Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds

Blackjack has been a popular casino game since it was invented in the 1700s. Today, you can find many variations of the game both online and in brick and mortar establishments. When played using a strategy, the house edge of blackjack can be as low as 0.4%, so it’s no surprise that the game is popular worldwide.

• Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Today
• Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Chart
• Spanish 21 Vs Blackjack Odds
• Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Calculator

If you’re a casino goer, you’ve probably heard blackjack be referred to as 21 from time to time. While many people assume blackjack and 21 are the same game, there are actually some key differences between the two. Here at NetBet, we explore what’s different between blackjack and 21.

What is Spanish 21?

So, is Spanish 21 the same as blackjack? The simple answer is no. Instead, it’s a variation of the game that can be found in online and land-based casinos. It’s actually one of the most popular variations out there, so is the game that many gamblers know and love.

To a newbie, Spanish 21 and blackjack may seem like the same game with a different name. However, there are several differences between the two including the rules and strategy and the odds of winning.

The difference between Spanish 21 and blackjack The fact all 10s are removed (the picture cards remain) means you are less likely to hit blackjack. However, other changes are in the player’s interest. Firstly, you can surrender in Spanish 21; effectively, you give up your hand, like folding in poker. If you bet €200 on colour Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds in Roulette you basically have 49% chance to win €400 when only risking €100 of your own money. If you win, then you head to the slots and bet pretty decent stakes in order to get a big win so that you can clear the wagering requirements. Offer valid for first time depositors in 888casino only. Players making Spanish 21 Vs Blackjack Odds their first time 888casino deposit in this promotion will be excluded from the standard 888casino sign on bonus.

1. 21 often refers to Spanish 21 rather then black jack. One major difference is the number 10 cars are removed and only the royals equal 10 this puts the odds more in the houses favor. There are many other variations as well such as being able to double down more then once on a hand.
2. Spanish 21 sucks for the player. If you think it's fun fine, but don't expect to win at it. If you want to try a variation of blackjack that is still fun look for Blackjack Switch. In this game, you are dealt 2 hands and allowed to switch cards between them to improve each hand.

How to play Spanish 21

Spanish 21 is played with a shoe of six decks. Each player is dealt two cards and continues to receive cards until they decide to stand. Of course, the aim of the game is to get as close to 21 as possible without going over it. If you go over 21, you go bust. When all players have decided to stand, the hands are compared and the highest one wins the round.

In Spanish 21, players can split their paired cards and continue the game with two hands. If the player is dealt another pair, a re-split is possible. A winning hand in Spanish 21 pays 1/1.

Spanish 21 rules

Late surrender – in Spanish 21, late surrender is allowed. If the dealer does not have a blackjack, the player can choose to surrender and be given back half of their bet. Once this decision has been made, the player is out of the game.

Double after split – in Spanish 21, a double after split is allowed. If the player has two cards of the same value, they may split them into two different hands. They can then double their bet.

Re-splitting aces – in Spanish 21, re-splitting aces is allowed. Players can also split up to four hands.

Player 21 always wins – one of the main advantages to Spanish 21 is that a player 21 always wins. In standard blackjack, the dealer can beat a 21 if he has fewer cards than the player.

Double on any number of cards – in Spanish 21, the player may double on any number of cards.

Hit and double down – in Spanish 21, the player can hit and double down after splitting aces.

Surrender after doubling – in Spanish 21, there’s something called a “double down rescue”. This is where the player forfeits an amount equal to his or her original bet after doubling.

What is the difference between blackjack and 21?

So, let’s look at what’s different between blackjack and 21. One of the major differences is the missing 10s – in Spanish 21, all of the 10 cards are removed from the deck. This means that players’ hands are usually made up of lots of low cards.

Another thing that’s different between blackjack and 21 is the side bets. In traditional blackjack, the options for side bets are limited. The most players can do is take an insurance bet against the house getting a blackjack. This bet pays 2/1.

