News
The New 21Count: Twelve Blackjack Games, a Strategy Coach for Every One, and a Brand-New Table
We rebuilt 21Count from the ground up: a new table, twelve blackjack games, play-money chips, and a coach that tells you the best play for every hand in every one of them.
A brand-new table
The game you know at 21Count has been rebuilt from scratch. The whole table now fits on your screen — phone, tablet or laptop — with nothing to scroll past mid-hand. Cards are crisp, your chips sit in a real betting circle, and the Hit, Stand and Double buttons stay in the same place every round, so your thumb always knows where to go.
Every hand is shuffled and dealt on our server, exactly like a casino table: the dealer's face-down card stays hidden until it is turned over, and the dealer follows the house rules of the game you picked, card for card.
Twelve games to play
Pick a game from the menu at the top of the table. The five casino rule sets play the blackjack you meet in most casinos; the special games each change something that matters.
Casino rule sets
- American — six decks, the dealer peeks for blackjack, late surrender.
- European — no hole card: a dealer blackjack takes your doubles and splits too.
- Atlantic City — eight decks, dealer stands on soft 17, late surrender.
- Vegas Strip — four decks and the classic Strip rules.
- Single Deck — one deck, where every card you see changes the odds.
Special games
- Spanish 21 — the tens are gone, but your 21 always wins and five-card 21s pay bonuses. Rules
- Super Fun 21 — double on any number of cards and a six-card charlie wins outright. Rules
- Blackjack Switch — two hands, and you may swap their second cards. Rules
- Double Exposure — both dealer cards face up, but the dealer wins ties. Rules
- Double Attack — see the dealer's card, then decide whether to double your bet. Rules
- Pontoon — the British classic: twist, stick or buy, and chase the five-card trick. Rules
- Chinese Blackjack — ban-luck, where an Ace changes value and Ban-Ban pays three to one. Rules
A coach for every game
Basic strategy is simply the play that wins the most over time for your hand against what you can see of the dealer. The new coach works that out live, for the exact rules of the game you are playing — so it knows that you hit a twelve against everything in Spanish 21, that you hit twenty against a dealer twenty in Double Exposure, and when a Double Attack is worth taking.
- See the best play above your hand, with the right button highlighted.
- Know why: the coach shows what each choice is worth per 100 chips bet.
- Tap the hint to open the full strategy chart for that game, with your hand flashing on it.
- Learn from mistakes: play differently and the coach tells you what the best play was.
Turn hints off when you want to test yourself — the mistake check keeps working quietly in the background.
Play-money chips and your account
You start with 10,000 play-money chips and real casino payouts: three to two for blackjack (or whatever the game pays), insurance, surrender and the special-game bonuses all settle the way they would at a real table. Run low and you can top up once a day. The chips have no cash value — they are there so every decision feels like it counts.
Play as a guest, or create a free account to keep your chips, results by game and training progress on every device. Sign in with email, Google or Facebook; your guest chips come with you when you sign up.
Training tools
The strategy trainer now deals a hand the moment you open it, and the counting trainer runs all four drills — running count, true count, speed and deck estimation — in seven counting systems, with your progress saved to your account. The strategy chart and calculator are one tap away in the menu.
Faster everywhere
Every page is now a fraction of its old size, so guides and charts open almost instantly even on a slow phone connection. All the links you have bookmarked still work — including the old game address, which now takes you straight to the new table.
Frequently asked questions
Is 21Count still free?
Yes. Every game, trainer and guide is free. The chips are play money with no cash value: you start with 10,000 and can top up once a day if you run low.
Do I need an account to play?
No. You can play as a guest straight away. A free account keeps your chips, stats and training progress on every device, and your guest chips move into it when you sign up.
Which blackjack games can I play?
American, European, Atlantic City, Vegas Strip and Single Deck blackjack, plus Spanish 21, Super Fun 21, Blackjack Switch, Double Exposure, Double Attack, Pontoon and Chinese Blackjack.
How does the strategy coach know the best play?
For every decision it works out the average result of each play you are allowed — hit, stand, double, split, surrender — under that game's exact rules, and shows the one that wins most in the long run. For standard blackjack that is the familiar basic strategy chart; for games like Spanish 21 or Double Exposure the best plays are different, and the coach knows that.
Is it fair? Can the game see my cards?
Every hand is shuffled and dealt on our server, like a real table. The dealer's face-down card stays hidden until it is turned over, and nothing in the game changes based on how you play.
Sources
Rules and figures in this article are taken from Wikipedia:
- Blackjack — Rule variations and effects on house edge — Wikipedia
- Blackjack — Basic strategy — Wikipedia
Practise it on 21Count
Keep reading
- How to Play 21Get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. That is the whole game — here is everything around it, with real hands for every rule.
- How to Win at 21Nobody wins every hand. But 21 is one of the few casino games you can actually get good at — here is what moves the odds, in order of how much it matters.
- How to Win at Blackjack Without Counting CardsYou do not need to count cards to play a near-even game. These eight habits get you most of the way — no memorised running count required.