Shane Krolikowski
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Double Deck BlackJack

Overview

At my time with House of How, I contributed to a blackjack variant developed for DraftKings called Double Deck Blackjack. The game was a blackjack variant where the player tries to outplay the dealer’s hand by reaching 21 without going over. The game caters to high rollers with a minimum bet of $100. As usual the player can stand, hit, split, or double down. Double down works a little different from other blackjack titles, in that you see the dealt card after the dealer’s.

Disclaimer

This project was developed by House of How for DraftKings. All rights to the game and assets belong to DraftKings.

Information

  • Client - DraftKings (via House of How)
  • Role - Front-End Developer
  • Timeline - Oct. 2023 - Oct. 2025
  • Platform - Web Browser
  • Genre - Casino / Gambling / Blackjack
  • Tech Stack - TypeScript/JavaScript, Python, WebGL
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Unique Mechanics

  • The double down action works a bit differently with the card only showing after the dealer’s cards are revealed.

Contributions

My role focused on front-end development, responding to real-time game state changes provided through server responses.

  • Designed event-driven animation triggers, ensuring visuals match backend game logic.
  • Developed interactive UI components for betting, gameplay interactions, and win/loss displays.
  • Created fluid transitions and effects, such as glowing symbols/chips, vfx after win/losses, and dynamic UI updates.
  • Worked with WebGL / Canvas to enhance performance across devices.
  • Synchronized real-time game state updates with UI animations for a seamless player experience.
  • Ensured smooth and engaging user interactions, from placing bets to reacting to game outcomes.
  • Debugged and improved animation rendering performance, reducing lag and increasing engagement.

Challenges & Solutions

  1. Double Down card reveal was different from other blackjack titles in that the card is revealed after the dealer’s (unless the player’s hand busted).

Solution: The game states between blackjack games didn’t differ that much, especially the common information about player hands. Depending on whether the player’s hand state we had to reveal the double down card at the right time and update the hand value accordingly.

  1. Unique dealer hand layout.

Solution: The game included custom dealer card animations so we couldn’t use existing animations used in other blackjack titles. The cards spread according to the size of the screen, e.g. the more cards, the smaller the spread (allowing all to show). Some functions were added to accordingly set the card spread depending on how many cards were dealt.