now read any card on the market without any special markings and tell the dealer whether it's small, medium or large, so we can play Down Under.
Mike: That's a fantastic idea.
Kyle: Thank you so much Mouse publishing to think they built it from start to finish.
Mike: Okay and for my viewers that aren't familiar with the game, can you lead me from the beginning, about the rules and concept behind Down Under Blackjack?
Kyle: Sure, so when Down Under we're going to show you whether the dealer's whole card is small, medium or large, before you decide how to play your hand. Down Under's dealt and plays much like regular blackjack. Before we let the players make a decision we're gonna put the cards in the card reader, and one of three lights is going to come on. This time blue light that tells us blue box. The dealer has a small card guaranteed to be a two three, four or five, and the whole of this hand, so that's going to change our strategy and how we play now. So, with 10 against a face card knowing the dealer's gonna have to take a hit, we can go ahead and double, will stay on 15, stay on 18 as advertised the dealer's got a small one a five in the hole, and there's 25, too many.
Mike: All right. So, the player not only is going to consider his own cards the dealer's up card, but he's also going to know a range of the dealer's whole card?
Kyle: That's correct. So, they'll know if it seduced through five, the six to nine, or a ten through ace in the hole before they play.
Mike: So, I would imagine for the savvy player there would be three different basic strategies according to the range of the whole card?
Kyle: That's correct. So, a six with a small card under it's going to play completely differently than a six with a large card or a medium card. So, yeah, there's an additional factor now that's got to be considered in all the strategy.
Mike: So, I think that would be a lot of fun for game for players who are already maybe a little bit bored with regular blackjack?
Kyle: Absolutely. There's quite a few more situations and the strategy is a little bit different, as well.
Mike: Okay. All things considered, what is the house advantage in this game assuming proper basic strategy?
Kyle: So, with perfect strategy, it's about half a point on a six-deck shoe.
Mike: That's a nice low house advantage... very player friendly game.
Kyle: Absolutely. It's just there's a lot of strategy now, too, for the players to know to get that edge.
Mike: So, I would recommend to my readers to bone up on the basic strategy which you can find on my website conveniently before you play and then you'll enjoy a fun game with a nice low half-a-percent house advantage. So, Kyle can you, um, can we deal a few hands to show the viewers an example of the game?
Kyle: Sure, absolutely. Let's play.
Mike: Thanks, Kyle!
Kyle: So, a 7-up for the dealer this time, and a red light, so that's gonna tell us to move the cards to the Redbox, dealers got a medium card total right now thirteen, fourteen, fifteen or sixteen. That's actually the best situation in the game for the player, a dealer red seven pay that blackjack 3-2, to come over here and split those nines up, nineteen, it's good, 17, stay there, that's 13, and 23 too many.
Kyle: Other face card up for the dealer this time and we see the large card light come on, so anytime we have a large value up and the large light comes on, we know it's either going to be 20 or blackjack, so we just go ahead and flip it over. If it were blackjack the hand would be over, the dealer would collect the losing bets, but since it's 20, the players are still going to get to play versus the dealer's open hand. So, hand like 17 that would normally stay and lose, he's got a shot now to try and improve about 14 turns into 16 and a 5 for 21... 18 up to 20, good enough for a push and a win.
Kyle: Blue light this time small one in the hole 17 will stay there... double on 11... mmm, perfect double and 20 is good, about 15 for the dealer and 22. So, when Down Under, any time the dealer makes a hard 22, if you were dealt two large cards on the deal and you stayed, you're still gonna get paid. If you made a total of 21, doesn't matter, hit, split or double down, you're also gonna get paid. And anyone who's left in the hand at that point will push versus the dealer's 22. And that is everything you need to know about Down Under Blackjack.
Mike: Thank you very much, Kyle.
Kyle: Thanks for your time, Michael.
Mike: Ok, goodbye everyone.