Spanish Poker Dice Rules
- Poker Dice Rules Pdf
- Spanish Poker Dice Rules Against
- Spanish Poker Dice Rules How To Play
- Spanish Poker Dice Rules Card Game
On This Page
I have been looking around for some Poker dice recently and at a nearby store they had packages of dice that were labeled as such. However, the dice only had a a 7, 8, Jack, Queen, King, and a dot which I assume was meant to be an Ace. Now, what types of games could you actually play with such. Ten Thousand is a dice game designed for the whole family. The rules are simple to follow. All you will need to play are six dice and paper to keep score on. The first person to receive a score of 10,000 wins the game. You can play with a lower scoring point as well, such as 1,000 or 5,000 points. This game is similar. Jul 06, 2015 In locations where the dealer stands on a soft 17, or redoubling is allowed, Spanish 21 may be a better bet than blackjack, depending on the specific blackjack rules. If you are looking for a change of pace from traditional blackjack but insist on a game with a low house edge, then you may find new excitement in Spanish 21. Pig is a simple dice game which in its basic form is playable with just a single die. Number of players: 2 to 10 Equipment required: One 6-sided die; Pencil and paper for scoring. In this simple little dice game, your goal is to roll the best possible poker hand. Number of players: 2 or more Equipment required: Five 6-sided dice. They come up 1, 6, 6, 6 and the player decides to set aside all four dice and his score is increased by 700 points (1 = 100 + 6, 6, 6 = 600) giving a total of 900 so far. All six dice are scoring so the player decides to continue his turn by rolling them all again. This time he is unlucky and rolls 2, 3, 3, 4, 6, 6.
Introduction
Spanish 21 is a variation of blackjack, that in some cases is the best bet in the casino. In locations where the dealer stands on a soft 17, or redoubling is allowed, Spanish 21 may be a better bet than blackjack, depending on the specific blackjack rules. If you are looking for a change of pace from traditional blackjack but insist on a game with a low house edge, then you may find new excitement in Spanish 21.
In Australia and Malaysia, Spanish 21 is called Pontoon. There are some rule changes in Australia, which merit a separate page. For all the details please visit my page on Australian Pontoon. To make matters more confusing, there is another similar game, but different enough to warrant a separate page, called Player's Edge 21.
Poker Dice Rules Pdf
Following is a list of known aliases of the game:
- Betsoft, a major provider of software for Internet casinos, offers Spanish 21 under the name Pirate 21.
- The Casino Bregenz in Austria changes the name to Blackjack Exchange.
The Rules
Spanish 21 uses six or eight Spanish decks, each deck consisting of 48 cards — the regular 52 cards less the four tens. Any card counter can tell you that removing any 10-point card from the cards moves the odds in favor of the dealer. To make up for this, Spanish 21 gives the player a host of bonuses and favorable rules. There are lots of Spanish 21 games all over the country, so rules will vary somewhat from place to place, but the usual rules in the player's favor are:
- Late surrender allowed.
- Double after split allowed.
- Re-splitting aces allowed.
- A player 21 always wins.
- Player blackjack beats dealer blackjack.
- Player may double on any number of cards.
- Player may usually hit and double down after splitting aces.
- Player may surrender after doubling, known as 'double down rescue.' The player forfeits an amount equal to his original bet.
- A five-card 21 pays 3 to 2, a six-card 21 pays 2 to 1, a seven or more card 21 pays 3 to 1. Bonus not honored after doubling.
- A 6-7-8 or 7-7-7 of mixed suits pays 3 to 2, of the same suit pays 2 to 1, and of spades pays 3 to 1. These bonuses do not pay after doubling.
- Suited 7-7-7 when the dealer has a seven face up pays $1000 for bets of $5-$24 and $5000 'Super Bonus' for bets of $25 or over. In addition, all other players receive a $50 'envy bonus.' This bonus does not pay after doubling or splitting.
Variable Rules
- Dealer may hit or stand on a soft 17.
- 6 or 8 Spanish decks can be used.
- Some casinos allow redoubling, up to three times.
