How to play
Redraw 21 is six-deck blackjack with a second chance. When your first two cards add up to an awkward 15, 16, 17 or 18, you can throw them away and take two new ones instead. The house gets something back at the end: when the dealer finishes on exactly 22, your hand pushes instead of winning.
The aim is the usual one: finish closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. Cards 2 to 10 count their face value, Jacks, Queens and Kings count 10, and an ace counts 1 or 11.
A round:
- Choose a chip, bet between 10 and 500 credits, then press Deal.
- If the dealer shows an ace you can take insurance, which costs half your bet and pays 2 to 1 if the dealer has blackjack.
- When the dealer shows an ace or a 10-value card, they check for blackjack before you play.
- Play your hand with Hit, Stand, Double, Split or Redraw.
- The dealer draws to 17 and hits a soft 17. Blackjack pays 3 to 2.
The redraw
The Redraw button appears when all of these are true:
- your first two cards total 15, 16, 17 or 18, hard or soft (an ace-4 counts as soft 15);
- it’s your first move: you haven’t hit, doubled or split;
- you haven’t redrawn already this round.
Your two cards go to the discard and two new cards are dealt in their place. From there you play the new hand as normal: hit, stand, double, or split a pair. The bet stays the same, and the hand is tagged Redrawn.
You get one redraw per round. If the new cards make another 15 to 18, you have to play them.
A redrawn 21 is not a blackjack. If the new cards are an ace and a 10-value card, the hand counts as 21 and pays even money, not 3 to 2.
The dealer 22 rule
If the dealer’s final total is exactly 22, every hand that hasn’t busted pushes, and your bet comes back. Two exceptions:
- a blackjack still pays 3 to 2;
- a dealer bust on 23 or more pays as usual.
The rule applies whether you redrew or not. 22 is a common way for the dealer to bust, so it costs you some wins on hands where you’d normally just stand and wait for the dealer to go over.
Strategy
Redraw every 15, 16 and 17. Two fresh cards are worth more than a hard or soft 15, 16 or 17 against any dealer card, and the Hint button always redraws them. A hard 17 against a dealer 6 sounds like a stand. But with dealer 22 pushing, standing on 17 wins less than in classic blackjack, and a fresh pair of cards does better.
Keep 18 against small cards. A hard 18 stands against a dealer 2 to 8, and gets redrawn against a 9, 10 or ace. A soft 18 (ace-7) is more varied: stand against 2, 3, 4, 7 and 8, double against 5 and 6, and redraw against 9, 10 and ace.
Think of a redraw as a new deal. On average, two fresh cards give you a hand that’s better than a stiff 15 or 16. You’re trading a poor hand for an average one. That’s why a strong total like 18 is only worth giving up against a dealer showing 9 or more.
Don’t count on dealer busts. Standing on a weak total against a dealer 4, 5 or 6 pays off less here, because some of those busts land on 22 and only push.
The odds
Over one million hands played with the hint’s strategy, the house edge came out at about 0.87%, give or take 0.21%. The redraw gets you out of the weakest starting hands, and the dealer 22 push takes most of that back. Overall the game is a little dearer than classic six-deck blackjack.
For blackjack without the 22 rule, play classic Blackjack. Free Double 21 has the same dealer 22 push, traded for free doubles and splits instead. Card Swap 21 also lets you improve bad starting cards, by swapping between two hands.
If you enjoy Redraw 21, try Reel Bingo or Reel Poker next.
