I’ve played online blackjack for a long, long time before starting this trend, not with as much success, I must say. As I said, the house always wins, but for some reason, it’s just found a hot run. The law of averages has been starting to catch up with me in the last few days, I must admit that. I refer to the book of blackjack in my reels and stuff. There isn’t an actual book, but what I mean by that is playing your hand mathematically to your best advantage. So I do know how to play that properly nowadays.
Why do you think your videos are so popular?
When I started it, without realizing, I was ticking all the boxes for a content creator. It just so happens that I did short and sharp, 60-second reels, something that’s easy enough to follow. It’s not too hard to explain to new people how the rules of blackjack work. And then I think what people seem to have enjoyed the most is me dishing out what I call a “soft insult” to the dealer every day; poor buggers on the other end of the table have no idea. Or they don’t even have a chance to defend themselves ’cause they can’t hear me.
Is the dealer a real person?
I had to debunk this one early doors, ’cause it was almost leaning towards more people thinking it was AI. And I understand in this day and age why you could think that. And to be honest, after someone said it, I was like, well, particularly the ladies, they all look perfect. They could be AI. They’ve obviously selected a very particular type. I don’t know exactly where they operate out of. It’s Eastern Europe somewhere.
And after four days, things started taking off?
It was day four where it grew by like 2,500, 2,700 overnight. And then some a-hole on day 20-odd bot-followed me with 50,000, and I was in panic stations. But it was easy enough to spot. Whoever did that, that prick caused me a lot of work. I had to manually remove 25,000 of them before Instagram could automatically remove the remainder.
How has your life changed since your run?
I don’t think it’s a concept I’ll ever get used to. When we went down to New Orleans for Jazz Fest, I was like, There’s no way I’m being recognized down here. But it was a lot. In my mind I’m like, Why would you want a photo with this pasty white kiwi? I’ve been really fortunate. I’ve had maybe two bad experiences from people the entire time.
And you’ve also partnered with brands.
I partnered with Razed Casino. I asked everyone if they wanted to run a syndicate where everyone could chip in a little bit and then watch me bet with it every day, to really ride the highs and lows with me. We didn’t let people buy in big because we’re not out here trying to ruin lives if it went bad or anything. We just want it to be fun. It actually kind of backlashed on me a little bit because it was an oversight. My three biggest geographics that follow me are USA, Australia, and UK—online casinos are actually not regulated in those jurisdictions. So none of them could even bloody join. But the New Zealanders and the Canadians, in particular, we had a great time.
What’s your response to people who have accused the whole thing of being fake?
I don’t worry too much. I still get tinfoil haters going, “Well, you know, he could have hired a warehouse or a room somewhere or a hall somewhere.” As if I have the energy. It just makes no sense. It doesn’t matter what you do. No one’s ever won an argument with an idiot. I’ve kind of learned early on that there’s no point. As long as you yourself know what you’re doing is authentic, the people who follow you, the ones who have been on board from day one, they understand. And we have genuinely just been lucky. There’s some people who think, Oh, there’s no way you could have a hot streak this good. But we’re running…I think it’s a 61% win rate. So we’re beating the casino at the moment, but it’s not outrageous. It’s not different to anyone having a hot run on a blackjack table, sitting there playing hand after hand. We’ve just been lucky. That’s all.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
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