- I have heard of some casinos not allowing surrender or drawing to split aces, but it isn't the norm.
- A face card and ace after splitting has been known to count as a blackjack, at at least one casino.
- There has been a lot of debate through the years whether the bonuses are payable after a split. First, there is almost no argument that they do not pay after doubling. However, the way the game was designed, all bonuses except the Super Bonus are supposed to be payable after splitting. However, most casinos do not pay the bonuses after a split. The effect of not allowing the bonuses after splitting is very small, around 0.01%.
Strategy
Following is my Spanish 21 basic strategy when the dealer hits a soft 17.
Next is the Spanish 21 basic strategy when the dealer stands on a soft 17.
Note: If drawing to split aces is not allowed, and the dealer stands on soft 17 (as is the case at the Mohegan Sun), then hit A,A vs A.
The next table if for when the dealer hits a soft 17, redoubling is allowed, and the player has not already doubled.
The next table if for when the dealer hits a soft 17, redoubling is allowed, and the player has already doubled, which limits his options to stand, surrender, and double again.
Many readers have expressed doubt about my advice to hit 17 against an ace with 3 or more cards. However, I stand by what I said. The player will save about 2.8% of the initial wager by hitting as opposed to standing. The dealers will advise against this play and the other players may curse the day you were born, but trust me, the odds favor hitting.
Following is the house edge under various common rules, before considering the Super Bonus.- Dealer stands on soft 17: 0.40%
- Dealer hits on soft 17, redoubling allowed: 0.42%
- Dealer hits on soft 17, redoubling not allowed: 0.76%
Spanish Poker Dice Rules Against
Super Bonus
The probability of hitting the Super Bonus is 1 in 668,382, with six decks, and 1 in 549,188 with eight decks. The reduction in the house edge depends on the bet amount, and to a lesser extent, the number of players. With no other players, and bets of exactly $5 or $25, the Super Bonus lowers the house edge by 0.030% in a six-deck game, and 0.036% in an eight-deck game. At a bet of exactly $5, the Envy Bonus lowers the house edge by an additional 0.0015% in a six-deck game, and 0.0018% in an eight-deck game, per additional player.
For bet amounts other than those indicated above, the benefit of the Super Bonus will go down as the bet amount goes up.
No Draw to Split Aces: At the Mohegan Sun drawing to split aces is NOT allowed. The effect of this rule is to increase the house edge by 0.29%.
Ace and 10 after splitting aces pays 3 to 2: I have an unconfirmed report that at at one time the Meskaki casino in central Iowa paid 3 to 2 on an ace and 10 after splitting aces. I have another unconfirmed report that as of Aug. 2010 they removed the Spanish 21 table completely. According to my calculations this lowers the house edge by 0.16%. Otherwise they hit a soft 17 and no redoubling, for an overall house edge of 0.60%.
Spanish Poker Dice Rules How To Play
Doubling only allowed on first two cards: I had a false report that a casino in Malaysia didn't allow doubling on any number of cards. If such a rule did exist, it would increase the house edge by 0.16%.
Match the Dealer
Match the Dealer is a side bet found in both blackjack and Spanish 21. The player wins for each of his initial two cards that match the dealer's up card. Matches in rank only pay less than a match in rank and suit. The following tables show the various pay tables that I am aware of for Spanish 21.
Match the Dealer — Six Decks
| Event | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two suited matches | 10 | 0.000244 | 18 | 0.004386 |
| One hard and one each match | 90 | 0.002193 | 13 | 0.028508 |
| Two non-suited matches | 153 | 0.003728 | 8 | 0.029824 |
| One suited match | 1320 | 0.032163 | 9 | 0.289467 |
| One non-suited match | 4752 | 0.115787 | 4 | 0.463147 |
| No matches | 34716 | 0.845886 | -1 | -0.845886 |
| Total | 41041 | 1 | 0 | -0.030555 |
Match the Dealer — Eight Decks
| Event | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Two suited matches | 21 | 0.000287 | 24 | 0.00689 |
| One hard and one each match | 168 | 0.002297 | 15 | 0.034448 |
| Two non-suited matches | 276 | 0.003773 | 6 | 0.022637 |
| One suited match | 2464 | 0.033683 | 12 | 0.404194 |
| One non-suited match | 8448 | 0.115484 | 3 | 0.346452 |
| No matches | 61776 | 0.844477 | -1 | -0.844477 |
| Total | 73153 | 1 | 0 | -0.029855 |
C4
The Casino Bregenz in Austria offers Spanish 21 but calls it Blackjack Exchange. They tack on a side bet called the C4, which is analyzed below. The table is based on six decks and assumes that if the player qualifies for more than one win, he only gets the higher win. The lower right cell shows a house edge of 14.48%.
