Unlike standard Blackjack, Spanish 21 is a negative expectations game. There is no playing strategy that will make the game profitable for the player, though there are some tricks.

Spanish 21 Strategy

Unlike standard Blackjack, Spanish 21 is a negative expectations game. There is no playing strategy that will overcome the house edge and make the game profitable for the player. Sure, you can learn to count cards and reduce the house edge, but to swing it to a positive expectation is not easy to do in Spanish 21. Spanish 21 was specifically designed to thwart card counters.

Whether of not you count cards, when playing Spanish 21 you must use some reasonable strategy or you will lose consistently. The problem is that the basic strategy rules for standard Blackjack do not work very well for Spanish 21. Experienced Blackjack players should be aware that they have to learn a new set of strategy rules if they expect to last very long at a Spanish 21 table.

The basic strategy for standard Blackjack is not very simple. In Spanish 21, the basic strategy is not any simpler, just different. The changes in strategy are mainly due to the 25% fewer 10-value cards in the deck. The bonuses for certain 21-count hands also contribute to the variation in strategy rules.

The simple strategy table is a condensed and simplified version of the full basic strategy. Before sitting down at a Spanish 21 game, you should try to learn the following rules: