Nucleus Pirate 21 Blackjack Review — A Table Game with a Thrilling Side Bet

A Guide to the Nucleus Pirate 21 Blackjack Rules

We’ll assume that you know the basics of “Vegas Strip” or American Blackjack to keep things concise. If you don’t, you can learn more about the game’s objective and card values from our “Rules” page.

Nucleus’ “Pirate 21 Blackjack” online is known more widely as the “Spanish” variety or “Pontoon” if you’re from Australia. It’s played with six decks of 48 cards. The difference between standard French decks and these are that the 10s are removed. This is bad news for the player, but other less restrictive regulations are in place to compensate for it. The dealer adheres to the following rules:

• Dealer hits soft 17;
• Dealer blackjacks are instantly revealed;
• The house won’t offer insurance, but the bet has sub-optimal return rates, so it’s better that way.

When it comes to splits and doubles, Pirate 21 Blackjack by Nucleus is more liberal than regular versions. Instead of having the option to double before you take a third card, here you can hit multiple times and then double down, including on splits. Whenever you receive two cards with an identical point value, you can divide them to create two hands. Hitting and doubling following a split is allowed even when dividing Aces. Lastly, players can receive up to three separate hands thanks to the multi-hand mode. There are also a bunch of extra payouts that we’ll discuss later.

Learn How to Play Nucleus Pirate 21 Blackjack Online

The quirks of Spanish blackjack require you to adapt and develop a new winning strategy. Thus, if you haven’t played it before, our Nucleus Pirate 21 Blackjack review team recommends a few practice sessions. We’ve devised a quick tutorial that will let you try the game for free and without registration:

1. We hand-picked a bunch of blackjack gaming sites and listed them at the beginning of this article. All of them are reputable and payout fast if you decide to play for real money. They also offer demo modes that you can play for fun. Select a suitable operator and locate this release in their “table game” sections.
2. Once you’re inside the game, you’ll see that each “place bet” position accepts wagers between $1 and $250. Pirate 21 Blackjack by Nucleus defaults to playing chips with a value of $1, so you can click on any of the designated areas and press “deal” to start. If you wish to change this denomination for whatever reason, use the widget near the bottom.
3. Standard basic strategy charts won’t work optimally here because this isn’t a standard blackjack. You will have to do some research to figure out when exactly to stand, hit, split, or double. You can find some useful tips in our complete “strategy” guide.

If you want to get a refresher on the Nucleus Pirate 21 Blackjack rules or payouts, you can always click on the “i” and “?” icons at the bottom-left side. This corner also contains a mute switch and a settings menu with additional audio options. Remember that you can play at your own pace by adjusting the speed of card-dealing animations through the arrowed keys on the lower-right side.

The Distinct Payout Table of Pirate 21 Blackjack by Nucleus

The payout structure in standard games of 21 is rather simple — your reward for regular wins is equal to the amount that you’ve wagered. Meanwhile, scoring a natural pays an improved x1.5 times your bet.

However, this release presents several additional payouts to compensate for the lack of 10s in the playing decks. Make sure to remember this part of our Nucleus Pirate 21 Blackjack review, as these changes will require you to alter your strategy:

• In addition to naturals, you’ll receive a 3:2 payout when you score a 5-card 21 or get a 7-7-7 or 6-7-8 of mixed suits;
• When the above 3-card combinations (triple 7s and 6-7-8) are of the same suit, the reward increases to 2:1. You’ll also get x2 times your wager for a 6-card 21. Keep in mind that there’s a bonus prize if you receive a suited 7-7-7 and the dealer’s up-card is also a 7 — you’ll get $1,000 if you’ve staked $4-$25 and $5,000 for wagers of $26-$250;
• The last extra payout in Pirate 21 Blackjack by Nucleus is 3:1 for a 7-card 21 and 6-7-8/7-7-7 of spades.

Before we move on, it’s important to note that the game will accept 3-card combinations only as a result of hitting. Doubling or splitting won’t work. The house edge of this title stands at 0.76%, which is slightly higher than the 0.50% observed in standard blackjacks. Still, if you stick to a specialized basic strategy chart, your expected losses will be lower compared to the vast majority of blackjack casino games.

Should You Use the “Match” Side Bet?

If you’ve used our tutorial to try the demo, you’ve probably noticed that there’s a smaller circle next to each of the three betting areas. This is where you can place money to activate the “Match” side bet, a sort of mini-game within Nucleus’ Pirate 21 Blackjack online. This wager is a winner whenever one of your starting two cards matches the dealer’s up-card. You’ll win 9:1 for an identical/suited match (e.g., the dealer shows a 10 of spades, and you also have it in your hand) and 4:1 for unsuited matches.

It’s regrettable that you won’t win twice if you happen to draw a pair that matches the dealer’s face-up card. In that case, only the higher payout is rewarded. The RTP rate of this wager measures in at 96.94%, meaning that your long-term returns will suffer if you play it often. Our advice is to either wager smaller sums occasionally or skip it altogether.

In Conclusion

Pirate 21 Blackjack by Nucleus is a more adventurous iteration of the table game we all know and love. We don’t know if it will make you feel like Blackbeard, but its exotic paytable, multi-hand mode, and the “match” side bet can entertain those who need a break from the more traditional variants.

If you’d like to give it a try, feel free to go back and pick any of the verified operators on our list. Each one has a demo of the title to help you practice. Once you’re ready to play for real cash, give yourself the best chances of winning by managing your bankroll, using basic strategy, and claiming a suitable deposit bonus.