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Blackjack Backup Spanish 21 Game in Blackjack Players' Repertoire

Discussion in 'Blackjack Forum' started by Moraine, Jan 15, 2022.

  1. Moraine

    Moraine Active Member

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    In an end of 2021 farewell tour to Atlantic City, I found almost no beatable blackjack tables after having scouted around for about two hours or so in four separate casinos. All I could found in the blackjack areas were S17, 6-deck blackjack shoes, $50 or $100 min. limit, about 30% cutoff with no-mid-shoe-entry, or H17 8-deck blackjack shoes, $25 min. limit about 25% cutoff. Those blackjack tables were marginal at best in my observation.

    Eventually, I decided that it was better off for me to play Spanish 21 instead, although I have forgotten most of the AceMT deviation indices for Spanish 21. I spotted an empty Spanish 21 table in one casino (S17, 8-deck Spanish, $20 limit with 15% to 20% cut off).

    By luck or pre-ordination, I was able to walk out with an not-insignificant win after 3-hours' work and play. I said to myself later: fortunately I had learned and paid my dues as a Spanish 21 card counter before and I shall play Spanish 21 more often even if I can find a beatable blackjack shoe game in casinos.
     
  2. Moraine

    Moraine Active Member

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    If you want to have a backup game to blackjack in your repertoire, Spanish 21 is a good choice. In my observation, Sp 21 is better than any other commonly seen blackjack variants in the casinos.

    Although the rules of Spanish 21 are more complicated than the rules of blackjack, but those Sp 21 rules actually favor you more. Card counting Sp 21 starts out with a better position than that of blackjack. Take the S17 8-deck games for example, the house edge in Spanish 21 is less than 0.4%, while it is 0.45% for S17 blackjack.
     
  3. Moraine

    Moraine Active Member

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    Granted, "Card counting Spanish 21 starts out with a better position than that of blackjack." But the big question is: HOW?

    How to card count Spanish 21? Any answer, any wild guess is welcome.
     
    Last edited: Jan 27, 2022
  4. Moraine

    Moraine Active Member

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    An experienced blackjack card counter may think of Hi-Lo as a possibility. In fact, a 2008 book by Katrina Walker "The Pro's Guide To Spanish 21" devotes her 185-page-long book to card count Spanish 21 with Hi-Lo. The book covers almost every detail of using Hi-Lo to card count Spanish 21.

    Although Katrina might not have so intended, her book actually also exposed the severe short comings of using Hi-Lo to card counting Spanish 21.

    Hi-Lo and Spanish 21 are inherently incompatible. Applying Hi-Lo to Spanish 21 is a force-fit. In fact, Katrina picked Hi-Lo, not because it was the most suitable system for card counting Spanish 21, but because she wanted to apply an already well-known Hi-Lo blackjack card counting system to Spanish 21. Katrina wrote in the book’s Introduction section: “The Hi-Lo count is the system of choice for most Blackjack advantage players, and for that reason, it is the system I chose for this book.”

    That said, Moraine must also say that Katrina's book is well-written, and is worth any Spanish 21 card counter's time to peruse even if one totally disagrees with the use of Hi-Lo to card count Spanish 21. If you wonder, what system Moraine has used when card counting Spanish 21? For the record, Moraine Mono uses AceMT system to card count Spanish 21.
     
    Last edited: Jan 30, 2022
  5. Moraine

    Moraine Active Member

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    There are several reasons why Hi-Lo is a misfit for card counting Spanish 21. Here is one verifiable math reason.

    In Spanish 21, the effect of removal (EOR) of the three middle cards 7, 8 and 9 are 0.04, -0.21 and -0,17, respectively. The combined EOR of the three middle cards is 0.04-0.21-0.17= -0.34, which is far from being zero. Since Hi-Lo assigns a 0-point-value to each of the three middle cards, Hi-Lo's total EOR error can be as big as -0.34. In comparison, AceMT's total EOR error is -0.09 only.

    Since 0.34/0.09 = 3.78, Hi-Lo's EOR error is almost four times that of AceMT's.
     
    Last edited: Feb 1, 2022
  6. Moraine

    Moraine Active Member

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    Every time I sit down to play Spanish 21, and hit at 14 against dealer's 2 or 3, I often heard moan and groan at the table. Why I hit at 14 against 2 or 3? The simplest reason is that the basic strategy for Spanish 21 says that I should hit at 14 vs. 2 or 3.

    Hitting at 14 vs. 2 or 3 in Spanish 21 illustrates that Spanish 21 and Blackjack are two very different games -- to both ordinary players and card counters alike.

    Before playing Spanish 21, learn Spanish 21's basic strategy first, and never, never use Blackjack's basic strategy as a substitute. After you have thoroughly remember every play in the basic strategy for Spanish 21, you can then start thinking about how to card count Spanish 21, which is also very different from card counting blackjack.
     
    Last edited: Aug 15, 2022
  7. Moraine

    Moraine Active Member

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    In many ways, Spanish 21 is a better venue for pros to practice their card counting trade. The lower house edge in Spanish 21 aside (0.38 for S17 Spanish 21 vs. 0.45 for S17 blackjack), casinos' counter measures against card counting at Spanish 21 tables is generally more relaxed, since Spanish 21 has the reputation of being not countable, when in fact Spanish 21 is VERY COUNTABLE.
    Card counting Spanish 21 could be even easier than card counting blackjack, since Spanish 21 has only 48 cards, not 52 cards per deck. All that needed is a workable counting system in practice, not just in theory.
     


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