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Blackjack Spanish 21 Strategy

The basic strategy for Spanish 21 is easy enough to learn, but it has some subtleties that you don’t worry about in regular blackjack. This is mostly because of the bonus payouts based on the number of cards in your hand. But with a house edge as low as 0.4%, Spanish 21 with basic strategy is one of the best bets in the casino.

The strategy for Spanish 21 has the same principles with other blackjack strategies: it means that all options to do were organized and introduced with the help of special strategy charts which described the steps to follow. Spanish 21 has the same object with all other blackjack variations: to beat a dealer without exceeding 21 points; the basic rules of the game and card values are also the same with a traditional blackjack. Spanish 21 is played with 6-8 decks of 48 cards: remember, that 10's are absent in card decks when you choose Spanish 21 to play. Spanish 21 is a variation of blackjack with a lot of variant rules and payout differences. The biggest difference between Spanish 21 and other variations of blackjack is that it uses a “Spanish deck,” a deck of 52 cards where the 10s have been removed.

Spanish 21 is my favorite blackjack game. It’s a trademarked variation owned by Masque Publishing in Colorado. You’ll find games that are eerily similar to Spanish 21 referred to as “Spanish blackjack.”

Spanish 21 has been popular in casinos for the last 20 years. One of the reasons for its popularity is its low house edge. Depending on the rules variations where you’re playing, the house edge for Spanish 21 is between 0.4% and 0.8%.

But that low house edge assumes that you’re playing with perfect basic strategy.

At this point, you’ve probably already read about blackjack and blackjack strategy. The rule differences between regular blackjack and Spanish 21 are enough that you’ll need to make a few adjustments to your basic strategy.

This post contains everything you need to know about the correct mathematical strategy for Spanish 21.

I’m not going to go into extreme detail about how to play Spanish 21, but I am going to provide the basics of how to play.

The biggest difference between Spanish 21 and regular blackjack is the deck. Spanish 21 uses a Spanish deck, which is a 48-card deck. It’s just like a standard deck of cards, but they’ve removed the 10s. (The jacks, queens, and kings are still in the deck.)

If you’ve read any of my posts about counting cards, you know that 10s are some of the most important cards in the deck.

To make up for the lack of 10s in the deck, Spanish 21 includes several additional rules that are favorable to the player.

Late surrender is allowed in Spanish 21, for example. This means that you can forfeit your hand and retain half your bet instead of having to risk the entire bet. “Late” surrender means that the option is available only after the dealer checks for blackjack.

You’re also allowed to double down after splitting, which has obvious advantages for the player. You’re also allowed to re-split aces, which is unusually permissive.

If you have a total of 21, you always win — regardless of what total the dealer has. Your blackjack will also always beat the dealer’s blackjack. (In regular blackjack, such a situation is treated as a push.)

You can also double down on any total. You can even surrender after doubling down, which is called “double down rescue.”

You also get bonus payouts for the following hands.

  • A 5-card total of 21 pays off at 3 to 2
  • A 6-card total of 21 pays off at 2 to 1
  • A 7-card total of 21 (or more cards) pays off at 3 to 1
  • 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 of different suits pays off at 3 to 2
  • If that combination is suited, it pays off at 2 to 1
  • If that combination is all of spades, it pays off at 3 to 1
  • Suited 7-7-7 pays off a bonus of $1,000 if the dealer has a 7 showing or $5,000 if you bet $25 or more

These bonuses don’t count after doubling down, though.

You’ve probably seen blackjack basic strategy in the form of colored tables or charts. I don’t like to learn that way, so I don’t teach strategy that way, either. I just use plain old text.

Here’s a plain old text version of basic strategy for Spanish 21.

Hard Hands

A hard hand is a hand with no aces in it, or a hand where the ace must be counted as 1 to avoid busting. You’ll play hard hands less aggressively than soft hands because you have no wiggle room. A card that would bust a hard hand wouldn’t necessarily bust a soft hand.

Blackjack Spanish 21 Strategy Tips

You always stand with a hard total of 18 or higher.

You always hit a hard total of 8 or less.

For the other hard totals, here’s how you play the hand.

If you have a hard 9, double down on a two-card 9 if the dealer’s showing a 6. Otherwise, hit.

If you have a hard 10, double down if the dealer’s showing 2 through 7. Otherwise, hit.

If you have a hard 11, double down if the dealer’s showing 2 through 8. Otherwise, hit.

If you have a hard 12, always hit.

If you have a hard 13, hit if the dealer’s showing 2, 3, 4, or 7+. Stand if the dealer’s showing 5 or 6. If your 13 has five cards, hit against a dealer 5 or 6.

If you have a hard 14, hit if the dealer’s showing 2, 3, or 7+. You’ll also hit against a 4 if you have four cards or more totaling 14. And you’ll hit against a 5 or 6 if you have five cards or more.

If you have a hard 15, hit if the dealer’s showing 7+. Also hit if the dealer’s showing a 2 if you have four cards or more. And you’ll also hit against a 3 or 4 if you have five cards or more. Finally, you’ll also hit against a 5 or 6 if you have six cards.

If you have a hard 16, surrender if the dealer’s showing an ace. Hit against 7+. Hit against a 2 if you have five or more cards. And hit against a 3 or 4 if you have six cards.

