Blackjack is a very popular game in the United States because many people try to beat it by counting cards. Because of its popularity and commonly known rules, many casinos have created Blackjack variants that use a lot of Blackjack rules and terminology to try and piggyback on Blackjack’s notoriety. Casinos know they are creating new games entirely, but they want you to think the new games are the same as blackjack so that you can feel like you’re playing a familiar game and the casino can enjoy a higher house edge. Here are some of the Blackjack doppelgängers you should avoid:

Super Fun 21: This is usually pretending to be a single-deck blackjack game where you can surrender on any number of cards, you can double on any number of cards, and you can get paid automatically if you have a 6 card 20 or a 5 card 21 and a player blackjack always wins money! It sounds like a dream. The only problem is that blackjacks only pay even money (except for diamond suited blackjacks). That one change to how blackjacks get paid erases all the benefit of the “super fun” rules they give you and makes the house edge almost 3 times worse than regular blackjack. This game is not Blackjack. Stay away!

Spanish 21: This game is very popular in many parts of the country. Many of the same rules as above are also present in this game but blackjacks still pay 3 to 2 and you can re-double (double down twice on the same hand). That sounds awesome right!? WRONG! They remove all the 10s from the shoe (the face cards are still in there but no ten cards). If you know anything about counting cards, you know the ten-value cards and aces are the most valuable cards for the player. Removing all the tens from the deck erases all the awesome you get from the better rules. It also has a more complicated basic strategy than conventional blackjack so most people do not play correctly and thus most people are playing at a much bigger disadvantage than what the game insert would print about the game. The casinos love Spanish 21 players. This game is not Blackjack. STAY AWAY!

Free Bet Blackjack: In this game you play just like Blackjack but instead of supplying your own money to double down and split, the casino will let you do it for free but still pay you as if you had wagered the money. Sounds too good to be true right? It is! In exchange for the free roll, if the dealer goes over 21 with a hand total of 22, then all bets push (even though the dealer busted). BARF! This doubles the house edge of normal Blackjack. This is not Blackjack. Stay away!

Blackjack Switch: This game is a little different. You start with 2 hands of blackjack and you can choose to switch the top cards of each hand if you think it will make you a better set of two hands. Any of us who have played blackjack a long time wish we could do that sometimes so this sounds like it could really save your hands right? NOPE! Just like Free Bet Blackjack, the dealer pushes all bets if they get a 22 and player Blackjacks only pay even money. This is not Blackjack! No thank you! There are many more games masquerading as Blackjack that we haven’t mentioned here because it would take all day. Don’t be fooled and make sure you’re playing real blackjack before you sit down!