Spanish 21 Blackjack Game – Rules, Review & Strategy. This is a blackjack variation that got its name because it is played with six or eight Spanish decks – a regular 52 card deck from which the four tens cards are taken out.
- Spanish 21 Vs Blackjack Odds 2016
- Practice Game For Spanish 21
- Spanish 21 Blackjack Odds
- Spanish 21 Vs Blackjack Odds
Match the Dealer (MD) is a popular side bet offered with six-deck Spanish 21. I have never seen this wager offered on ordinary blackjack, though it is certainly possible. The wager is similar to the Pair Square side bet, paying for pairs with a premium for suited pairs. In the Pair Square bet, the player wins based on the ranks and suits of his two initial cards. The strategy for such blackjack variation as Spanish 21 was developed by many different blackjack experts, including Arnold Snyder and John Grochowski: actually, these two blackjack authors were the most successful ones who perfectly described Spanish 21. Play this online blackjack game from Masque Publishing. Bring the fun back to Blackjack! 21's always win, split 4 times, double after split, double d. In traditional blackjack, where the dealer stands on a soft 17, the house edge is only about 0.4%. This is definitely something to consider when deciding which game to play. Spanish 21 Game Payouts: The payouts in Spanish 21 are similar to blackjack, but there are a few more options if the player meets certain requirements. A five-card 21 pays 3 to 2, a six-card 21 pays 2 to 1, a seven or more card 21. What are your casino choices in Atlantic City for craps and Spanish 21? When you mention that it is wise to take full odds on a bet while playing craps, do you mean to match your bet with an equal odds bet, or to make the highest allowed odds bet along with your bet (ex: at a table with 10x max odds place a $1 bet with a $1 free odds bet, or a $1 bet with a $10 free odds bet).
Blackjack is one of the most popular casino games, and has been for decades. It’s so popular that many other games based on blackjack and side bets for the base game have been created.
Some of these games are better than others, but one that you should know more about is Spanish 21.
Spanish 21 uses most of the same rules that you can find at the blackjack table, but it combines all of the best rules and adds a few more bells and whistles.
The only down side is that the game uses a Spanish deck of cards instead of a normal 52 card deck.
A Spanish deck only has 48 cards. All of the 10’s have been removed from a regular deck. This is bad because it reduces your chances of making a total of 21. In a regular blackjack game this would make the house edge so high that the game would be unplayable.
But Spanish 21 has so many good rules that it makes up for the lack of 10’s in the deck. You can learn more about the house edge in the first section, but the bottom line is that in many casinos the Spanish 21 game offers a better game than the blackjack tables.
Here’s a list of the main rules for Spanish 21:
- Uses a Spanish deck with 48 cards
- Dealt from a six deck or eight deck shoe
- You always win with a total of 21
- Your natural blackjack beats a dealer blackjack
- Late surrender is allowed
- You can split aces multiple times
- You can double after splitting
- You can double down on any number of cards
- In some casinos you can double down a second time
- You can double down after splitting aces
- You can surrender after doubling down
- If you get six, seven, and eight or three sevens of different suits it pays 3 to 2
- If you get a six, seven, and eight or three sevens of the same suit it pays 2 to 1
- If you get a six, seven, and eight or three sevens of spades it pays 3 to 1
- If you get a five card 21 it pays 3 to 2
- If you get a six card 21 it pays 2 to 1
- If you get 21 with seven or more cards it pays 3 to 1
- If you get a suited seven, seven, seven it pays $1,000 or $5,000 – Bets of $25 and higher get $5,000 and lower bets receive $1,000
The first time you play Spanish 21, especially if you’re used to playing blackjack, can be a little confusing. But once you get used to the game with all of the good rules that you wish blackjack used, you won’t have any problems.
Spanish 21 is basically the same game that’s called Pontoon in Australia. You can also find games using different names that have slight rules variations around the world. If you find a game that looks the same under a different name, make sure to compare the rules. One or two rule changes can change the game in a big way, and alter the house edge enough to make it a poor choice.
