Spanish 21

Spanish 21 is a blackjack variant that offers low house edge, and a change in game rules for those looking to play something a little different from traditional blackjack. The game uses Spanish decks of cards (with the ten cards removed), thus the name, Spanish 21.

Either six or eight Spanish decks of 48 cards can be used for the game. Dealers can either hit or stand on soft 17 depending upon house rules. In a normal game of blackjack removing ten value cards benefits the house, rather than the player. To make up for this the game offers a number of liberal rules that more than compensate for the missing 10s.

Game rules can differ from casino to casino but the most common rules are outlined below:

• Late surrender is offered

• Double after splitting (DAS) is allowed
• Aces may be re-split
• Player 21s beat house 21s
• Player blackjacks beat dealer blackjacks
• Players can double once per hand (on any number of cards)
• Players can usually hit and double split aces
• Players can surrender after doubling ‘rescuing’ the double-down portion of their bet. This is known as the ‘double down rescue’.
• Bonuses are not paid after doubling or splitting

Various bonuses are offered in the game:

* The odds of hitting the 7-7-7 super bonus is 1 in 668,382 in a six deck game, and 1 in 549,188 in an eight deck game.

See the Spanish 21 strategy card.