Double Exposure and Spanish 21

I was hoping that the group could help me with these questions.

Is Double Exposure (where both face cards are exposed, dealer wins pushes, etc.) more or less beatable with counting than regular blackjack? I know that there are many rules variations offered which effect the basic strategy house edge, but I was wondering if counting give the player more or less of an advantage than in regular blackjack.

I was also wondering the same thing for Spanish 21.

Thanks for the help.

Wong's PBJ (no, not the sandwich) has a section on double-exposure. It depends on the particular game's rules, and the strategy is radically different from regular blackjack. Counting works, and the good news is that each point indicates a larger advantage. The bad news is, the games are usually set up with lousy rules -- but you never know when you might run into a good game.

As for Spanish, the game is generally unplayable. You start off at a huge disadvantage, the bonuses don't come close to making up for it, and although counting still works, the starting disadvantage is so huge that you can't really overcome it. At least that's the common wisdom.

Wong covers Double Exposure in Professional Blackjack. Provided blackjack pays 3:2, it can be more profitable than regular blackjack, because the advantage increases faster as the count increases.

Spanish 21 seems to be a more carefully guarded secret but in theory it should be beatable with a specialised strategy. The removal of tens reduces the frequency of naturals and the value of insurance, so you would probably need a larger spread to get the same overall advantage as regular blackjack.

I wont touch this funny 21 game with a 10 foot pole.

Double exposure can be very advantageous for the counter EVEN IF naturals are paid even money AND you lose on pushes. Unfortuneately, the casinos must know this. Lady Luck has not given better than 50% pen at their 6 deck double exposure game in the last 10 years and the Stratosphere makes their game nearly unplayable by allowing doubles on 9, 10 and 11 only.

Then there is the "ploppy factor." Try explaining to the ploppy that it is correct BASIC strategy to split tens when the dealer shows a hard 13, 14, 15, or 16.

Dr 21

I got the impression from PBJ that Hi-Lo and Halves wouldn't be too good for double exposure if blackjack paid only even money. Is this incorrect, or do you use a different system? Just curious, as I don't have access to a double exposure game.

Basically, I used the fact that the odds shift to the player dramatically when there are an excess of tens (and/or) a depletion of fives in the deck. Unlike blackjack, the Ace is a near neutral card in double exposure. The standard deviation is huge in double exposure due to the large number of splits and doubles.

Dr 21