Most Spanish 21 rules are the same from casino to casino. The only big rule variation you need to be aware of is whether the dealer stands or hits on a soft 17. When the dealer stands on a soft 17, the house edge, if you use the best strategy, is around .4%. Few games in the casino offer an edge of less than a half percent.
If you play where the dealers always hit on soft 17, the house edge is close to .75%. This is still a low house edge, but most blackjack games are a little better. But, there’s one more Spanish 21 rule variation to be aware of.
A few casinos let players double down a second time if they double down and want to double down again after they receive their card. The chance of finding this rule in a Spanish 21 game where the dealer stands on a soft 17 is somewhere around zero, because this lowers the house edge almost .35%.
The good news is if the dealer hits a soft 17, but you can double down a second time on the same hand, it brings the house edge down to almost the same as when the dealer stands on soft 17. If the rule isn’t clear and you double down and have a situation where you want to double down again, you should try to double down a second time. The worst that can happen is the dealer won’t let you.
Here’s an example:
You receive a five and a three, and the dealer has a six face up. You double down and get a two. This gives you a total of 10, which is even better for doubling down. Slide out another bet and say double down again.
Blackjack games have several rules variations that alter the house edge. Some blackjack games have rules combinations that create a lower house edge than Spanish 21, but many games have an edge of .5% or higher. This makes Spanish 21 a better bet in some casinos.
One thing you need to understand about the house edge in Spanish 21 and blackjack is that you have to use the best strategy in order to keep the edge as low as you can. You can pick up strategy cards for blackjack in most casino gift shops, but finding the best strategy for Spanish 21 is harder.
Here are a couple resources to help you get started:
Katarina Walker wrote the best book about the game, titled “The Pro’s Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon.”
Here are a few more things to know about Spanish 21 and the house edge.
You should never take insurance while playing Spanish 21. It’s a bad bet at the blackjack table, and is even worse when playing Spanish 21. The insurance bet is really a separate bet on whether the dealer has a down card worth 10.
Because all of the 10’s have been removed, the dealer has a lower chance to have a 10 value card, so the edge on the insurance wager is almost 25%.
Most Spanish 21 games offer a side bet called match the dealer. The match the dealer side bet has a house edge of around 3%, which makes it one of the better side bets available in the casino. But this is still much higher than the edge on the main Spanish 21 game, so you should never play it.
The match the dealer side bet pays 4 to 1 if one of your first two cards is the same rank as the dealer’s up card if the casino uses a six deck shoe, and 3 to 1 if they use an eight deck shoe.
If one of your first two cards matches both the rank and suit of the dealers up card, it pays 9 to 1 using a six deck shoe, and 12 to 1 using an eight deck shoe. You can win on both cards if they both match the dealer’s up card.
Here’s an example:
You’re playing an eight deck shoe and the dealer is showing a five of spades. You receive a five of spades and a five of diamonds. You win 12 to 1 for the five of spades and 3 to 1 for the five of diamonds. This is a total of 15 to 1.
Though the match the dealer side bet looks good when you get a win, in the long run it’s a bad bet. The same bet can be found as a side bet on some regular blackjack games.
How many times have you been playing blackjack, got 21, and still didn’t win because the dealer ended up with 21 too? I don’t know about you, but this is one of the things that irritate me the most.
It just seems like if you get 21, which is what blackjack is often called, you should win no matter what. But when you tie the dealer with 21 in blackjack it’s a push.
But in Spanish 21, when you get a total of 21 you always win. And it gets even better. Unlike in blackjack, when you get a natural blackjack, you still win even if the dealer has a natural blackjack.
Of course, natural blackjacks are harder to get in Spanish 21 because of the lack of 10’s, but you still have all of the face cards available to match an ace.
