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Spanish 21 is a common form of blackjack played in many of the larger casinos. You’ll find the game played all over the world, though it originated in European casinos. Most gambling establishments in the United States didn’t offer the game until 1995 or later. If you live in Australia, you’ll know a quite similar game under the name Australian pontoon. Most online casinos offer the game, while the big software companies like Microgaming, Playtech, IGT, and RealTime Gaming have their own versions of the game. Like all other forms of twenty-one, you hope to build a hand of two or more cards without the cards going over 21. The closest hand to twenty-one is the winner.
SPANISH 21 Spanish 21 is standard blackjack with optional bonus wagers. All rules pertaining to blackjack as posted on the WSGC website will remain the same and are not altered in this game except as noted in these rules of play. Card room operators must not allow wagering limits to exceed the authorized limits set out in WAC 230. Spanish 21 - Rules, Strategy & Tips on the Game without 10s. Apart from the classic version of Blackjack online, there are also countless other interesting variants stemming from the original counterpart. And Spanish 21 with its own particular set of rules is one such variant that deserves recognition and perhaps even a play if you see fit! MATCH THE DEALER RULE (SIDE BET) Aside from rule variation from the original blackjack game guidelines, Spanish 21 also surprises players with bonus games and additional side bets within the gameplay. Match the Dealer is one such side bet. This bet is paid out whenever any of the initial cards match that of the cards that the dealer has face-up. The game Spanish 21 is a variation of blackjack, that in some cases is the best bet in the casino. When the dealer stands on a soft 17, or redoubling is allowed, Spanish 21 may be a better bet than blackjack, but that all depends on the specific rules on where you are playing.
Spanish 21 is a spin-off of blackjack, following the same betting premises, but some alternative rules and bonus features make it an independent game in its own right. Unlike blackjack, Spanish 21 does not use a full deck of 52 cards, but rather removes the Tens and forms a.
While Spanish 21 may not have been the original version of the game, it was the first recorded form of blackjack. In Miguel de Cervantes’s Exemplary Novels, which was published in 1613, a game called ventiuno (Spanish for “21”) is mentioned. The reference is in the short story Rinconete y Cortadillo, which tells the story of a game of card cheats. In the game described, the object is to build a hand equaling twenty-one, but without going over. All 10-cards are taken out of the deck. As a rough sketch, this describes the distinct rules of Spanish 21. It’s unknown how closely this variation resembles the 21st century version of the game, but Spanish 21 has been popular for at least 400 years.
Casino Card Deck
In most casinos, you’ll find the game deck used includes 4 to 6 decks placed together. Instead of the 52 cards most gamblers are used to, the Spanish deck rules are used. The tens are taken out, which leaves a 48-card deck. Jacks, queens, and kings remain.
Super Bonus
The most distinctive rule in Spanish 21 is the “super bonus”. Anytime a player receives a twenty-one with a suited 7-7-7 against a dealer 7, a large bonus is won by the player. If you wagered $25 or less, you’ll receive a $1,000 bonus. If you wagered $25 or more, then you’ll receive a $5,000 bonus. This isn’t the only advantageous chance for special twenty-one payouts.
When you receive an unsuited 6-7-8 or 7-7-7, the payout is 3 to 2. Therefore, if you wagered $10, you would receive $15 in this circumstance. If the 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 includes any cards of the same suit (hearts, diamonds, clubs), then the player receives a 2 to 1 payout. If the 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 includes all spades, the payout is 3 to 1. These rules even apply if you win after splitting, though a doubled hand won’t win these special payouts.
No Push on Twenty-One
If you receive any other 21, you always win. No pushes exist when you get a blackjack, because ties are won by the player. This is a major advantage for gamblers, though you’ll see later that the various advantages in this game variant are negated by the disadvantage posed by the Spanish deck.
Hit, Stand, or Split
The hitting, standing, and splitting rules are identical with classic blackjack. After splitting aces, gamblers may receive as many hits as they want. When doubling, gamblers may receive a second card or even additional cards. Players are allowed to split up to four decks (in most casinos), even when they hold aces.
Insurance
Insurance pays 2 to 1 and is offered on this game. As with most forms of twenty-one, insurance is a sucker bet. In Spanish 21, the house edge when taking insurance is 24.7%, making insurance one of the most inadvisable bets in the entire casino. Unless you are a card counter and the count is heavily in your favor, never take insurance.
Dealer Rules
The dealer receives a hole card, much like classic blackjack. In most casinos, house rules require the dealer to hit on a 16 and stand on 17. In most cases, the dealer hits on the soft 17.
Surrender Rules
Late surrender rules are used most often. This means the player can surrender before asking for a hit or stand, if the dealer doesn’t receive a blackjack when the second card is dealt. When a player surrenders, they lose half their wager and have no chance to win the pot. This is used when the player believes he or she has less than 50% chance of winning. A player also may surrender after doubling down. When this happens, it’s often call forfeit, concede, or double-down rescue. In this case, the original bet is lost, but the doubled part is returned to the player.
