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Popular Blackjack Varieties
By Sonny White | August 30, 2010
There are a number of different variations of blackjack, and all of them enjoy popularity in different parts of the world. Most of them can be found in land-based and online casinos.
Spanish 21
Spanish 21 is an interesting version, in that it is played without 10′s. The total deck count of 48, and this version is generally played with 6 or 8 decks. In Australia this version of Blackjack is called “Pontoon”, but don’t get it confused with British Pontoon. Australian Pontoon is called Spanish 21.
Blackjack Switch
One of the most challenging and popular online blackjack variants is called Blackjack Switch, and it gets its name from the two separate hands that a player controls and the ability to “switch” the top cards of both hands.
The rules are that each hand must have an equal bet. The only trade off is that if a dealer busts the result is a ‘push’ or tie. 6 and 8 deck games are the most common variations of this blackjack game.
European Blackjack
The rules of European blackjack say that the dealer can take only one card, face up before dealing to the player. There are a few other variants to this version of blackjack, including that players only double on 9 – 11, no surrender is offered and insurance is not resolved until the end of the hand.
Pontoon
British blackjack players are the biggest proponents of pontoon. For this variation, one must use the term “pontoon” instead of “blackjack” with a few other small rule changes. Both of the dealer’s cards are played face down. And in the event of a push or tie, the dealer wins.Any five card hand that doesn’t bust pays 2:1 and is called a five card trick. You can only stand on a 15 or greater or a five card hand. You can re-split once, including aces for a total of three hands.
Topics: Online Blackjack |