Surrender is one of the best rules you can find at the blackjack table, but very few offer it. Late surrender is a rule that lets you fold your hand and take back half your bet after the dealer checks his or her cards. This can be advantageous, especially when you have a hard total like 16 against a dealer ace or face card.
Some Spanish 21 games even let you surrender after doubling down. This is a great rule for you, because sometimes when you double down you get a terrible card.
Here’s an example:
You have a five and a six and double down. You receive another five, giving you a hard total of 16. A hard 16 is the worst hand to have, and in this situation you doubled your bet to get it. The ability to surrender after doubling down is a big positive for you.
4 – Double Down after Split
In most blackjack games you don’t have the ability to double down after splitting. But in Spanish 21 you can. This is great for you especially when split aces.
When you split aces and then double down you end up with four times your original wager in play, and with the rule that any total of 21 wins you can hit a big win when you draw a face card to each ace.
Here’s an example:
You bet $20 and receive a pair of aces. You split them by sliding out another $20. Then you double down on each ace, sliding another $20 out for each hand. Instead of betting $20, now you have $80 on the table with a good chance to win on each hand.
One of the rules I look at when deciding on a blackjack table is the ability to re-split aces. When you get a pair of aces and split them, sometimes one or both of the aces gets another ace. If you can re-split aces, you can split the second pair of aces again.
Sadly, most regular blackjack games don’t allow re-splitting aces. But it’s a regular rule in Spanish 21, so you can always re-split aces.
6 – Double on Any Number of Cards
The ability to double down in profitable situations is one of the reasons that blackjack has a small house edge. But in regular blackjack you can only double down on your first two cards. In Spanish 21 you can double down on any number of cards. This is a big advantage.
When you get two low cards, or an ace and a low or medium card, with your first two cards the correct play is usually to take another card.
If your next card gives you a total of 10 or 11 you have to take another card, and you have a good chance of drawing a card that gives you a total of 18 to 21. In Spanish 21 you can double your wager by doubling down after you draw an extra card or two.
Here’s an example:
Your first two cards are a two and a four. This is a hard total of six. This isn’t good, so you take another card. The new card is a five, giving you a hard 11. In blackjack you have to take another card while only risking your original bet.
But since you’re playing Spanish 21 you slide out another bet equal to your first bet and double down and you have twice as much in play with a good chance to win the hand.
Many experienced blackjack players have learned that you can use care counting techniques to beat the game. Dozens of books have been written about how to beat blackjack using different counting systems, and many players try it.
Though it looks complicated at first, learning how to count cards isn’t really hard. It just takes a great deal of time and practice to get good at it. The casinos have learned that card counters can hurt them, so the casinos watch for card counters.
Once they identify a counter, they make them stop playing. Even if the areas where the casino can’t legally ask card counters to leave, they change the rules to make the game unprofitable or don’t deal deep enough into the shoe to let the counters get an edge.
When casinos look for card counters, it’s called heat. Blackjack games are watched more by the pit and security department than any other game. Professional blackjack card counters have to disguise their play and move from table to table and from casino to casino to try to avoid being caught.
Some of the smartest advantage gamblers have learned that Spanish 21 can be counted and the casinos don’t tend to watch the games as close as they do blackjack games.
The basic counting principles are the same for blackjack and Spanish 21, but it’s more complicated overall to count Spanish 21 because of the removal of the 10’s from the deck.
If you want to be a serious advantage player, it’s worth the extra effort to learn how to count cards at the Spanish 21 table. All of the advantageous rules combined with less heat make it one of the best opportunities for advantage players in the casino.
The best way to learn more about how to beat Spanish 21 by counting is the book by Katarina Walker I mentioned in the first section, titled The Pro’s Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon.
You still need to be aware that the casino can make you stop playing if they think you’re counting Spanish 21. You can usually get away with wider bet spreads, which is a big deal for counters, but you still need to do everything you can to keep the casino in the dark.
