Blackjack Variations

There are several variations to the Blackjack game and include:

Pontoon: This game is very similar to Blackjack with notable exceptions that include two hands that beat the regular 21 combination; a Pontoon which is an ace and a ten or picture card and a Five Card Trick which is when the player holds five cards without busting, no matter what the total value of the hand is.

The insurance option is not available with this game and both the dealer’s cards are face down until the player stands or busts. In Pontoon, the player cannot stand until they have a hand of at least 15 and can draw as many cards as they like if they have opted for the Double.

Vegas Strip Blackjack: The game is typically played with 4 decks of cards and the dealer has to stand on 17. This version of Blackjack allows the dealer to peak on ace cards as well as on tens. The Ace can only be split once after which it can no longer be make blackjack but 21.

Blackjack Surrender: This is a variation of Vegas Strip Blackjack with certain exceptions which include the shuffling of decks after each round, the player is allowed to double after splitting, the player cannot split a hand and the dealer does not draw when the player is “bust”.

Spanish 21 Blackjack: This version is very similar to the classic Blackjack game with notable differences where the player blackjack with 2 cards beats a dealer blackjack, a dealer must hit soft 17, the player can double, split or re-split the ace, the player can surrender their cards at any time before busting and the game has no 10s. Payouts also vary in Spanish 21 Blackjack and a five card 21 pays out 3 – 2, a six card 21 is worth 2 -1, seven cards 21 has a 3-1 payout.

21 Duel Blackjack: Is played with 6 decks and the objective is the same as regular Blackjack with two differences: All hands with a total of 21 are equal with ace and ten having the same value of a three-card 21. Additionally, after each round, the used cards are returned to the deck and the deck is shuffled.

Double Exposure Blackjack: In this version, the dealer’s first two cards are face up and deals the first two cards of the dealer hand face up. With the exception of the natural blackjack, the dealer wins on all ties and players can only split their cards once.

Blackjack Switch: This game is unique in that players have two hands which are played in turn, first the right then the left and the player is allowed to interchange cards. While the player can split, double, take insurance etc. just like in standard Blackjack, the dealer always hits soft 17. Also, Blackjacks pay 1-1 instead of 3-2 although more ‘Blackjacks’ are created due to the switching option.

Other Blackjack variations include a progressive version and multi hand versions of the game.