For splitting, the player should always split a pair of aces or 8s; identical ten-cards should not be split, and neither should a pair of 5s, since two 5s are a total of 10, which can be used more effectively in doubling down. A pair of 4s should not be split either, as a total of 8 is a good number to draw to. The rules regarding splitting vary from casino to casino. Here is a general rundown. Most casinos will allow two splits; some will not. Some casinos will allow a double down after a split. 3) If you may double after splitting in a game dealt from multiple decks, split when the dealer shows a five or six. Some solid citizens misplay four-four because they don't know blackjack is more than just luck. This example was purposely done without using aces to illustrate that it ultimately does not matter if you are splitting aces, because split aces do not payout 2:3 like a natural blackjack does. So even if we had split aces here, the payout would still be the same. When you stand you are telling the dealer that you do not want anymore cards. How standing works in Blackjack Your initial wager Your initial cards If you choose to stand, you will receive no more cards. If you beat the dealer you will win an amount equal to your wager, a tie will be a push and if the dealer beats you, you will lose your wager.
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When you are playing blackjack games in a land based casino or online via a multiplayer or live dealer gaming platform, you are going to end up sitting next to players who are both experienced and inexperienced, and their level of experience will soon become apparent when you take a look at how they are playing off each hand dealt out to them.
One way of discovering whether a player you are playing with knows the game of blackjack inside out is in regards to how they will play off a pair of 10 valued cards that are dealt out to them. The correct strategy for playing a pair of 10 valued cards, whether those cards are mixed 10 valued cards or two cards that are the same such as a pair of Kings or a pair of 10's is to stand those hands.
However, as many games are going to allow you to split unalike 10 valued cards as well as a pair of matching 10 valued cards then the temptation to split those cards will be great for an inexperienced player, more so if the Dealer has on display as his or her up facing card a low valued card such as a 3 or a 6 for example.
You should, as a general rule, always stand any pair of 10's irrespective of what the Dealer is showing, even if the Dealer has on display an Ace or a 10 valued card then you should always stand your pair of 10 valued cards. The reason for this is that you are highly unlikely to get dealt out an Ace or another 10 valued card to a split card which initially contained a pair of 10 valued cards, and the Dealer is unlikely to beat those hands.
You will of course find that from time to time the Dealer will, after you have make the decision to stand any pair of 10's manage to match your hand with a 20 valued hand and occasionally the Dealer will beat your hand by getting a 21 valued hand or possibly a Blackjack hand, however never veer off the correct playing strategy for the variant you are playing and that will mean you need to stand every single pair of 10 valued cards dealt out to you.
You will, if you decide to split a pair of 10 valued cards then have to pay an additional stake for the new hand formed with one of those cards, which is going to mean you then are risking twice the amount of money as you originally intended to do. Plus you may then be dealt out an additional 10 card alongside any split 10 valued card and you could then be tempted to split those cards as well, which will mean you incur an even larger cost by having to place an additional stake on the extra hand formed by re-splitting.
In Blackjack When Do You Split Peas
One thing to also be aware of in regards to why it is not going to be beneficial for you to split a pair of 10 valued cards is that most variants will have rules in place and also a payout structure that will stipulate if you split any pair of 10 valued cards and one of your split 10 valued cards is then dealt out an Ace card alongside it, those hands are, if they win the game, not going to be paid out at odds of 3 to 2 but instead they will be classed as a standard 21 hand and as such if those hands win the game and beat the Dealers hand your winning payout will be just an even money winning payout.
Blackjack Variants which Call for Players to Split 10's
The only blackjack game variant which is going to have a perfect playing strategy that will occasionally see you being able to split a pair of 10's as the correct playing decision is the game of Double Exposure Blackjack.
The Double Exposure Blackjack game is quite different to any other blackjack game you are going to come across either in a land based casino or when playing online. For when you play this game as well as you being dealt out your initial two card hand facing upwards, both of the dealers two initial cards will also be dealt face up.
That does of course mean you are going to see the value of the Dealers hand at all times, and that major player advantage will mean that there are a limited number of times when you are playing this game that you should chose to split your hand when it contains any pair of 10's.
If you do start to play Double Exposure Blackjack and you have been dealt out any pair of 10 valued cards and the Dealers two up facing cards are worth a hard 13 valued hand through to a hard 16 valued hand then those are the only times that instead of standing your hand you should choose to split them.
Also if you do play this blackjack game variant and the Dealer gets a 20 valued hand and you have a pair of 10 valued cards then the correct playing move for those hands are that you should hit your hand, that may seem like a risky playing decision to make when you both hand a 20 valued hand but surprisingly it is the correct perfect way of playing a pair of 10's when the Dealer has a 20 valued hand also.
Please do be aware that in regards to the house edge you will be playing against when playing Double Exposure Blackjack it is a high house edge game and as such even though you get to see just what cards the Dealer is holding you are going to be far better off and have many more winning chances by playing a much lower house edge game instead of the high house edge game of Double Exposure Blackjack.