![Spanish 21 side bet odds Spanish 21 side bet odds](/uploads/1/2/5/2/125222894/687697811.png)
Spanish 21 is a fun game to try if you’re getting bored with blackjack. It uses all the good rules you find at different blackjack games, and eliminates the bad ones. Even using decks missing the 10’s, Spanish 21 is one of the best games in the casino when you consider the house edge. In many ways, it’s even better than blackjack.
Related Articles
UFC Fight Night 165 Undercard “Prelims” Betting Odds and PredictionsChampions Cup Finals Betting PreviewEpicenter 2019 Betting PreviewUFC 245 Prelims Undercard Betting Odds and Preview
0 Comments
Spanish 21 is based on blackjack, but the rules are so different that it’s often considered a separate game. Unlike many older casino games, Spanish 21 is a trademarked game from a specific company—Masque Publishing Inc. Casinos which offer Spanish 21 pay royalties to Masque Publishing Inc. in exchange for being allowed to offer the game.
Spanish 21 also features favorable odds for players who are willing to learn the differences between it and standard blackjack games. This post examines the differences between “regular old” blackjack and Spanish 21. Once you’ve read this post, you’ll be able to make an educated decision about whether you’d prefer to stick with standard blackjack (which you’re probably more familiar with) or learn to play Spanish 21 (which usually offers better odds for the players.)
The Spanish Deck
The first and possibly most important difference between standard blackjack and Spanish 21 is the use of a “Spanish” deck of cards. This is just a standard 52 card deck with the 10s removed—not the face cards, which are also worth 10, but only the cards with the number 10 on them.
Jan 06, 2020 PokerStars LITE is the online poker app that allows you to play poker games with millions of real players, on the most fun and exciting play money poker app out there. Join today to get 35000 free chips as a welcome bonus. Whether you want to compete for huge prizes in our multi-table poker tournaments or prefer playing heads-up poker games, PokerStars offers any poker game available. Whether it's Texas Holdem poker, Omaha poker, or Stud, PokerStars offers the widest selection of poker games anywhere online. Our huge player pool means you can play any game at any time. Dec 04, 2019 Enter Pokerstars Casino City, Start your world poker tour and Feel like you are playing a poker game at the WSOP - World Series Of Poker Tournaments! Play FREE Texas Holdem Poker in this exciting online poker game! If you love free poker games, then this is the pokies game for you! Get up to 100000 FREE chips from free spins & Facebook connect. Zynga texas holdem poker.
If you’ve read some of my previous posts about card counting, you probably know that a deck rich in aces and 10s is more likely to produce a blackjack. If you were counting cards using the Hi Lo System, which counts aces and 10s as -1, you’d be starting with a count of -4. As the Dude (from The Big Lebowski) would say, “That’s a bummer, man.”
The reason the 10s and aces are so important is because they make it more likely to be dealt a blackjack (or a “natural”). A blackjack is a 2-card hand with a total of 21. The only way to get a 2-card hand totaling 21 is to get an ace and a 10. Fewer 10s in the deck result in a lower probability of getting a natural.
Why is a natural so important?
That one’s easy—a natural (or blackjack) pays off at 3 to 2 instead of at even money. Most bets in blackjack pay off at even money if you win. For example, if you bet $100 and win, your winnings are in the amount of $100.
A 3 to 2 payoff on a $100 bet, though, is $150.
If the only difference between Spanish 21 and regular blackjack was the use of a Spanish deck, Spanish 21 would be a clearly inferior game.
Luckily, that’s not the only difference.
Favorable Player Rules
If you’ve read any of my other blackjack posts, you probably already realize that specific rules and game conditions in blackjack games result in better or worse odds for the player. For the most part, any game condition or house rule that allows the player more flexibility results in a lower house edge. (That’s a fancy word for the mathematical advantage the casino has over the player.)
For ExampleIn some blackjack games, you can split aces once, but if you get another ace afterward, you can’t re-split. In other games, you can re-split aces every time you get them. It doesn’t take a logic professor to realize that the 2nd option is better for the player.
