Rules of Extreme 21

Extreme 21 is a variant of Blackjack played widely in the Canadian state of Alberta and the tribal casinos of America. In Extreme 21, the player plays one at a time and the dealer keeps hitting until he/she wins or goes busting. Though some of the rules are similar to the traditional blackjack, most of its rules are pro-player. In the following sentences, we’ll see the major rules of Extreme 21 that makes it stand apart from other casino blackjacks.

- Extreme 21 is played individually between the player and the dealer and each player must take turns successively. The game is usually played with 6 decks.

- A player begins by making a bet. After each player makes a bet, the dealer deals a card to each player.

- In turn, the dealer deals each player a second card and a 1up card for himself.

- As in usual blackjack, cards are valued the same way. That is, 2-9 are counted in their original values, face cards and tens are counted 10, and Aces 1 or 11 according the situation.

- Doubling is permitted on any number of cards, even after splitting. Further, the players are allowed to hit and double again after doubling.

- On splitting, it is permitted on the first two cards if they are the same point value. Re-splitting is possible an unlimited number of times, except on aces, which can only be split a single time.

- The player is declared winner even if gets an exact 21. On this happening, he/she is immediately paid 1 to 1.

- If the player does not reach 21 exactly, the dealer will play out his hand by hitting until he beats the player or go busting.

- On the other hand, if the player splits, the dealer will then play against each hand individually, starting with each face-up card in each hand.

In some casinos, there are these rule variants,

Doubling permitted on first two cards only, including post-splitting.
Doubling permitted on any number of cards, including after splitting, but no redoubling a strict no-no.