In Blackjack When Can You Split Cards
Splitting 10's in a Las Vegas Casino
Since I've gone through all the serious reasons of why splitting 10's is a sucker move I thought I would finish this article with a fun story from when I visited a Las Vegas casino a couple of years ago.
I was staying at the Planet Hollywood in Vegas and decided to try out their blackjack games so I sat down at a table that had a single seat open. After playing a couple of hands one of the other players at the table gets dealt two tens against the dealers 5 and decides to split his cards. The whole table (myself excluded) then proceeds to mock this player for the rest of his session calling him names like sucker and 'tourist'.
Now if the -EV from doing this split doesn't deter you from making this move you should probably still avoid it in order not to be mocked by your fellow players for the duration of your session.
If you've spent any time studying blackjack basic strategy, you've probably heard that you should always split aces and eights. The goal of this post is to explain why this is the appropriate move in almost any variation of blackjack. It doesn't matter what the dealer's face-up card is, by the way. Splitting aces and eights is always the right move.
A Note on 'Basic Strategy'
If you're new to blackjack, you might not have heard what basic strategy is. In brief, it's a table of the mathematically correct moves to make in any blackjack situation.
You have 2 pieces of information, which are cross-referenced on a blackjack basic strategy chart:
- What's in your hand
- Half of what's in the dealer's hand
In your hand, you have a soft total, a hard total, and possibly a pair of cards of the same rank.
In the dealer's hand, you know one of his or her cards. In almost all blackjack variations, the dealer gets one card face-up.
The correct decision in any of these situations is the one with the highest mathematical expected return.
If you make the correct mathematical decision on every hand, you reduce the house edge that the casino has over you to its lowest possible number—usually between 0.5% and 1%, depending on the rules at the casino.
How Splitting Cards in Blackjack Works
One of the options you have in blackjack is 'splitting' a pair of cards of the same rank. When you do this, you start 2 hands. The first card of each of those hands is one of the 2 cards from your original hand.
You also must put up another bet when you split your hand. You then play each hand independently of each other.
You could win both the new hands, lost both the new hands, or lose with one and win with the other.
Basic strategy tells you that you should never splits 4s, 5s, or 10s. It also tells you that you should always split aces or 8s.
Why You Do the Things You Do in Basic Strategy
Basic strategy has been derived by mathematicians and computer programs who run simulations of millions of hands. They look at the results of those hands to determine the playing decision which wins the most or loses the least amount of money in each situation.
But some of the thinking behind basic strategy makes sense, too.
Here's an example:
You should never split 10s, no matter what the dealer's upcard is.
Why not?
You have a hard total of 20. The only possible hand that could beat that 20 is a 21. It's such a good hand that it's hard to imagine improving your chances by creating 2 new hands—even though any hand which starts with a single 10 is going to turn out pretty good.
Let's think about how many cards left in the deck will improve on a hard total of 20.
If you get a 10 on your new hand, that's great. You now have what you would have had originally. You have 14 cards left in the deck which are worth 10 points. (There are 16 of those cards to begin with, but you already have 2 of them.)
If you get an ace, that's even better. You get 3 to 2 on your payout. That's not as likely as getting another 10, though. There are only 4 aces in the deck.
All the other cards, though, give you a worse hand. That's a total of 32 cards which will give you a hand that's not as good as your original hand. That's about a 65% chance of getting a hand with a total not as good as you started with.
And some of those cards are rough, too. You get a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, and you have a stiff hand. That's a hand that's unlikely to beat the dealer unless you hit it. But it's also a hand that has a good chance of going bust if you hit it.
This kind of thinking—about how good your total is, and about how the remaining cards in the deck might affect that total—is crucial to an understanding of basic strategy.
Let's look at one more example:
You should also never split 5s. That's a hard total of 10.
That's a lousy total as it stands, but it's a total you can't bust with an additional card. Any card will improve your total, and a lot of those cards will give you a hand you'll feel good about standing on. You have 16 cards worth 10 left in the deck, and 4 aces. That's 20 cards that will give you a total of 20 or 21.
If you get a 7, 8, or 9, you also have a solid total you can feel good about. That's another 12 cards, for a total of 32 cards which will improve your total.
Even if you get a 2, 3, 4, 5, or 6, it's not the end of the world. You're liable to get a stiff hand, but it's not as likely as getting a good hand.
But what would happen if you split those 5s?
You'd wind up with 2 hands with a starting card of 5. It's impossible to get a card on top of that to make you feel good about your hand. If you get an ace, you have a soft 16, and that's probably the best you can hope for. If you get a 10, you have a total of 15, which is awful. It won't beat the dealer, and it's likely to bust when you take another card.
The other, lower value cards don't help much either. A 9 gives you a total of 14, which is also awful. An 8 gives you a total of 13. Nothing to write home about there, either.
What Happens When You Split Aces
A hand of 2 aces that you don't split is just a soft total of 12. That's not terrible, because it's hard to bust. But it's not likely to win.
In Blackjack When Do You Split Pea Soup
On the other hand, if you take a mediocre hand and turn it into 2 really good hands, you've accomplished something.