C4 — Six Decks
| Event | Combinations | Probability | Pays | Return |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Four of a kind | 500 | 138,138 | 0.000337 | 0.168467 |
| Straight | 20 | 3,649,536 | 0.008902 | 0.178032 |
| Flush | 12 | 5,647,896 | 0.013776 | 0.165310 |
| Two pair | 10 | 5,941,728 | 0.014492 | 0.144925 |
| Three of a kind | 8 | 7,330,752 | 0.017880 | 0.143044 |
| All other | -1 | 387,278,420 | 0.944613 | -0.944613 |
| Total | 409,986,470 | 1.000000 | -0.144836 |
Following is the house edge of the C4 for other numbers of decks.
- Four decks: 18.49%
- Eight decks: 12.41%
Methodology
The Spanish 21 strategy found here is based on a combinatorial program which considered both card composition and the six deck nature of the game. In addition an infinite deck model was created in Excel, of which the basic strategy nearly agreed with that of the combinatorial model. The basic strategy found here does not agree with that of the late Lenny Frome in some borderline situations. Frome's strategy can be found in such books as 'Secrets of the New Casino Games' (Marten Jensen) and 'Armada Strategies for Spanish 21' (Frank Scoblete). Although I have a great deal of respect for Frome and his body of work, I strongly feel that his basic strategy is incorrect. I speculate he did notincorporate the double down surrender feature correctly into his analysis. My strategies also agree with those of Katarina Walker, who has done an amazing job analyzing Spanish 21 and its cousin, Australian Pontoon, as well as an independent analysis by Mike Hopson.
Acknowledgments
I would like to give a huge thanks to Katarina Walker for correcting some minor strategy errors in this page. She is the author of The Pro's Guide to Spanish 21 and Australian Pontoon.
Links
German translation of this page.
Written by:Michael Shackleford
Mexico is an elimination dice game. It can be played by any number of players but it is ideal to have three or more. Mexico requires the use of two dice and players must agree on a fixed number of rounds before starting the game. The goal of the game is to be the only player left standing; players are eliminated when they run out of turns to participate in the next rounds. As the game is fairly simple and easy-to-follow, it is often used for gambling. There are also several variations of this popular dice game, although most variants follow different mechanics. I have Greek friends who often play this game, though they refer to it as “acey-deucey”.
Spanish Poker Dice Rules Card Game
Mexico is a pretty straightforward game with simple mechanics, which is why it has gained popularity as a gambling game. Before the game, players must agree on the number of rounds. Each player rolls one die and whoever rolls the highest gets the first turn followed by the player to his left or right. The goal of the game is to get the highest roll or at least, avoid getting the lowest roll.
In a regular game of Mexico where money is not involved, every player is given an extra die (apart from the two dice used for rolling). The die marks the number of lives the player has in every turn. At the beginning of the game, the die is placed with the “6” symbol facing up. The lowest roller loses the round and therefore, loses a life. Every time a player loses a round, the die is rotated to the next lower number to show how many lives he or she has left.
In a game of Mexico where money is involved, the amount is agreed on beforehand. Each player starts with a certain amount of money, which is then split into the number of rounds. The lowest roller must put a portion of his money in the pot. The losing player in the last round gets to take the first turn on the next round, regardless of whether he or she rolled last. When a player no longer has lives or no longer has money left to add to the pot, he or she is eliminated from the game.
