When people say that they are going to play blackjack, it can mean different things depending on where you are playing the game. The most popular blackjack variation is called Vegas Blackjack. There is also Atlantic City Blackjack and European Blackjack. Each of these games are pretty much the same, but have small variations in the rules.

Since most people understand the basics behind playing blackjack, I am going to skip forward to the differences in the rules between these three games.

1) Vegas Rules Blackjack – Blackjacks pay out 3 to 2. Insurance pays out 2 to 1. The Dealer must hit soft 17 and you can double down on any two cards. You can re-split a pair if you would like to. If you split aces, you will only receive 1 card on each ace.

Vegas blackjack will usually be the default “blackjack” game at most online blackjack sites. Other blackjack games will usually be labeled as “European blackjack” or “Atlantic City blackjack”.

2) Atlantic City Blackjack – Blackjacks pay out 3 to 2. Insurance pays out 2 to 1. The Dealer must stand on all 17s and you can double down on any two cards. You can not re-split and create three hands. Only one card each allowed on split aces.

3) European Blackjack – Blackjacks pay out 3 to 2. Insurance pays out 2 to 1. The Dealer must stand on all 17s. You can only double down on 9, 10 or 11. You can re-split a pair, but you can only receive 1 card on split aces.

One other difference that you will see in European casinos when playing blackjack is that the dealer will not deal themselves a 2nd card down. The will only flip the first card up. The dealer will wait until everyone has either stand or busted until the second card is dealt.

Other Blackjack Variations

There are all types of blackjack games for you to enjoy learning and playing. A lot of these games have very different rules than traditional blackjack. I would recommend that you learn how to play these games for fun at a website like www.flashblackjack.org before you try playing these specialty blackjack games for real money.

Double Exposure Blackjack

In this blackjack game, you are allowed to see both of the dealer’s cards before you make your decision. This game is also called Faces Up blackjack. The biggest advantage is being able to see that the dealer has a 16 or the fact that you don’t have a choice but to hit if your total is less than the dealer when the dealer doesn’t have to draw (hand total 17 or over).

There are two very big disadvantages to playing Double Exposure:

1) The blackjack only pays out 6 to 5 or even money. The normal payout for blackjack is 3 to 2 and is one of the things that keep the house advantage low.

2) The dealer wins all ties. That means if you and the dealer both have 20, you have to take another card. This also means that standing on 17 isn’t as safe as you think. It is the same as standing with 16 because if the dealer doesn’t bust you will lose.

Spanish 21

This game is also called Match Play 21. The biggest change with this game is that 48 card decks are used. The four 10′s in the standard deck are removed when playing Spanish 21.

The main thing that this does is change the likelihood of either you and the dealer busting with a 12 through 16. This is because 25% of the face cards in a normal deck are missing.

There is a rule that works in your advantage in Spanish 21. You automatically win the hand if you get 21, no matter how you get to 21. Here are a couple of the other strange rules:

1) You can double down at any time, even after you have already taken one or more cards.

2) You can surrender half of your bet at anytime during the hand, even after you have doubled down.

3) Blackjacks pay even money!

4) You can receive a bonus payout if you reach 21 in a particular way. You will receive 3 to 1 payouts if you receive a 6, 7 and 8 of spades, three 7 of spades or a seven-card 21. You can receive a 2 to 1 payout for a suited 6-7-8, three suited 7′s or a six-card 21. You can receive a 3 to 2 payout on your bet if you get any 6-7-8, three 7′s or a 5-card 21.