Here’s a concrete example: If you have a stiff 12 through 16 in blackjack and the dealer shows a 2–6, you simply stand (except you would hit 12 against dealer’s 2 and 3). The bottom line: these major differences in rules have a great effect on the playing strategy, meaning the playing strategy for Spanish 21 is different and slightly more complicated than it is for blackjack. In Spanish 21, this ratio is reduced to three out of 12 (only 25 percent). Normally, four out of 13 cards in blackjack are 10-value cards (30.8 percent). Why? Because with all the pip 10s removed (i.e., actual 10 of diamonds, hearts, spades, and clubs), the ratio of low cards to high cards in Spanish 21 differs from blackjack. Furthermore, if you play it like you play a traditional blackjack game, you will get hammered. If you’re getting excited about playing Spanish 21 because of all of these great rules and bonus hands, listen up: All those great rules don’t come close to making up for all those missing tens. The payoffs for these bonus hands vary but they are all greater than even money. Spanish 21 often pays a bonus for five-, six-, and seven-card hands that total 2, and 6-7-8 plus 7-7-7 hands. (Note: There may be some slight differences in rules from one casino to another.)Īnother difference with Spanish 21 compared to blackjack is bonus hands. The table below summarizes the typical Spanish 21 playing rules and compares them to the traditional game of blackjack. For example, if you get 21, you always win even if the dealer has 21 you can surrender anytime, even after doubling, pair splitting, and hitting and some hands, such as a five-, six-, and seven-card 21, pay a bonus. However, to compensate for the removal of the 10s, the playing rules for Spanish 21 are much more liberal than for a traditional blackjack game. Playing blackjack without the player friendly 10s is not good for players (the house edge zooms to roughly 2 percent). Instead of the usual 52 cards per deck, the game is played with a 48-card Spanish deck: a standard 52-card deck with the four 10s removed. Before we will start, if you still need to learn how to play blackjack, go to the first chapter of this guide. In this chapter, you’ll learn how to play this game, what makes it unique, and how it’s possible to gain the edge when you play. One of the more popular blackjack variant is Spanish 21.

How to play spanish 21