Spanish 21 (6 Decks)

This game is a recent addition to blackjack tradition. It is being praised for being more fun than normal blackjack because of all the additional winning possibilities. Spanish 21 uses six Spanish decks which have 48 cards, and the four tens (not the face cards) have been removed.

• Dealer hits soft 17's
• Double down on any card count and any number of cards.
• Splits allowed up to 4 hands, Aces may be resplit.
• Late surrender is available. A non-busted doubled hand can be surrendered, keeping the initial bet.
• Player's blackjack wins over dealer's blackjack and pays 3:2.
• Player wins 21 ties.

There is a special bonus for some non-doubled 21-valued hands:

Payout Odds	Composition
3:2	any five cards; 6+7+8 or 7+7+7 in mixed suits.
2:1	any six cards; 6+7+8 or 7+7+7 in the same suit
3:1	any seven cards; 6+7+8 or 7+7+7 in spades

Finally, if a player has three suited 7s and the dealer also shows a 7 of the same suit, the player wins a jackpot of $1,000.

Basic Strategy

Depending on the player's cards and the dealer's card there is an ideal strategy which gives the player the best results. To use this so-called basic strategy, look up your hand along the left column and the dealer's up card on the horizontal row. Where the row and column intersect you will find the correct decision for the given situation.

Hard Hand

Your Hand	Dealer's Upcard
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
5 - 8	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
9	H	H	H	H	D	H	H	H	H	H
10	D5	D5	D	D	D	D4	D3	H	H	H
11	D4	D5	D5	D5	D5	D4	D4	D4	D3	D3
12	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
13	H	H	H	H	S4*	H	H	H	H	H
14	H	H	S4*	S5'	S6"	H	H	H	H	H
15	S4*	S5'	S6	S6	S	H	H	H	H	H
16	S6	S6	S6	S	S	H	H	H	H	Rh
17	S	S	S	S	S	S	S6	S6	S6	Rh
18 - 21	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Soft Hand

Your Hand	Dealer's Upcard
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
13	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
14	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
15	H	H	H	H	D4	H	H	H	H	H
16	H	H	H	D3	D4	H	H	H	H	H
17	H	H	D3	D4	D5	H	H	H	H	H
18	S4	S4	D4	D5	D6	S6	S4	H	H	H
19	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S6	S6
20 - 21	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S

Splitting

Your Hand	Dealer's Upcard
	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	A
2, 2	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H	H
3, 3	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	H	H	H
4, 4	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H	H
5, 5	D	D	D	D	D	D	D	H	H	H
6, 6	H	H	P	P	P	H	H	H	H	H
7, 7	P	P	P	P	P	P$	H	H	H	H
8, 8	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	R
9, 9	S	P	P	P	P	S	P	P	S	S
10, 10	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S	S
A, A	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P	P

Surrender after doubling down should be used in the following situations:

Your points after double down	Dealer's card
12 - 16	8 - A
17	A

H	Hit	S	Stand	D	Double	P	Split	R	Surrender
S4	Stand, unless hand is composed of 4 or more cards then hit
S5	Stand, unless hand is composed of 5 or more cards then hit
S6	Stand, unless hand is composed of 6 or more cards then hit
S4*	Stand; Hit if any 6+7+8 bonus possible
S5'	Stand; Hit if suited or spaded 6+7+8 bonus is possible
S6"	Stand; Hit if spaded 6+7+8 bonus is possible
D3	Double, unless hand is composed of 3 or more cards then hit
D4	Double, unless hand is composed of 4 or more cards then hit
D5	Double, unless hand is composed of 5 or more cards then hit
D6	Double, unless hand is composed of 6 or more cards then hit
P$	Split; Hit if two sevens are suited (possible super bonus)
Rh	Surrender on first two cards, otherwise hit