In Spanish 21, a whole plethora of new rules compensates (and then some) for the Spanish deck. Of course, house rules vary from one casino to another.
For ExampleIn Spanish 21, the player has the option to surrender. (Many blackjack games allow surrender, but not all of them.) To surrender, you simply forfeit half your bet. It’s like folding in poker, because you give up any chance to continue in the hand. It’s impossible to win if you don’t play, but in some situations, the expected mathematical value of giving up half your bet is better than risking your entire bet.
In some rare blackjack games, “early surrender” is an option. This is not the case in Spanish 21. “Late surrender” is the order of the day. This means that you can decide to surrender only after the dealer has checked to see if she has a blackjack. If she does, you can’t surrender, because you automatically lose. (Yes, if you push—or tie—the dealer, you don’t automatically lose. But you’d never surrender if you had a total of 21 anyway, so the point is moot.)
Also, in Spanish 21, you’re allowed to double down after splitting. It’s easy to see why this rule is so favorable to the player. For example, if you’re dealt 2 aces, you’d want to split. Now you have 2 opportunities to get a blackjack and the corresponding 3 to 2 payoff. Naturally, you’d want the opportunity to double your bet and take one (and exactly one) card. And that’s the opportunity that being able to double down after splitting offers you.
In most blackjack games, doubling after splitting is NOT allowed.
You’re also allowed to re-split aces in Spanish 21. In most blackjack games, you can split aces, but you don’t get to re-split if you get another ace. It’s hard to overstate how important those aces are, by the way. That’s one of the 2 ranks you need to get that 3 to 2 payoff. And even though a Spanish deck only has 12 cards worth 10 points in it (instead of 16), there are still more cards worth 10 points than any other value.
Spanish 21 Vs Blackjack Odds 2016
Earlier, I mentioned tying the dealer if you have a total of 21. That’s actually only how it works in regular blackjack games, because in Spanish 21, ANY player total of 21 wins automatically—regardless of the dealer’s hand. This is a huge difference in favor of the player.
Also, in a standard blackjack game, a player natural versus a dealer natural results in a push (or a tie). But that’s not the case in Spanish 21. A player blackjack always beats a dealer blackjack in Spanish 21.
Note:In most blackjack games, you’re only allowed to double down on your first 2 cards. In Spanish 21, you can double down on any number of cards.
It’s easy to see why this would be favorable to a player. Suppose you’re dealt a 3 and 4 for a total of 7 on your first 2 cards. You take a hit and get another 4—now you have a total of 11. Naturally, you’d want to double down on a total of 11, even if it was made up of 3 cards.
These situations where the favorable rules come into play, by the way, don’t have to be common situations. There are enough of these situations to make a major mathematical difference in the game’s odds.
Spanish 21 even offers a spectacularly rare option called “double down rescue.” Basically, this is the option of being able to surrender AFTER doubling down. Instead of forfeiting half your original bet, you forfeit your original bet only. (When you double down, you put up another bet equal to your first bet.)
Note:Spanish 21 also offers a variety of bonus payouts for various hands.
A 5-card hand totaling 21 pays off at 3 to 2, just like a natural would. A 6-card hand totaling 21 pays off at 2 to 1. A 7-card hand totaling 21 is clearly rare, but it pays off at a whopping 3 to 1. (And yes, it’s possible to have a total of 21 with more than 7 cards in your hand. Such hands also pay off at 3 to 1.)
Those aren’t the only hands with bonus payouts, though. If you have a hand with a 6, 7, and 8, or a hand with 7, 7, 7, you get a 3 to 2 payoff. (Both those hands total 21, by the way.) If those hands are made suited, you get a 2 to 1 payoff instead. AND, if you get one of those hands in the suit of spades, you get a 3 to 1 payoff instead.