If you have a hard 17, surrender if the dealer’s showing an ace. Otherwise, stand unless the dealer’s showing an 8, 9, or 10 AND you have six cards. If that’s the case, hit.

Soft hands are hands that include an ace which could be counted as 1 or as 11 without busting. You’ll play soft hands more aggressively because they’re harder to bust.

Here’s how to play each specific soft hand.

Always stand on a soft 19 or higher.

Always hit a soft 15 or lower

Otherwise…

If you have a soft 16, double down if the dealer’s showing a 6, unless you have four cards or more. In that case, just hit. If the dealer’s showing any other card, just hit.

If you have a soft17, hit if the dealer’s showing 2 or 3 or 7+. Double down against a 4 if you have two cards, against a 5 if you have two or three cards, and against a 6 if you have two, three, or four cards.

If you have a soft18, hit if the dealer’s showing a 9, 10, or ace. Stand against a 2, 3, 7, or 8, with this exception — hit against 2, 3, or 8 if you have four cards or more. Also hit against 7 if you have six or more cards. Double down against 4, 5, or 6, with this exception — just hit against 4 if you have four cards or more, and hit against 5 or 6 if you have five cards or more.

Splitting Pairs

You’ll always split aces.

Never split 4s, 5s, or 10s.

Blackjack Spanish 21 Strategy Card

Otherwise, follow the below strategy based on the pair that you have.

If you have a pair of 2s or 3s, split if the dealer’s showing a 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7.

If you have a pair of6s, split if the dealer’s showing 4, 5, or 6.

BlackjackSpanish

If you have a pair of7s, split if the dealer’s showing 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7.

If you have a pair of8s, surrender if the dealer’s showing an ace. Otherwise, split, regardless of what the dealer’s showing.

If you have a pair of9s, split if the dealer’s showing 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, or 9.

In all these cases, if you’re not splitting, you should treat your total as if it were the corresponding hard total.

Blackjack Spanish 21 Strategy Rules

Spanish 21 is a great game and a nice change of pace if you’re used to playing just regular ol’ blackjack.

But there’s no reason to accept less than an optimal house edge. The basic strategy for Spanish 21 is easy enough to learn, but it has some subtleties that you don’t worry about in regular blackjack.

This is mostly because of the bonus payouts based on the number of cards in your hand.

But with a house edge as low as 0.4%, Spanish 21 with basic strategy is one of the best bets in the casino.

You can play Spanish 21 at many of the leading online casino sites.

The strategy for such blackjack variation as Spanish 21 was developed by many different blackjack experts, including Arnold Snyder and John Grochowski: actually, these two blackjack authors were the most successful ones who perfectly described Spanish 21 Strategy in a way understandable for average players.

These two authors - Arnold Snyder and John Grochowski are considered to be the masters of the game, so follow their recommendation to succeed at the game. The strategy for Spanish 21 has the same principles with other blackjack strategies: it means that all options to do were organized and introduced with the help of special strategy charts which described the steps to follow. Due to the fact Spanish 21 is played with a deck of cards where 10's are absent, the strategy to win this game has some extra features of course; frankly speaking, this strategy is rather complicated and difficult to understand if you are just a newcomer to this game.

Anyway, here you will find 2 strategies for Spanish 21; they were facilitated by gambling specialists for you to understand and remember them properly.

Arnold Snyder's Strategy

Blackjack Spanish 21 Strategy Card Dealer Stays On Soft 17

The basic Spanish 21 strategy was described by Mr. Snyder in his book (The Big Book of Blackjack); he had made an attempt to explain its main aspects for average players to understand it and introduced 15 basic steps to do during the game.

  • Do not take insurance.
  • Double down if you have a hand of 11.
  • Double down if you have a hand of Ace + 5,6,7.
  • Double down if you have a hand of 20 and a dealer has 2-8.
  • Hit if you have a hard hand of 12-13.
  • Hit if you have a soft hand except of the following soft hands: Ace + 5,6,7.
  • Hit if you have a hard hand of 14-15 and it consists of 5 or more cards.
  • Hit if you have a soft hand of 17-18 and it consists of 5 or more cards.
  • Stand if you have a hard of soft hand of 18.
  • Stand if you have a hand of 14-16 and a dealer has 2-6. Hit this hand if a dealer has 7-Ace.
  • Split if you have a hand of Aces or 8's.
  • Split every hand of pairs, except 4's, 5's and 10's.
  • Surrender if you have a hard hand of 16-17.
  • Surrender if you have a hand of 12-16 after doubling when a dealer has 8-Ace.
  • Never split 4's, 5's and 10's.

John Grochowski's Strategy

Spanish 21 Tips

Mr. Grochowski is the gambling specialist who described the strategies of various casino games in his books; as for Spanish 21, his strategy introduces 3 main rules for gamblers to follow: a rule for hard hands, a rule for soft hands and a rule for splitting pairs. As far as we know, all blackjack strategies created in this way. So:

Blackjack Spanish 21 Strategy Chart

  • Hard hands: stand if you have 18 or more; hit if you have 8 or less.
  • Soft hands: always stand on 19-21.
  • Splitting pairs: split Aces; never split 4's, 5's and 10's.