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%. Spanish 21 is playable with six to eight 48-card decks with no 10s. Additionally, the decks shuffle in a random CMS (continuous shuffling machine), ensuring a fair outcome. The usage of this device makes it difficult to count cards. What has better odds – Spanish 21 or blackjack? Spanish 21 or blackjack – that is the question. This interesting blackjack odds chart is the two card count frequency chart. This chart shows the percentage chance that you will be dealt a hand in each given value range. The most important frequencey to note is the chance of being dealt a natural blackjack (natural 21 value. The odds of being dealt a natural blackjack are merely 4.8%.

1. Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Chart
2. Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Explained

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

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

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:

• 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.

We want to remind you that Spanish 21 is a version of blackjack that is quite popular in some countries. Sometimes it can be found under the name of Spanish Blackjack. The main feature of this game is the fact that it is played using so-called Spanish decks consisting of forty-eight cards (without four tens). Since the absence of tens significantly increases the house edge, additional bonus payouts (for 777, 678, and other combinations) are provided. The rules are also more liberal (in split, surrender, and insurance options).

This makes Spanish 21 even more profitable for casino visitors than most other variations of blackjack. However how such rules may affect card counting? Does it make sense for counters to sit at the Spanish 21 table? Or is it better to play more traditional versions of blackjack?

Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Chart

The presence of bonus payouts for hands composed of sixes, sevens, and eights significantly increases the value of these cards in Spanish 21 compared to blackjack. On the other hand, it does not have valuable tens. It may seem that such redistribution makes card counting inefficient or even useless. However such changes even contribute to card counting. For some reasons, which are discussed below, Spanish 21 is more profitable for card counters than blackjack.

• An ace seems to be the most beneficial card. Since there are no tens, it appears more often than in traditional blackjack (1/12 compared with 1/13).
• In Spanish 21 it is allowed to re-split aces and hit more than one card after splitting aces, making an ace even more favorable for players.
• Blackjack is paid 3:2 even if the dealer also has blackjack (due to higher values of aces).
• Card counters make doubles more often than it is recommended by the basic strategy if the score reaches high levels. Since in Spanish 21 it is allowed to double on any number of cards and points, it is very profitable to players to count cards under favorable circumstances.
• In both versions of blackjack players often receive two-card hands that after hitting may form twenty-one. The basic strategy recommends that it is necessary to stand on a 13-17 against a dealer's 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6 and on a 12 if the dealer has a 4, 5, or 6. When the score increases, the player virtually has no choice for his further action. Taking a look at the Spanish 21 optimal strategy, you can see that in this game there is a higher number of options. This fact is favorable to counters.
• Many casinos don't treat Spanish 21 as a game suitable for card counting, so gamblers may easily operate with bets without being afraid of the fact that these establishments may suspect them in card counting. In other words, there is no need to hide their activities, which is obligatory for counters in traditional blackjack.

Blackjack Vs Spanish 21 Odds Explained

As you can see, Spanish 21 provides card counters with a much wider opportunity to check their skills and higher chances of winning. In addition, this game does not exclude the use of such alternative skills as shuffle tracking, sequencing , etc.