You even get a shot at some payoffs that are large enough to qualify as “jackpots” in my book. The trigger for this is a suited 7, 7, 7, but the big payoff only happens when the dealer also has a 7 showing face-up. But when it pays off, it pays off big. If you bet less than $25, the payoff is $1000 in this situation. If you bet more than $25, you get a whopping $5000 payoff.
Other rules variations, like the number of decks in use, or whether the dealer hits a soft 17, vary from casino to casino. These variations don’t always favor the player. For example, a casino using 8 decks instead of 6 isn’t offering as good a game. If the dealer hits a soft 17, that’s bad for the player, too.
Still, with such a massive number of rules changes that benefit the player, Spanish 21 more than makes up for the Spanish deck in use. I’ll get into the specific math of that next.
The House Edge in Spanish 21 versus the House Edge in Blackjack
I mentioned earlier that the house edge is a mathematical expression of the advantage the house has over the player. It’s an estimate based on probability, and it ensures that the casino will win in the long run. That’s how probability works, by the way—in the short term, anything can happen. But in the long run, the actual results tend to mirror the mathematically expected results.
Recommended Reading:The house edge is the average amount you can expect to lose on every bet, expressed as a percentage. If a casino game has a house edge of 5.26% (as American roulette does), the casino expects to win an average of $5.26 every time you bet $100.
Obviously, in the short run, it’s impossible for actual results to mirror this mathematical expectation. It’s easy to see why if you think about the ultimate short-term result—the result of a single bet. If you bet $100 on a spin of the roulette wheel, you’ll either lose $100 or win $100 (or more). There’s no way to lose 5.26% of a single bet.
That average only comes into play over thousands of bets. Over 10 bets or even 100 bets, anything can happen. That’s how players get lucky and walk away winners. Almost all casino gamblers are looking at short-term results. But the casino is always engaged in long-term results. They have hundreds of games going on at any given time, which results in the long-term expectation happening much more quickly for them than for the player.
Blackjack is well known for having a low house edge to begin with.
You’ll often see the house edge for blackjack being touted as somewhere between 0.5% and 1.5%, depending on the rules in play. This is a little misleading, because it makes a big assumption.
The house edge in blackjack is based on the assumption that you’re using perfect basic strategy. When players refer to basic strategy in blackjack, they’re referring to making the mathematically correct decision in every situation that arises. It’s safe to say that no one masters basic strategy intuitively or based on common sense. Intuition and common sense might be good starting points, but to get those low house edge figures, you must do the work of learning basic strategy and then making the correct decisions on every hand.
Most players don’t know basic strategy, by the way. The house edge for them, given all the mathematical mistakes they’re making, is probably closer to 4% or 5%. If you don’t learn basic strategy, you might as well be playing a game with a higher house edge—like roulette, for example.
The house edge for Spanish 21 is generally better than the house edge in blackjack. If you ignore the effect of those jackpot hands, which come up as rarely as you might expect, the house edge for Spanish 21 is about 0.4%.
This assumes, of course, that you’re playing with perfect basic strategy.
The problem is that basic strategy for Spanish 21 differs significantly from the basic strategy for standard blackjack
I cover some of the intricacies and strategy differences in the next section.
Basic Strategy Differences
Some of the basic strategy for Spanish 21 is the same (or at least similar) to the basic strategy for any blackjack game. For example, you’ll still hit any hard total of 8 or less in Spanish 21.
But the strategy for doubling down is trickier in Spanish 21 because you need to account for the number of cards you have. That’s because of the bonus payoffs for getting a total of 21 with 5 cards or more.
For ExampleIf you have a hard total of 9, you’ll hit unless the dealer has a 6 as her up-card. In that case, you’ll double down.
That’s not complicated, but when you start looking at what to do with a hard total of 10, things get trickier.
You’ll hit a total of 10 if the dealer has a 9, 10, or ace showing. But if the dealer has an 8 or lower showing, the number of cards you have affects your choice of doubling down. You’ll always double down in this situation if the dealer has a 4, 5, or 6 showing.
But if the dealer has a 2 or 3 showing and you have 5 cards or more, you’ll just hit.
