This variant of blackjack is at most online casinos, Caribbean 21 is an eight-deck game that presents player its fair share of deviations from conventional blackjack, of which some are good and some bad. The game could be played according to the following rules:
- An Ace is only valued as one point. All the other card values are identical to traditional blackjack.
- Players receive two cards face up, while the dealer only receives one card face up. There is no hole card.
- Players may hit, stand, split, surrender or double.
- Players may double at any time. This includes redoubling and doubling after splitting cards.
- Surrender is available at any time. In the event the player surrenders, half of the total bet is forfeited.
- Splitting is permitted on any two ties.
- The dealer wins all ties.
- If a player is dealt an Ace and two 10-point cards, the hand is called a “Caribbean 21” and is ranked higher than all the other 21-point hands. A Caribbean 21 pays 3 to 2. All other winning hands pay 1 to 1.
This game has its disadvantages though, such as the dealer winning all ties, however when played to optimal strategy it offers a surprisingly low house edge of about 0.19 percent.
