There are few casino games that don’t have at least one or two major varieties these days, especially since the shift to online play. Variants allow for twists on the standard gameplay, format and rules, without turning the game into an entirely different one.
Blackjack is one of the most widely played card games out there, so of course there are more than a couple of varieties for players to choose from. Whether its an online Blackjack game or one in a land-based casino, here are some of the major varieties of Blackjack players may encounter.
Classic Blackjack
Starting off simple, the most common format of Blackjack is obviously its classic – or traditional – variety. It’s stood the test of time for centuries now, so clearly, the classic format has a lot to recommend it.
In a standard Blackjack game, the goal is to get a hand value as close to 21 as possible without going too high, with the aim of getting a stronger hand than the dealer. At the start of the game, each player is dealt two cards – face up – with the dealer being deal one face up card and one that’s kept face down.
There are variations of classic Blackjack where some casinos use a different number of decks – making it more difficult to predict what cards are left – but the majority stick to the core ruleset and gameplay.
European Blackjack
While Blackjack’s historical origins are in Europe, the European variety is not the standard one. There are a couple of key differences that make it play slightly differently compared to the classic variety.
The major distinction of European Blackjack is the fact that the dealer only receives a single card during the initial dealing, that being placed face up. Their second card is only dealt once all players at the table have completed their turns.
This changes up the vibe of the game, with players making decisions without knowing whether the dealer will get a natural blackjack or not.
Only two decks are used in European Blackjack and there are also stricter rules compared to classic varieties on the options to double down or split.
Spanish 21
Distinct from European Blackjack, Spanish 21 is a variety with some very specific twists that have earned it plenty of fans. What makes Spanish 21 most notable is the fact that it is only played with a deck of 48 cards, with all the tens being removed.
While this does increase the house edge, the game also adds in some extra rules that help to soften the impact on players.
In Spanish 21, players can double down after a split, surrender their hand at any time (where some Blackjack games don’t allow for any surrender) and will always beat the dealer if they both have a hand value of 21.
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There are even more varieties of Blackjack – from Atlantic City to Blackjack Switch or Pontoon – so there’s bound to be a version out there to suit any player preference.