Match the Dealer
Spanish Blackjack Looks Fun, Doesn’t It?
Some casinos offer a side bet in this game: “Match the Dealer”. Under these rules, players are paid when one of their cards matches the face card of the dealer. This pays at 4 to 1 when your card is the same rank as the dealer’s card on a six-deck game, while it pays 3 to 1 if your card is ranked the same and 9 to 1 if the rank and suit are the same (a “perfect match”). On an eight-deck game, the payout is 4 to 1 when the rank is the same and 12 to 1 when the rank and suit are perfectly matched.
Players should remember that side bets almost always have a house edge higher than the main bet. In casino gambling, bigger payouts tend to go hand-in-hand with a higher house edge, which isn’t good for you. The “Match the Dealer” side bet is the same, but the (roughly) 3% house edge is still one of the best blackjack side bets.
House Edge
Readers might be thinking the rules of Spanish 21 heavily favor players and they would be right. The advantage is not as much as you would think, though, because of the removal of the 10’s from the deck. This tips the house edge in the favor of the casino by about 2%, because the player won’t hit the 21 nearly so often. Even with this disadvantage, Spanish 21 has a slightly better expected return than classic blackjack with the same rules.
On This Page
Introduction
Spanish 21 is a variation of blackjack, that in some cases is the best bet in the casino. In locations where the dealer stands on a soft 17, or redoubling is allowed, Spanish 21 may be a better bet than blackjack, depending on the specific blackjack rules. If you are looking for a change of pace from traditional blackjack but insist on a game with a low house edge, then you may find new excitement in Spanish 21.
In Australia and Malaysia, Spanish 21 is called Pontoon. There are some rule changes in Australia, which merit a separate page. For all the details please visit my page on Australian Pontoon. To make matters more confusing, there is another similar game, but different enough to warrant a separate page, called Player's Edge 21.
Following is a list of known aliases of the game:
- Betsoft, a major provider of software for Internet casinos, offers Spanish 21 under the name Pirate 21.
- The Casino Bregenz in Austria changes the name to Blackjack Exchange.
The Rules
Spanish 21 uses six or eight Spanish decks, each deck consisting of 48 cards — the regular 52 cards less the four tens. Any card counter can tell you that removing any 10-point card from the cards moves the odds in favor of the dealer. To make up for this, Spanish 21 gives the player a host of bonuses and favorable rules. There are lots of Spanish 21 games all over the country, so rules will vary somewhat from place to place, but the usual rules in the player's favor are:
- Late surrender allowed.
- Double after split allowed.
- Re-splitting aces allowed.
- A player 21 always wins.
- Player blackjack beats dealer blackjack.
- Player may double on any number of cards.
- Player may usually hit and double down after splitting aces.
- Player may surrender after doubling, known as 'double down rescue.' The player forfeits an amount equal to his original bet.
- A five-card 21 pays 3 to 2, a six-card 21 pays 2 to 1, a seven or more card 21 pays 3 to 1. Bonus not honored after doubling.
- A 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 of mixed suits pays 3 to 2, of the same suit pays 2 to 1, and of spades pays 3 to 1. These bonuses do not pay after doubling.
- Suited 7-7-7 when the dealer has a seven face up pays $1000 for bets of $5-$24 and $5000 'Super Bonus' for bets of $25 or over. In addition, all other players receive a $50 'envy bonus.' This bonus does not pay after doubling or splitting.
Variable Rules
- Dealer may hit or stand on a soft 17.
- 6 or 8 Spanish decks can be used.
- Some casinos allow redoubling, up to three times.
- I have heard of some casinos not allowing surrender or drawing to split aces, but it isn't the norm.
- A face card and ace after splitting has been known to count as a blackjack, at at least one casino.
- There has been a lot of debate through the years whether the bonuses are payable after a split. First, there is almost no argument that they do not pay after doubling. However, the way the game was designed, all bonuses except the Super Bonus are supposed to be payable after splitting. However, most casinos do not pay the bonuses after a split. The effect of not allowing the bonuses after splitting is very small, around 0.01%.
Strategy
Following is my Spanish 21 basic strategy when the dealer hits a soft 17.
Next is the Spanish 21 basic strategy when the dealer stands on a soft 17.
Note: If drawing to split aces is not allowed, and the dealer stands on soft 17 (as is the case at the Mohegan Sun), then hit A,A vs A.
How To Play Spanish 21
The next table if for when the dealer hits a soft 17, redoubling is allowed, and the player has not already doubled.
The next table if for when the dealer hits a soft 17, redoubling is allowed, and the player has already doubled, which limits his options to stand, surrender, and double again.
Many readers have expressed doubt about my advice to hit 17 against an ace with 3 or more cards. However, I stand by what I said. The player will save about 2.8% of the initial wager by hitting as opposed to standing. The dealers will advise against this play and the other players may curse the day you were born, but trust me, the odds favor hitting.
