Table Games What would you play? Spanish 21 or regular BJ?

at a local casino near where I live they have 2 games,

BJ with subpar rules and Spanish 21. the House edge in Spanish 21 is only 60% the house edge on the Blackjack.

I've been playing BJ because its my default game, but the crap rules have been bugging me, so I was thinking about moving to spanish. (they have twice as many spanish tables as BlackJack tables)

What game would you play and why?

 

I LOVE playing Spanish 21

I saw it several years ago at Cosmo and learned it then. Back in PA they have it and each time I visited I would play it and I like it much more than regular blackjack (which I will play as well provided the rules are good).

V/P had it and then dumped it and then brought it back, thankfully.

In July I went on a huge run and cashed out $2900 at Palazzo. A lot of that was because as I won I increased my match the dealer bets and was getting lucky.

Why do I like it? Double at any time...immediate wins on 21...match the dealer...different payouts for hitting suited and/or sequential 6-7-8's

 

Rocky,

Do you think that the basic strategy in Spanish21 is easy to learn? one of the reasons I've been shying away from it is because I think basic strategy would be hard to learn, I have decent Blackjack strategy but Spanish21 seems like it has so many more things to memorize

 

I would think so, yes.

As much as I adhere to BS in blackjack I throw a lot of it out the window when playing S21.

I will still hit 12 vs 2 and make the right calls on soft hands...but with the subtraction of all 10's from the decks and with the increased payouts on the different combos of 21 you can take shots where you normally wouldn't.

So if I am sitting on a 6-7 and the dealer is showing a card that I normally stay on I sometimes take a shot at hitting that 6-7-8.

The extra options make it that much more fun for me. When I am playing regular BJ I sometimes get into that monotonous rhythm of BS and I get bored.

 

yeah I think the extra options make the game look more fun as well, though I dont think I know the game well enough to feel confident playing it, (I think I could get that confidence pretty quick)

did you actually memorize the basic strategy table for spanish21 completely?? the tables look kinda overwhelming to me.

Also, do you think the match side bet is a bet worth making? or should I just avoid it because its silly?

 

No...I play it on feeling with some regular blackjack BS sprinkled in.

A few times a tablemate got salty with me taking a hit when showing 6-7 against a dealer 5 or 6 or when I had 7-7...but I just tell them to look down at the payouts right in front of them on the table and see why I am taking a shot.

But honestly most of the time people who sit down to play seek out the game because they are fans so they get what it is all about.

 

Do you think that Spanish 21 gets more comps than regular BJ?

 

oo

I love regular BJ,

but refuse 6/5 so Spanish 21 might be a good alternative


Wizard has some good stuff on Spanish 21

http://wizardofodds.com/games/spanish-21/

 

I wish everyone refused 6:5, then it would go away and it wouldn't be spreading

 

I love Spanish 21! hopefully I can find it over super bowl weekend somewhere

 

Can you find this at any mlife casinos?

 

No. Just Venetian I believe. Spanish 21 isn't very easy to find nationwide unfortunately.

MLife has"Free Bet Blackjack" as their popular BJ twist.

 

the only places left in Vegas that have Spanish 21 are the palazzo and the Venetian, but they don't allow re-doubling (not allowing re-doubling almost doubles the house edge)

 

Hmmm...the re-doubling much have changed. I played there a ton in July and was never told no when I wanted to re-double.

Also...correct, only at V/P. Cosmo used to have it but they got rid of it.

The casinos close to Philly have it...I always play when I am back home. But I haven't seen it in other casinos that I have stopped in.

As for comps...no clue if it is more or less than blackjack. I never thought to ask the pit.

 

you were allowed to re-double at V/P on Spanish21? it could be that my source is wrong, I havn't played it there, just looked it up

 

Check that...I was thinking about doubling at any time

I wasn't presented with any re-doubling opportunities so I never did it.

 

re-doubling is rare, but when it happens it is very very profitable

 

Yeah I think in all the hands i have played maybe I have done it four or five times and that was in PA casinos.

I want to nail that damn 7-7-7 suited with a dealer upcard 7...

 

The probability of hitting the Super Bonus is 1 in 668,382, with six decks, and 1 in 549,188 with eight decks. The reduction in the house edge depends on the bet amount, and to a lesser extent, the number of players. With no other players, and bets of exactly $5 or $25, the Super Bonus lowers the house edge by 0.030% in a six-deck game, and 0.036% in an eight-deck game. At a bet of exactly $5, the Envy Bonus lowers the house edge by an additional 0.0015% in a six-deck game, and 0.0018% in an eight-deck game, per additional player.

For bet amounts other than those indicated above, the benefit of the Super Bonus will go down as the bet amount goes up. its not the best thing, but its cool that its there and if you did hit it that would be freaking awesome

 

Also I just discovered this site today, it has Spanish21 and ive been playing it.

http://www.hitorsplit.com/spanish21_game.html