Pirate 21 is a multi-hand blackjack game, meaning a player can participate in up to 3 hands per game. You can find sites with a minimum and maximum table limits set at $1 to $1000 per hand. Unlike the traditional game, Pirate 21 blackjack uses something called a ‘Pirate’ deck, or what’s more commonly referred to as a ‘Spanish’ deck. Bartholomew 'Black Bart' Roberts (1682–Feb. 10, 1722) was a Welsh pirate and the most successful buccaneer of the so-called 'Golden Age of Piracy,' capturing and looting more ships than contemporaries such as Blackbeard, Edward Low, Jack Rackham, and Francis Spriggs combined. Jean Albert, AKA Captain Black Jack, was born in Banderas Bay in 1655, the only son of a peasant father and mother who died giving birth to him. His childhood was spent working, helping his father in the fields to sell crops that were then transported by the ships that arrived, including the most important pirate ships of the time, among them the Jolly Roger. The blackjack game of Pirate 21 is a classic and well-engineered multi-hand version that allows the player to unleash 3 simultaneous hands. The Dealer Match feature allows the player to make additional wins through a side bet against the dealer. Each hand is independent of the other, and competes directly against the dealer.

Before the days of internet casinos, blackjack came in just a few basic forms. The rules differed a bit from table to table. Single- and double-deck games were common. Side bets were a rare find.

With the emergence of online gambling came the introduction of myriad rule sets and a plethora of side bets, including one unique blackjack game known as Pirate 21.

This blackjack variant isn’t exactly new, but it’s not exactly common either. According to my research, it first appeared over a decade ago when a now-extinct software company by the name of Diamond Games introduced it in 2004.

More recently, it was re-introduced as an online blackjack game by leading games developer Betsoft and Nucleus Gaming.

Difference In Rules and House Edge

I can’t say whether the rules of Pirate 21 blackjack are identical between the two brands, since I never played the original. It is remarkably similar to a more common variation known as Spanish 21.

Especially when comparing the multifarious ways to win a hand, and that’s before the optional side bet even comes into play.

Don’t get me wrong – Pirate 21 isn’t going to give you a distinct advantage over the house. It is a casino game after all. Every casino game comes with a house edge, but if you’re looking for something a bit different, Pirate 21 is definitely up your alley.

Black Jack Pirate Flag

In this case, with a premium strategy, the house edge is approximately 0.76%.

Where Can You Play Pirate 21 Blackjack?

Check out and start playing at any of these top blackjack sites that offer Pirate 21:

How To Play Pirate 21 Blackjack

The object of the game is no different than your standard variety of blackjack. The goal for every player is to achieve a hand total of 21, or as close to it as possible without busting. If the player’s hand is higher than the dealer’s, without exceeding 21, the player wins. However, achieving any hand total of 21 automatically wins.

Pirate 21 is a multi-hand blackjack game, meaning a player can participate in up to 3 hands per game. You can find sites with a minimum and maximum table limits set at $1 to $1000 per hand.

Unlike the traditional game, Pirate 21 blackjack uses something called a ‘Pirate’ deck, or what’s more commonly referred to as a ‘Spanish’ deck.

This means there are no 10’s in the shoe.

Generally, that’s bad for players, meaning less natural blackjacks will be dealt, but in this blackjack game, any total of 21 automatically wins, whether it consists of 2 cards or more.

Pirate 21 Blackjack Game Rules

The following rules apply:

Black Jack Pirate 16th Century

• Player 21 always wins
• Player blackjack beats dealer blackjack
• Player may Double on any number of cards
• Double after split
• Re-split Aces
• Double after splitting Aces
• Late surrender
• Double down rescue (surrender after double)
• Dealer hits Soft 17

Pirate 21 Blackjack – Base Game Pay Table

Pirate 21 ‘Match the Dealer’ Side Bet

This optional side bet pays if either of the player’s first two cards match the up-card of the dealer. If the matching card is of a different suit, the side bet pays 4:1; if suited, 9:1.

Note that if both cards match the dealer’s up-card, only the highest paying match will be paid.

Black Jack is Australia’s only known resident pirate. There was nothing romantic about this murderous thug. Anderson was a violent African American who came to Australia in 1826.

He and his crew of pirates were based on Middle Island in the Recherche Archipelago just off the coast of Esperance, where they attacked and looted passing boats and ships. They also murdered local Aboriginal men and enslaved their women. The Perth Gazette of October 1835 reported that Anderson and others shot and clubbed Aboriginal men to death and took the women in their boats.

Statements made in Albany courthouse say that Middle Island was “in the possession of John Anderson, a master of a sealing boat”. The court was also told that Anderson forced seamen to give him their money or they were killed. Like the English Highway man said, while pointing his pistol: “Stand & deliver, Your money or your liver!”

Black Jack was originally a whaler from Massachusetts, in 1826 Black Jack’s crippled vessel ‘The Vigilant’ limped into the trading post of King George Sound (now called Albany) in Western Australia. That night while drinking at the store they got into a fight with another ship’s crew. There was no proof, but Black Jack was blamed for the death of one of these men. So he & several crewmen ran out, stole a small vessel & sailed to the Recherche Archipelago off Esperance, with its uncharted 105 small islands.

At first the Pirates drifted through the islands, living off seals, before making their base on the biggest island in the archipelago – Middle Island. The soil was good, the vegetation healthy and it had fresh water. For the next ten years they ruled the islands, they hunted for seals with their valuable skins, which sold for six shillings each and they raided passing supply ships heading either to Hobart or Sydney.

The large limestone cave on Middle Island, has chambers and deep tunnels, which according to local legend was the perfect place, for Black Jack the pirate, to hide his treasure.

Western Australian Museum archaeologists have been to the remote area and surveyed what is believed to have been Anderson’s cave.

“Black Jack’s Bay” and his cave can only be accessed in rare good weather. People have searched for the pirate’s loot and obvious items in the cave would have been illegally removed by now. Perhaps Black Jack’s treasure was not buried on the island, but again, according to local legend his body was!

It is said that Anderson was murdered by some of his crew & is buried on Middle Island.

I hope they didn’t leave & take the treasure away with them!