Following is the house edge under various common rules, before considering the Super Bonus.- Dealer stands on soft 17: 0.40%
- Dealer hits on soft 17, redoubling allowed: 0.42%
- Dealer hits on soft 17, redoubling not allowed: 0.76%
Super Bonus
The probability of hitting the Super Bonus is 1 in 668,382, with six decks, and 1 in 549,188 with eight decks. The reduction in the house edge depends on the bet amount, and to a lesser extent, the number of players. With no other players, and bets of exactly $5 or $25, the Super Bonus lowers the house edge by 0.030% in a six-deck game, and 0.036% in an eight-deck game. At a bet of exactly $5, the Envy Bonus lowers the house edge by an additional 0.0015% in a six-deck game, and 0.0018% in an eight-deck game, per additional player.
For bet amounts other than those indicated above, the benefit of the Super Bonus will go down as the bet amount goes up.
No Draw to Split Aces: At the Mohegan Sun drawing to split aces is NOT allowed. The effect of this rule is to increase the house edge by 0.29%.
Ace and 10 after splitting aces pays 3 to 2: I have an unconfirmed report that at at one time the Meskaki casino in central Iowa paid 3 to 2 on an ace and 10 after splitting aces. I have another unconfirmed report that as of Aug. 2010 they removed the Spanish 21 table completely. According to my calculations this lowers the house edge by 0.16%. Otherwise they hit a soft 17 and no redoubling, for an overall house edge of 0.60%.
Doubling only allowed on first two cards: I had a false report that a casino in Malaysia didn't allow doubling on any number of cards. If such a rule did exist, it would increase the house edge by 0.16%.
Rules Of Spanish 21 Blackjack
Match the Dealer
Match the Dealer is a side bet found in both blackjack and Spanish 21. The player wins for each of his initial two cards that match the dealer's up card. Matches in rank only pay less than a match in rank and suit. The following tables show the various pay tables that I am aware of for Spanish 21.
Match the Dealer — Six Decks
| Event | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two suited matches | 10 | 0.000244 | 18 | 0.004386 |
| One hard and one each match | 90 | 0.002193 | 13 | 0.028508 |
| Two non-suited matches | 153 | 0.003728 | 8 | 0.029824 |
| One suited match | 1320 | 0.032163 | 9 | 0.289467 |
| One non-suited match | 4752 | 0.115787 | 4 | 0.463147 |
| No matches | 34716 | 0.845886 | -1 | -0.845886 |
| Total | 41041 | 1 | 0 | -0.030555 |
Match the Dealer — Eight Decks
| Event | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two suited matches | 21 | 0.000287 | 24 | 0.00689 |
| One hard and one each match | 168 | 0.002297 | 15 | 0.034448 |
| Two non-suited matches | 276 | 0.003773 | 6 | 0.022637 |
| One suited match | 2464 | 0.033683 | 12 | 0.404194 |
| One non-suited match | 8448 | 0.115484 | 3 | 0.346452 |
| No matches | 61776 | 0.844477 | -1 | -0.844477 |
| Total | 73153 | 1 | 0 | -0.029855 |
C4
The Casino Bregenz in Austria offers Spanish 21 but calls it Blackjack Exchange. They tack on a side bet called the C4, which is analyzed below. The table is based on six decks and assumes that if the player qualifies for more than one win, he only gets the higher win. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 14.48%.
C4 — Six Decks
Rules Of Spanish 21
| Event | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four of a kind | 500 | 138,138 | 0.000337 | 0.168467 |
| Straight | 20 | 3,649,536 | 0.008902 | 0.178032 |
| Flush | 12 | 5,647,896 | 0.013776 | 0.165310 |
| Two pair | 10 | 5,941,728 | 0.014492 | 0.144925 |
| Three of a kind | 8 | 7,330,752 | 0.017880 | 0.143044 |
| All other | -1 | 387,278,420 | 0.944613 | -0.944613 |
| Total | 409,986,470 | 1.000000 | -0.144836 |
Following is the house edge of the C4 for other numbers of decks.
- Four decks: 18.49%
- Eight decks: 12.41%
Methodology
The Spanish 21 strategy found here is based on a combinatorial program which considered both card composition and the six deck nature of the game. In addition an infinite deck model was created in Excel, of which the basic strategy nearly agreed with that of the combinatorial model. The basic strategy found here does not agree with that of the late Lenny Frome in some borderline situations. Frome's strategy can be found in such books as 'Secrets of the New Casino Games' (Marten Jensen) and 'Armada Strategies for Spanish 21' (Frank Scoblete). Although I have a great deal of respect for Frome and his body of work, I strongly feel that his basic strategy is incorrect. I speculate he did notincorporate the double down surrender feature correctly into his analysis. My strategies also agree with those of Katarina Walker, who has done an amazing job analyzing Spanish 21 and its cousin, Australian Pontoon, as well as an independent analysis by Mike Hopson.
Acknowledgments
I would like to give a huge thanks to Katarina Walker for correcting some minor strategy errors in this page. She is the author of The Pro's Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon.
Links
German translation of this page.
Written by:Michael Shackleford