Strategy

By using basic strategies in blackjack, you can narrow down the house advantage to 0.5% or so, depending on the house rules. Most of the time the house rules do not ask for big changes within basic strategies. Sure, several adjustments need to be made for lone decks, but in common multi-decks, the same strategies can be used, whether dealers hit on soft 17s or whether re-splitting Aces is allowed.

But what happens if extreme rules pop up? Would you have to come up with uncommon strategies in order to win in such cases? The answer is yes and this is the case when it comes to Spanish 21, a blackjack variation with extreme rules.

The Advantages

Why are these rules extreme? Well, players can double after getting any amount of cards, as opposed to being limited from doing so after two. If a player gets four cards for a total of 11, he can double. If he doesn't like whichever card he gets on that double, he can "double rescue" and back out, allowing him to surrender a bet and pull the other back. Late surrender is also available with other handset.

That's not all. Unless a dealer gets a blackjack, 21s of players win, regardless of whether the dealer gets a 21 from multiple cards. Bonuses also exist for 21s that have five to seven cards. This makes things look positive for players.

The Disadvantages

Yes, there are negative things, too. Usually, Spanish 21 uses six decks with dealers hitting on soft 17s. This isn't great, but not unusual. What makes it bad is the fact that "Spanish" decks do not have any 10s. Face cards all count as 10, but there are no actual 10s. So, if you want to double on an 11, you need to know that only 12 face cards exist as a value of 10 instead of 16.

Since the value of 10 is rare, players will double down less often, even though they can double on any amount. With less high cards within the deck, players will also hit on several hands on which they would normally stand in traditional blackjack. Also, sometimes, the possibility of getting bonus hands will affect gameplay by the amount of cards that exist on the actual table. This means a risk of busting several hard totals when four to six cards exist to take chances on bonus 21s.

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