Spanish 21, on the other hand, has a wide range of side bets. The insurance is still available, paying the same 2/1. Other side bets in Spanish 21 include 5-card hand which pays 3/2, 6-card hand which pays 2/1, 7-card hand which pays 3/1, 21 with any three sevens which pays 3/2, 21 with 6-7-8 which pays 3/2, 21 with three sevens of the same suit which pays 2/1 and 21 with three sevens, dealer has fourth seven pays 50/1.

Another thing that’s different between blackjack and 21 is that in Spanish 21, a player 21 always wins. This means that if both the player and the dealer have blackjack, the player will win the round. In traditional blackjack, if both the player and the dealer hit 21 with the same number of cards, no bets are paid out.

Spanish 21 odds vs blackjack

The odds are also different between blackjack and 21. As the dealer stands on a soft 17 in traditional blackjack, the house edge is only 0.4%. In Spanish 21, on the other hand, the dealer is required to hit on a soft 12. This increases the house edge to around 0.8%. This is definitely something to bear in mind when deciding which variant to play.

Rules and Strategy

The strategy is also different between blackjack and 21. In traditional blackjack, it’s quite common for players to place an insurance bet. This pays out 2/1 and protects their money if the dealer hits blackjack. In Spanish 21, insurance bets are less common. While the bet still pays 2/1, the dealer is less likely to hit blackjack and there are no 10s in the deck. For this reason, most players decide that it’s worth just taking a risk.

While traditional blackjack doesn’t have many side bets, side bets are the key to winning in Spanish 21. In Spanish 21, the low cards are your friend. With 5-card and 6-card hands offering a 3/2 and 2/1 payout respectively, it’s a good idea to split low pairs and continue with two separate hands. This gives you a high chance of winning the bonus payouts.

While the games are certainly similar, it’s important to consider the pros and cons of each before deciding which one to play. Ready to try the games for yourself? Great! At NetBet, we have a wide range of blackjack, roulette, and slots for you to enjoy.

Good question. Yes, this house edge is definitely low enough to consider card counting. Since most card counters don’t even consider Spanish 21 I think the field is ripe to exploit the game and to do so with a great deal of impunity. However counting may not be as effective in Spanish 21 as regular blackjack. A small card rich deck will benefit the player in more multiple card 21’s. To the best of my knowledge nobody has developed index numbers for Spanish 21 but somebody should. Maybe I will.

Casino Player reversed the two charts in their layout. I'm very embarrassed by this mistake. Yes, you should hit a hard 17 against an ace if you can't surrender.

In a 6-deck game the probability of a super bonus is 1 in 668382, and in an 8-deck game it is 1 in 549188. The house edge without the super bonus would be 0.03% more either way.

Spanish 21! Under Atlantic City rules blackjack has a house edge of 0.43% and Spanish 21 of .40%.

The Venetian. To the best of my knowledge they are the only casino in Las Vegas which stands on a soft 17 in Spanish 21, lowering the house edge from 0.76% to 0.40%.
Update: The Venetian later switched to hitting a soft 17. As of this update (May 14, 2013) the best Spanish 21 game is at the D, which allows re-doubling.

All Unified Gaming casinos as well as Global Player offer Spanish 21. Unified Gaming stands on a soft 17 and thus has the lower house edge.
2013 Update: Unified Gaming software has since disappeared. As far as I know, nobody offers Spanish 21 online any longer.

Thanks for the compliment. The Spanish 21 rules are the same across Atlantic City. I only know of two that have the game, the Tropicana and the Claridge, but there could be others by now. If I'm not mistaken, the best craps game is at the Sands, which offers 5X odds. When I say to take the maximum odds I mean bet the maximum allowed on the odds. For example, $50 after a $10 line bet. Keep in mind that you won't win more money by taking the odds, you just get to bet more without losing more in the long run.

I always liked the name Thunder Bay for a city. I used to work at a summer camp not too far from there in Missanabie, Ontario. To answer your question 6 decks is better than 8. However the difference in the house edge is small, only about 0.03%.

