Research on Spanish 21?

[JJcoolL830]

I'm sure most people have seen Spanish 21... its a blackjack game that offers lots of bonuses for certain hands (like 3:1 for a 6-7-8) and the other lure for the game is that it allows you to double down at any time. But the one big drawback is that it removes the 10's (not Jacks, Queens, or Kings... just 10's) from the deck. I've actually heard that this game offers a relatively low house edge when playing its correct basic strategy.

Has anyone done any research on this game and know the correct basic strategy or the house edge for a 6 deck game? Just curious if this game is worth my time.

[BAMA21]

http://wizardofodds.com/spanish21

Check this link to the Wizard of Odds' take on the game, along with his strategy charts. According to him, if the rules are right, it has a very narrow house edge with proper strategy. I also read another author who really liked it, maybe better than blackjack, but I can't remember who that was.

I have never played this in a casino; but after reading the Wizaerd's take and practicing a little online, I may try it soon.

I have done really well with SuperFun21, which has a higher than normal house edge. It has many of the same features as Spanish 21, but with naturals paying only even money. The bonuses and the 3:2 naturals apparently more than make up for the removal of the tens.

[JJcoolL830]

Very interesting... thanks. It seems like I would be at a less house advantage by playing this game than the normal blackjack game I play < lol >. I wonder if we could implement counting into this game, but I'm guessing it would be pretty difficult with 6-8 decks. The only other question I have is whether BJ's are paid 3:2 in this game? I couldn't seem to find the answer to that question in the link you gave.

On another note, has anyone ever brought a strategy card to the table with you? Is this frowned upon or encouraged? I may want to try this if I sit down at a Spanish 21 table since the basic strategy is pretty bizarre.

[Mikeaber]

Originally Posted by JJcoolL830

On another note, has anyone ever brought a strategy card to the table with you? Is this frowned upon or encouraged? I may want to try this if I sit down at a Spanish 21 table since the basic strategy is pretty bizarre.

Most casinos in Vegas do not mind you useing a Strategy card at the table. Oh, they might give you some evil looks if you are slowing the play down by taking a lot of time to read the card on every hand, but generally, they do not mind.

I would ask the dealer before using one though just to play it safe.

Several of the Indian Casinos I've frequented do NOT allow the cards. Never understood that. Seems that they would want to encourage new players.

[JJcoolL830]

I normally don't play at our local indian casino since their BJ game is so brutal (8 decks, H17, double on any 2 but no DAS... approximately a .87% casino edge ) but my friend is in town and loves the glitz and glamour of the monstrosity they have built, so I go with him. I was looking to try something new since I simply can't win at that type of BJ game. I will let you know if the natives let me play with the card.

[BAMA21]

Naturals do pay 3:2 in Spanish 21. The rules that the Wizard says are the most important are standing on soft 17 and allowing double double down. Without those, I think it is about the same as a fairly standard regular blackjack game.

I am near Mohegan Sun; and they have loads of Spanish 21 tables. I am not sure what their rules are; but I may just check it out next time I'm there.

[JJcoolL830]

I've been currently wondering if counting cards in Spanish 21 is useful? Since they remove the tens I was thinking about devising a sort of modified Hi-Lo and setting card values 3,4,5,6 as -1 and J,Q,K,A as +1.

I'm wondering if positive counts create an advantage to the player in this game or if removing the 10's from the deck already leaves you at such a disadvantage for double downs and blackjacks that counting is a waste of time. I know that the dealer's probability of busting will increase with more high cards in the deck, and with the option of doubling down more than once or after you original two cards it would be advantageous to know when there are more high cards in the deck.

The only problem I see with this idea is that Spanish 21 offers bonuses for 5,6,7+ card 21's. The probability of receiving these bonuses decreases with more high cards in the deck... so is the game actually more advantageous with more low cards in the deck?!! I am so confused. Feedback would be helpful.

[BAMA21]

I'm not really a counter; and for some reason, I have the impression that most counters don't play this game. So this is only a guess on my part. I'd say that the way to count this would be with an unbalanced count (Red 7 or KO) and just adjust the pivot to compensate for the tens that are removed. So with Red 7, instead of -2 per deck as a starting point, you'd use -6 per deck. In fact, I'm guessing that if you had half those tens back, it would be enough to swing the advantage your way. So you could use -4 per deck.

I'm not sure there is any way to track the bonuses, other than maybe a side count of 7s. But you do have to account for the bonuses in basic strategy. For example, you would want to hit 7-7 instead of split, and you'd want to hit 7-8 instead of standing. But I think the strategy charts at the Wizard of Odds site cover that, along with hitting for the multi-card bonuses.

[TonyDee]

even if spanish21 may have a better edge for the player I don't have it in me to memorize another BS for a different game. I only recently mastered the BS for BJ

I'm probably like most people on this site who plays BJ just for fun and to make a couple to a few hundred dollars in pocket money. Sometimes I win and sometimes I lose, in any case whatever I lost I can afford. As you can tell from my lack of motivation to elevate my games I don't have any future plans to use my BJ winnings as a second income cause thats not the life for me

[BAMA21]

Since this discussion, which I had actually forgotten about, I have tried Spanish 21 in a real casino. The thread coming back up reminded me of what I'd said here previously about not having played; so I wanted to expand upon those comments.

I played in Atlantic City last week. The house stood on all 17s.

It was the end of the day; and I had stopped playing with my own money, since I had not had a particularly good day. About half an hour before time for our bus, my wife handed me a $70 slot voucher and told me to take it to the blackjack tables and play it for her while she watched. I figured I'd lose it quickly, as $70 is severely under-funded for the $10 tables and up that are sported by most AC casinos.

There wasn't a regular blackjack table open at even the $10 level; and I knew I didn't have enough to play Double Attack, so I decided to give Spanish 21 a try. What followed was an incredible run of winning hands. I was winning most of the hands, hitting on my doubles and splits, etc. I was at a table with one other player for a few m8inutes, and then alone with the dealer for a few minutes.

I played through that one really good shoe, and had managed to turn the $70 into $200 by the time the dealer shuffled. I dropped $50 on the first few hands of the next shoe, so I called it a day at that point, having still slightly more than double my original session stake in about 20 minutes.

I knew a little about the Spanish 21 basic strategy; but I'm sure I was nowhere near perfect play. There are some really good points to the game, one of which is that a player 21 wins immediately. If you hit to 21, the dealer pays you before playing out her hand. I never got any of the bonus payouts durng my time there; but I did see the other player get paid 3:2 on a multi-card hand (I can't remember exactly, maybe it was a five-card 21).