The major difference between Spanish 21 and European Blackjack is the missing 10s. All the 10 cards are stripped from the deck in Spanish 21. That means players' hands are more often than not made up with lots of low cards. In European Blackjack, the potential for side bets is minimal.

Spanish 21 uses six decks of cards with the tens (10's) removed. The player must place a regular '21' bet and may also place an optional 'Match the Dealer' wager. In 'Match the Dealer', the player is betting one or more of their cards match the dealer's up card. More exact matches pay better odds!