Spanish 21

Spanish 21 is a variation of blackjack, considered to be the world's most popular casino card game. The glaring difference between the two is that Spanish 21 makes no use of the 10 cards, which should appeal to casino gamblers and blackjack players who love a good challenge. You have a higher house edge, but more attractive payouts, bonuses, and rule modifications to provide a reasonable balance.

Spanish 21 Rules

The Object of the Game

With Spanish 21 as with blackjack, your goal is not to get as close as possible to 21, as it is falsely believed by many. The game's true object is to beat the dealer with a higher hand than his, without going over 21. You can win as much with a 14 as with a 20, so 21 is not a goal but a limit. If the dealer has a higher hand than yours, without exceeding 21, then he wins the game. For his part, the dealer follows a separate set of Spanish 21 rules that govern his card play, and having an understanding of these rules is equally key to winning.

Spanish 21 Strategy

When learning to play Spanish 21, it helps if you know blackjack. But if building your Spanish 21 strategy, it helps to unlearn your blackjack strategy because the two games' strategies are practically disparate.

This is not to say that blackjack players best stick to what they play best and not bother giving the no-tens conundrum a shot. Despite a higher house edge, Spanish 21 makes for some of the best bets in land-based and Internet Casino gambling. In casinos where the dealer must stand on a soft 17 or re-doubling is allowed, Spanish 21 probably allows better bets than blackjack.

Spanish 21 Betting Strategy

Here is a Spanish 21 betting strategy that is a simplistic take on the Spanish 21 basic strategy. This betting strategy reduces the house advantage to 0.76%. Where the dealer must stand on a soft 17, the house edge is lessened to only 0.40%, which is still even lower than the house edge in blackjack in some land-based and online casinos.

Your Hand	Dealer's Up Card	What to Do
5 to 9	Any	Hit
10 or 11 with 5 or more cards	2 to 7	Hit
10 or 11	2 to 7	Double down
10 or 11	8 to A	Hit
12 to 14	Any	Hit
15 or 16	2 to 6	Stand
15 or 16	7 to A	Hit
17 to 21	Any	Stand
A-3 to A-6	Any	Hit
A-7 to 21	Any	Stand
2-2	2 to 7	Split
3-3	2 to 7	Split
6-6	2 to 7	Split
7-7	2 to 7	Split
8-8	Any	Split
9-9	2 to 9	Split
A-A	Any	Split
Any other pairs	Any	Play as a hard hand

Here are the various forms of house edge to be considered under various common rules for Spanish 21:

Dealer stands on soft 17: 0.40%

Dealer hits on soft 17, redoubling allowed: 0.38%

Dealer hits on soft 17, redoubling not allowed: 0.76%

Hypothetically, drawing to split Aces increases the house edge by 0.29%

The owners of Spanish 21 maintain a list of casinos where the dealer stands on soft 17 or where redoubling is allowed. Check it out at www.spanish21.com/goodlocations.php.

Related Pages: Spanish 21 Books | Spanish 21 Sites | Spanish 21 Lessons