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Where To Play Spanish 21 In Vegas
Introduction
I love Spanish 21. They have $3 dollar tables here, and even $2 tables at various days and times. I asked the 'House' guy yesterday about the odds of straight blackjack 3:2 with no side bets, vs. Spanish21 with no side bets, and the house has the advantage at something like 52% at regular blackjack and it was closer to exactly 50% with Spanish. Island Spanish 21 Bonus Payoffs. At Island Resort & Casino, Spanish 21 is played with six Spanish Decks—A-9, J, Q, K—no 10s. Like Blackjack, the object of Spanish 21 is to create a hand as close to 21 as possible, without busting, or going over 21. Players whose hands total closer to 21 than the dealer win.
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.
Spanish 21 is a fun twist on blackjack that sometimes offers the best odds in the casino, depending on the house rules. Just like in traditional blackjack, the players and dealer start with two cards each, and players try to beat the dealer by getting the closest to 21 without going over. The game is typically played with six to eight Spanish decks, which differ from conventional decks in that all four tens are removed from each (the jacks, queens, and kings are all left in, so blackjacks. This makes Spanish 21 a better bet in some casinos. One thing you need to understand about the house edge in Spanish 21 and blackjack is that you have to use the best strategy in order to keep the edge as low as you can. You can pick up strategy cards for blackjack in most casino gift shops, but finding the best strategy for Spanish 21 is harder. The Casino at the Venetian is one of the few places on the Las Vegas strip that has Spanish 21, they have 2 tables and they get pretty busy at nights and on weekends. Give the game a try. Date of experience: August 2016.
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.
Play big apple. 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.
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.
Spanish 21 In Vegas
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. Huuuge casino tips and tricks. 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%.
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
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
The first step in playing Spanish 21 is making a wager.
At a live casino, place your wager in the betting circle in front of you. You may play more than one hand for double the minimum bet.
At an online casino, click the denomination of chips that you would like to use. After that, click the betting circle the number of times that equals the bet that you would like to make.
Once your bet is established, each player receives two cards. The player’s cards are dealt face up. The dealer has one card placed up and the other down.
If the player has a blackjack, it is paid 3-2 immediately. If the dealer shows an ace, insurance is offered. It pays 2-1.
Insurance is an even worse bet than normal since there are no tens in the deck and the payout remains the same. We recommend never taking it.
The dealer will check for blackjack if showing a jack, queen, king, or ace. If the dealer has blackjack, all players still in the hand lose. Player blackjacks are already paid at this point. If the dealer does not have blackjack, the hand continues as normal.
Players have the option to hit, stand, double down, or surrender. To hit, or draw a card, tap the table in front of you at a live Spanish 21 game. At an online casino, click the hit button.
You may hit until you make a 21 or six-card charlie and automatically win or until your count is 22 or higher, which is a bust. If you bust, your bet loses.
To stand at a live game, wave your hand above your bet. At an online casino, there is a button that does this. This means that you are satisfied with your point total and do not want more cards.
To double down, meaning taking one card and standing, place an equal bet to the original one next to it. Simply click the appropriate button at an online version of Spanish 21.
You may double down on any number of cards, keeping in mind that bonus 21 pays do not apply if you do.
To surrender, run your finger in front of your bet. This option is also available at online casinos. You may surrender on any number of cards. It is also permitted after a double down.
Split is available if you are dealt a pair. Place an equal wager to the original bet to do this. This is the same live and online. This will turn your pair into two hands with a new card placed on each.
Double down and surrender are available after splitting on any number of cards. Aces may be hit, doubled, or re-split.
If the player makes a 21 at any time, it is paid immediately. Players cannot push on 21. Some 21s have bonus payouts, as previously outlined.
Once all players have acted, the dealer shows its hole card. If the dealer has 18 or higher, or hard 17, it stands. If it has 16 or lower, or soft 17, it hits. A soft 17 is an ace plus one or more cards that total 6. A hard hand is one that can bust.
Once the dealer’s hand is established, it is compared to each player’s cards.
![Spanish Spanish](https://lasvegas-blackjack.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/spanish_blackjack.jpg)
- If the dealer has a higher total than the player, the player’s bets lose
- If the player has a higher point total than the dealer, even money is paid unless the hand qualifies for a special payout or 21 is made. Those are paid instantly
- If the player and dealer have the same hand that is not 21, the hand is a push, and the bet is returned to the player