Spanish 21 Blackjack
Spanish 21 Blackjack is an extraordinary variation that will certainly knock you off your feet. This blackjack variation uses 8 decks, but there are only 48 cards in each deck because they do not have cards with a face value of 10.
Although this may seem to be a major drawback for players who have been accustomed to playing with a full deck, Spanish 21 Blackjack has enough perks to compensate.
If you are interested in playing this game, you can play free Spanish blackjack here. Some blackjack games are named differently, but have almost the same exact rules. Below is a game called Match Play 21 and for all intents and purposes it is Spanish 21.
Playing Spanish 21 Blackjack
As above mentioned, the rules of Spanish Blackjack have been varied somewhat to compensate for the lack of the four 10 cards. The following are some examples:
- When tied at 21. In traditional blackjack, a push is declared when the dealer and a player both have 21. In Spanish blackjack, however, the player gains an advantage for his 21 will beat a dealer’s 21 anytime.
- When tied at blackjack. The same advantage as described above is given to players who have a blackjack tie with the dealer. In most cases, this constitutes a push; in Spanish blackjack, however, the player has the advantage and his blackjack beats the dealer’s blackjack.
- Regarding double downs. In Spanish blackjack, players can actually double down on multiple cards and not only in the first two cards as is traditional in blackjack. In fact, a player has 2 chances to double down in any round. After a double down, a player may can get a card, double his bet and get another card.
- Regarding bonuses. Aside from the rules, Spanish 21 also provides exciting bonuses for players. For instance, a player, after achieving a 21 with 5 or 6 cards will get a 3:1 or a 2:1 rate of payment, respectively.
In Spanish Blackjack, moreover, after splitting aces a player can choose to hit or he can double down instead.
There’s also the rule that after a player has doubled his bet, gets his next card then finds out that his hand is not as good as he was hoping for, he can declare a double down surrender at this point so he will lose only his original bet. In traditional blackjack, surrender typically means the loss of the latest bet made.
Achieving 21 with more than 6 cards, or 3 cards with a value of 7 of spades each, or 3 cards with a value of six, seven and eight of spades, moreover, means a pay rate of 3 times the bet. If a player, moreover, manages to hit 21 with a 6, a 7 and an 8 or 3 cards of 7 – whatever the suit of each card – gets a pay rate of 3:2
However, if these aforementioned cards all belong to the same suit, then this 21 pays double. Finally, a player hitting 21 with three 7 cards belonging to the same suit will win a player a pay rate of 50:1 when the dealer has another 7 card face-up on the table.
Basic Strategies in Playing Spanish 21
If you’re planning to try Spanish 21, you need to master the special rules and consider your special privileges.
Since Spanish 21 has no 10s, your chances of winning using traditional blackjack strategy are slim.
For instance, if your cards’ value is 15 and your dealer has 6, standard blackjack strategy dictates that you make a stand. In Blackjack Spanish, however, the best thing you should do is to hit.