And let's face it—anyone with a brain in his or her head knows that an ace is the best possible starting card in blackjack. If you get a 10 on top of that ace, you have a blackjack, which pays off at 3 to 2.
In fact, in a lot of casinos, you can split those aces and then immediately double down on them.
Remember, you have 16 cards worth 10 points each in the deck—more than any other specific total. Most of the cards aren't worth 10 points, but enough of them are that you can be optimistic about getting that natural at least some of the time.
But if you miss your 10, you still wind up with a good hand almost every time. If you get a 9, you have a total of 20, which is a great hand. If you get an 8, you have a total of 19, which is good. Even a 7 leaves you with a total of 18.
If you get a 6 or less, you don't have such a great hand. But because one of the cards is an ace, you're going to be able to try to improve that hand with little fear that it's going to bust.
What Happens When You Split Eights
First, if you have a hand made up of 2 eights, you have a hard total of 16. That's a lousy hand. You're probably going to stand rather than take an additional card. Either way, you're unlikely to win. If you stand, the dealer will probably wind up with a better total than you. If you hit, you're probably going to bust.
On the other hand, if you split this into 2 new hands, each with a starting card of 8, a lot of good things can happen.
16 of the cards in the deck are worth 10 points, so you have a reasonably good chance of getting a total of 18 on your new hand.
If you get a 9, you have a total of 17, which is also a big improvement.
If get another 8, which is unlikely, since you already have 2 of them, you're no worse off than you were to begin with.
But What If the Dealer Has a 9 or 10 Upcard?
Thoughtful blackjack players might wonder why you would split 10s or 8s in the face of a dealer's upcard of 9 or 10. After all, the odds are good that the dealer will beat you. Aren't you just losing twice as much money by splitting in this situation?
The crucial factor to keep in mind is whether you'll win more in the long run or lose more in the long run by making a specific decision. In the case of a dealer 9 or 10, you're not trying to win more often. You're just trying to lose less often.
This is built into the logic of the game and into the logic of basic strategy.
Here's an example:
Any total of 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17 is probably going to lose to the dealer—more than 51% of the time, anyway. And you'll see one of those totals a little more than twice out of every 5 hands.
The best you can do in that situation is try to lose less often than you would if you made another decision.
Let's say you face a dealer upcard of 9, 10, or ace with a pair of 8s. If splitting weren't an option, the correct strategy would be to hit the hard total of 16. You'd lose $52 out of every $100 you bet in this situation. (It seems like you'd lose more often than that, even, but remember—the dealer doesn't always have an ace in the hole.)
But if you split that into 2 hands that each start with an 8, you'll lose $43 of every $100 you bet in this situation. Yes, you've put twice as much money into the situation. But each of those should be thought of as 2 bets with a better on-average outcome than the one bet with a terrible possible outcome.
These are both losing situations, but one situation saves you $9 on average per $100 bet.
When Do You Split 9s In Blackjack
In fact, you'll sometimes get some grief from the other players or even the dealer when you make this decision. The best thing to do is ignore them. They mean well, but they clearly don't understand the math behind the game or behind basic strategy.
As an aside, I used to employ a former blackjack dealer to clean my house. Her understanding of the game and the math behind it was abysmal. Don't make the mistake of thinking that just because someone deals blackjack for a living means they understand how to minimize the house edge.
Always follow basic strategy, and always ignore other people who advise you to do something different.
Splitting Aces Is a No-Brainer, Though
Even people who are a little confused about basic strategy in blackjack understand the logic behind splitting aces. You'll occasionally run into someone who's too timid or too under-bankrolled to make the mathematically best choice. If you're in a helpful mood, you might offer to cover the extra bet for that person at no risk to them. The dealer might or might not allow this. The player might or might not take you up on it.
But if he or she does, it's a good deal, because you have an excellent chance of getting that 3 to 2 payout for a blackjack.
If you're counting cards, you might even be in a situation where the deck is rich in 10s. In this case, such a play makes even more sense. That's the reason card counting works, after all—it measures the ratio of 10s and aces in the deck to the number of lower cards in the deck.
Splitting and Re-Splitting Aces
When Do You Split In Blackjack
It's possible when you split aces to get another ace on top of one or both of your new hands. In that case, if the casino allows it, you should split again. You could easily wind up with 4 hands in play at a time, all of which stand an excellent chance of turning into a blackjack.
Not all casinos allow this, and it's easy to see why. At many casinos, after you split aces, the casino only lets you take one additional card. If you were to get another ace and not have the option of re-splitting, the casino has you. A total of 12 versus almost any dealer total is a likely loser.
Luckily, that doesn't come up often enough to worry about it. Just remember that you always split aces, regardless of the dealer's upcard, and you'll be fine.
When Do You Split Cards In Blackjack
Conclusion
And that's my explanation of why you should always split aces and 8s when playing blackjack. The dealer's upcard doesn't matter in any situation. You'll either win more money more often or lose less money in the long run.
In Blackjack Should You Split Tens
Splitting aces is an aggressive move that increases your winnings dramatically. Splitting 8s is a defensive move that helps to minimize your long-term losses.
Both are the mathematically correct play.