Q1. For 17 v A (your reference - Rh). If the player doesn’t surrender (or double down surrender), does he in fact hit? I ask this question because I’m a little unsure - Scoblete’s book says to stand 17 v A, as does Norm Wattenberger’s Spanish 21 strategy table in CVBJ3.

Q2. Your references to the 6-7-8 bonuses. Do all the references apply equally to the 7-7-7 bonuses? e.g. Does * mean 'Hit if any 6-7-8 [OR 7-7-7] bonus possible'?

Q3. p20 of Scoblete’s Spanish 21 book says to hit 9 v 6 if player has a 3 card 9. Should I ignore this advice, along with the 'don’t double down rescue' advice given in his book?

Sorry to bother you with these questions but I’ve got a Spanish 21 tournament coming up, and need all the help I can get. Many thanks.

1. Yes, you should hit. I believe all those who disagree to be in error.
2. No, the 7-7-7 bonus is only possible with two initial sevens. The proper strategy is indicated in that row.
3. Yes, you should ignore this advice.

I get verbally abused too when I play Spanish 21. When I lived in Baltimore I played it a lot in Atlantic City because the house edge is lower than blackjack there. These idiots doing the abusing don’t understand that removing the tens from the decks makes hitting less dangerous because the probability of busting is less. Don’t bother to try to explain this, the logic won’t make it through their thick skulls. I used to just bite my tongue in these situations but the next time I may not be so nice.

There was discussion about this at www.bj21.com under the Green Chip section about a couple years ago. As I recall the consensus was that counting was not as advantageous as in blackjack but you could get away with a lot more. I know of no published material on this.

Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Today

Most redoubling situations tell you to double anyway. However, with a soft 15 to 17 against a 3, when the strategy says hit, you should actually redouble.

Thanks. This game is just a rip-off of Spanish 21. Note that the bottom of the card says that all queens are removed.

Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Chart

Keeping all the tens in the deck is worth 1.89% to the player. The house edge under those rules is normally 0.40%. So with all the tens in the shoe, the player edge would be 1.89%-0.40% = 1.49%.

I don’t like it when games give worse odds to the higher bettors either. The value of these Super Bonuses is almost zero. The probability of hitting the Super Bonus is one in 549,000 with eight decks, and one in 668,000 million with six decks. Assuming six decks, the value of the envy bonus is worth 0.0015% per additional player, besides yourself. Sorry, I don’t know of any casinos that sweeten the bonuses for larger bets.

Spanish 21 Vs Blackjack Odds

Not knowing, however, where to find it, and others, I usually wind up writing to the maker of the game at their website and asking where I can find their game outside of Nevada, since I am in the Midwest. I NEVER get an answer! Besides being just bad customer service, I still have the question of finding the game to be answered. Do you know of a site, or a way, to find which specific games are at which casinos? You would think the game’s manufacturer would list where to find it to assist in letting players find the game.

Thanks for the kind words. I think the gaming manufacturers should take this as a good suggestion. I get requested for this information by players all the time, but it is simply too much for one person to keep on top of. A noteworthy exception is Masque Publishing, the owners of Spanish 21. They keep an online list of where the liberal Spanish 21 rules can be found.

For the sake of simplicity, let’s assume re-splitting aces is not allowed. Also recall that Spanish 21 uses 48-card Spanish decks with no 10’s. Finally, recall that 21 points is an automatic winner in Spanish 21.

Even without that rule, the player should always split aces. The probability of getting a pair of aces in a four Spanish-deck game is combin(16,2)/combin(192,2) = 120/18336 = 0.65%.

Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Calculator

The probability each ace will get a 10 is (4*12)/(48*12-2) = 48/190 = 25.26%. With two aces, the expected number that will turn into blackjacks is 2*48/190 = 96/190 = 0.5053.

Each blackjack will be worth an extra half unit. Thus, the value of this rule is (120/18336)*(96/190)*(1/2) = 0.17%.

Even with this rule, the player should still not split tens, so we don’t need to worry about that. So, this rule lowers the house edge by 0.17%.