Super 21 is a blackjack variant offered at Realtime Gaming (RTG) online casinos. The rules are by and large similar as the standard blackjack variants. What makes Super 21 exciting is that the payouts are considerably different from the standard variants. One of the defining features of the payouts is that some payouts depend on the number of cards in the player’s final hand. This complicates the strategy and makes Super 21 more challenging.

The brief rules of Super 21 are as follows. The dealer hits on a soft 17. The player can double once, but any time. The players can split and play up to three hands at one time. He can continue to hit for each split hand, unless the split was made for a pair of Aces, in which case he can only hit once for each hand. The player can buy insurance in the usual manner and he can surrender at any time.

The payouts in Super 21 have to be understood and remembered completely because the optimum blackjack strategy depends on them. A diamond blackjack pays 2 to 1 whereas blackjacks in the other suits pay even money. (In the standard blackjack game all blackjacks pay 3 to 2) The player’s blackjack beats the dealer’s blackjack. Five and six card totals of 21 pay out at 2 to 1, but only on non doubled hands. A six card total of 20 or less on non doubled hands pays even money instantly without the dealer playing his hand. Normal wins pay even money and tied hands, except for blackjacks, push as in the standard blackjack game.

The strategy card becomes even more important in Super 21. In fact the player will have to refer to four different strategy cards based on the number of cards dealt. The Two Card Strategy Card is used when the player makes his first move on receiving his dealt hand of two cards. When the player gets the third card, and does not bust, the Three Card Strategy Card is used. In the same way the player shifts to the Four Card Strategy Card and the Five Card Strategy Card as long as he is still in the blackjack game. If the player does not bust after the sixth card is dealt then he wins immediately. The Super 21 strategy cards are structured in the usual manner. The columns represent the dealer’s face up card and the rows represent the player’s hand value. There are separate sections for soft and hard totals.

The philosophy of wagering in Super 21 is that as more cards are dealt the player needs to take higher risks in order to try for the 2 to 1 payout for the five card or six card total of 21. The Two Card Strategy Card and the Three Card Strategy Card ask the player to stand on totals of 13 when the dealer’s face up card is from 2 to 6. In the Five Card Strategy Card the player will never stand on a total of 13. Super 21 can be played at all RTG online casinos. Some of the best RTG online casinos are brands of the Club World group, which include Aladdin’s Gold, Manhattan Slots and All Star Slots.