If the dealer has a 7 showing, you’ll hit instead of doubling down if you have 4 cards or more.
And if the dealer has an 8 showing, you’ll hit instead of doubling if you have 3 cards or more.
With a total of 11, you will double down unless you have the following numbers of cards versus the following dealer up cards.
Practice Game For Spanish 21
- If the dealer has a 2, 7, 8, or 9, you’ll hit with 4 cards or more
- If the dealer has a 3, 4, 5, or 6, you’ll hit with 5 cards or more
- If the dealer has a 10 or an ace, you’ll hit with 3 cards or more
And that’s just the strategy for doubling with hard totals. You also need to know when to double on a soft hand. (A soft hand is a hand with an ace in it where the ace can be counted as either 11 or 1.)
You’ll double with a soft total of 15 versus a 6 unless you have 4 cards or more, in which case you’ll hit.
You’ll double with a soft total of 16 versus a 5 or 6 unless you have 3 cards versus a 5, or 4 cards versus a 6. In those cases, you’ll hit.
You’ll double with a soft total of 17 versus a 4, 5, or 6, unless you have 3 cards, 4 cards, or 5 cards, respectively. In those cases, you’ll again just hit.
You’ll even double down on a soft 18 against a dealer 4, 5, or 6, unless you have 4 cards, 5 cards, or 6 cards. Again, in those cases, you’ll just hit.
Those are the strategies for doubling, but those strategies only cover 27 possible situations. And the game presents more possible situations than that.
In some situations, you’ll have a decision to stand unless you have a certain number of cards.
For ExampleIf you have a hard total of 17, you’ll stand unless the dealer has an 8, 9, or 10, AND you have 6 cards already. Your goal is to get that 7-card 21 so that you can experience the big payout.
Spanish 21 Blackjack Odds
You’ll always stand on a hard total of 18 or more, so that’s easy to remember.
If I were to list every possible situation and every possible decision you’d need to make, this post would never end, in fact. And that’s not even considering that the strategy for the game changes based on how many decks are in play and whether the dealer hits a soft total of 17 or not.
When discussing basic strategy for regular blackjack, I usually recommend learning the strategy via a list or via a series of paragraphs explaining the various situations.
This isn’t practical for Spanish 21. If you want to get the correct basic strategy for Spanish 21, my suggestion is to find a site with a printable basic strategy specific to the rules variations you’re facing. Print the card and use it while you play.
In fact, that’s one aspect of Spanish 21 that doesn’t differ from blackjack. The dealer doesn’t mind if you use a basic strategy chart to card—as long as it doesn’t slow down the game.
And if you’re slowing down the game, prepare to face the wrath of both the dealer and the other players at the table.
Don’t be that guy. Nobody likes that guy.
Unlicensed Versions of Spanish 21
Here’s an interesting side note: you can trademark the name and presentation of a game, but you cannot copyright the actual rules of a game. (You can copyright the expression of those rules, but not the rules themselves.)
In the case of Spanish 21, this means that some casinos offer variations of Spanish 21 that are slightly different but are essentially the same game with a different name. This enables the casino to offer something uncannily similar to Spanish 21 without having to pay licensing fees or royalties to Masque Publishing Inc.
This is especially common with online casinos, which operate mostly offshore. (I’m writing for an audience in the United States.)
Conclusion
Should you play Spanish 21 instead of regular blackjack?
The answer is yes if you’re looking for an entertaining breath of fresh air AND if you’re willing to learn the new rules and strategy for the game.
But the difference in house edge isn’t significant enough for some players to make the switch. Basic strategy for a standard blackjack game results in a house edge of 0.5%. That extra 0.1% probably isn’t worth the extra effort for the typical player.
Spanish 21 Vs Blackjack Odds
On the other hand, if you’re counting cards, every tenth of a percentage point counts. And if you’re a card counter, memorizing a new basic strategy won’t be hard for you.