Whoever takes the lead spot gets the privilege of rolling the dice up to three times, which then determines how many times the next players are allowed to roll. It is worth noting, however, that only the last roll counts as a turn. The values of the two dice are combined to determine the score. However, the face value is not used but rather, the two values are combined to create a two-digit number. For example, a player rolls 3 and 6, the score that player receives is 63. This is because the higher value is designated the tens column spot and the lower value is designated the ones column spot. This rule applies to all number combinations provided that it is a mixed roll (i.e. two different values). When a player rolls a double (e.g. 6-6, 5-5, 4-4), the player is given a higher score. A double, therefore, ranks higher than a mixed roll even if its face value is lower. The highest roll a player can get is a 2-1, which is higher than any double or mixed roll. A 2-1 roll or twenty-one is the highest possible roll in the game and is called “Mexico”. The lowest possible roll is 3-1.
Additional Rules:
In the event that the lead roller manages to roll a 2-1, the turn is passed unto the next player even if the lead roller still has rolls left. In effect, the second player becomes the first player by default and is allowed to determine how many rolls the subsequent players can take. This is because the lead roller is automatically out of danger because his last roll was already a Mexico and is the highest possible score in that round. In the off chance that the next player also rolls a Mexico, the turn is passed on to the next player and so on. If a player manages to roll a 2-1 but the lead roller fails to do so, the roll is not considered a Mexico but the scoring remains the same. Therefore, a player who manages to roll a 2-1 still has a high chance of winning the round even if he does not assume the role of lead roller.
If money is involved in the game, every time a player in one round rolls a Mexico, the stakes are doubled. This means that whoever loses the round will have to double the amount of money he puts in the pot for that round. If more than one player rolls a Mexico in one round, it is up to the group to decide whether they would want to add another unit to the stakes to match the number of players who manages to roll a Mexico (i.e. if two players roll a 2-1 in one round, the stakes are tripled and so on). This should be determined before the game starts so that the rules are clear. In some versions, if two players get rolls that are equally low, both lose a life each and if several players roll a Mexico, the loser loses two lives.
The best way to play Mexico is live with friends sitting around a table with a pair of dice. There is no actual digital version of the dice game Mexico online or on mobile platforms that I’m aware of but there are digital versions of dice that you can use for playing Mexico. Just set up the rules of the game yourself. http://www.roll-dice-online.com/ offers a venue for players to roll digital dice. You can set the number of sides, the number of dice to roll, and the number of rolls on the site. There are also various mobile applications downloadable via the Google Play store and Apple App Store that allow you to use digital dice in lieu of actual dice. Although, nothing will still beat physically rolling actual dice, as it makes the game much more fun and exciting.
Strategizing in a game of Mexico can be very technical and involves having to calculate the odds of the results. Fortunately, you can find a table of median rolls on this link https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_(game). It can be rather stressful to have to calculate the odds for each round especially since rolling dice involves mostly luck than strategy. Although, knowing the odds and median results can be helpful in determining whether you should roll again in cases where you get up to three rolls.
The first player or lead roller has a bit of advantage as he or she determines how many rolls each player can get, which can increase the odds of getting a lower roll. The table of Strategies and Odds shows that there is a higher chance of getting a low roll if the dice is rolled up to three times. This is why it is recommended to stick to a roll even if it isn’t your ideal result, as the objective of the game is simply to avoid getting the lowest roll, not necessarily always the highest roll in the round. Therefore, an average roll is better than risking getting a much lower result by re-rolling the dice. The more rolls a player takes, the higher his risk of getting a low result. You can choose to only roll once even if the lead player rolls twice or thrice if you are already satisfied with the results. In fact, unless your first roll is really bad, it is recommended that you do not risk rolling again, as you can possibly end up with an even lower result.
Mexico is a pretty fun game and since it only requires dice to play, it can be played anywhere. Since the mechanics are fairly simple, it’s quite easy to teach the game to new players provided that some of the additional rules are properly determined before starting the game.
Resources
For additional information about Mexico, you can visit the following links:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mexico_(game)
http://www.tactic.net/site/rules/UK/02480.pdf