7-14-21

I just read about a new, up and coming, casino game called 7-14-21. More information can be found on the Wizard Of Odds web site. There is also a online game if you have Adobe Shockwave Flash installed.

The idea of the game is you get 6 cards and you have to build 3 hands of 2 cards each. There are no rules in how you build your hand. What you ideally end up with is a hand that totals 21, a hand that totals 14, and a hand that totals 7. Aces count 1 or 11 in any hand. If your hands don't bust (each one individually) they play against the dealer's hands - your 7 hand against the dealer's 7 hand, your 14 against their 14, and your 21 against their 21.

It looks like there is no way to write down a strategy. But here's what I figured out:

• If you can make all three hands total 7, 14, and 21, then obviously do that.
• If you can make two of the three hands match the values (a 7 and a 21, for example), then do that, no matter what the third hand ends up with.
• If you can make two of the three hands in multiple ways (you could make 7 and 14, or you could make 7 and 21, for example), then choose the option that gets you the closest, without going over, on that third hand.

If you can make only one of the hands, or none of the hands, there seems to be some thought that needs to be applied. Here's some things that I have figured out:

• If you can arrange your cards without going over any of them, then that is probably a good way to go.
• If you can make the 7, then that will help - the way the dealer arranges their cards, the 7 is the last choice and they go over quite often. You can win the 7 if you can make that number on the nose.
• The 21 hand should be your lowest priority. You need 20 or 21 to make it worth your while, so if you only have 1 face card, you're better off using that in the 14 hand.

I think I might play this on my next trip to Vegas, whenever that will be.