Split
Blackjack Strategies and Never Tips
by Frank Scoblete
This lesson teaches split blackjack strategies along with some ‘never’
tips at
Learn to
Play Blackjack program.
Blackjack is a game where your choices count and that includes when you
should split blackjack.
Always
split aces and eights, no matter what the dealer has showing. This
strategy is a delight when the dealer is showing a 6 as his upcard. Who
doesn’t want to get more money out when the dealer is in such a
disadvantageous situation?
But this same split blackjack strategy can be
extremely hard when you are facing an upcard of 10 because you think
that if he has another 10 in the hole, you are dead meat.
There is
a strong enough argument for the fact that chances are he doesn’t have
another 10 in the hole. Even basic blackjack math tells us that the 10s
make up a mere 16 cards out of 52 cards.
Therefore it is far more
likely that the dealer has anywhere from a 2 through a 7 than he does a
10. Those 8s against a 10 are a losing hand, but using split blackjack
strategies
always loses you less in the long run.
Split Blackjack has
its 'nevers' as well.
For
example, never split a pair of 10s or 5s. A hand of 20 is the
third
most powerful hand for the player, behind a blackjack and a
multiple-card 21. The chances of getting two 10s on your
split 10s are
not good since you have taken two of the 10s you need out of the deck
or shoe to make that original 20. You’ll likely get a hand that is a
loser or two losers if you always split your 10s.
This applies even against an otherwise weak dealer upcard such as 5 or
6.
Also,
should you split 10s, you will be branded a moron by all the
people
playing with you at the table, and some will say it so loud that
everyone in the casino will know that you have split blackjack.
Split 5s
is also a no-no. A total of 10 is a great hand to double down on when
the dealer is showing 2 through 9 because your two 5s have increased
the percentage of 10s in the remaining pack.
Always hit your
stiff hands, 12-13-14-15-16 against a dealer’s upcard of 7 or higher.
Never hit your stiffs of 13-14-15-16 against a dealer’s stiff upcard
(2-3-4-5-6).
Always hit your 12 against a dealer’s 2 or 3, but
never hit it against a dealer’s 4 through 6. Always double your 11 when
the dealer is showing a 2 through 10. But sometimes double your 11
against a dealer ace as well. That would be in single-deck games.
You
always split your pair of 2s against a dealer’s 3 through 7,
but you
sometimes split them against a dealer’s 2.
Sometimes split blackjack?
In single-deck games you don’t split 2s against a dealer’s 2.
In
multiple-deck games you do. But there’s a big “but” in the ointment, as
disgusting as that clause sounds, because if the single-deck game
allows doubling after pair, then you do split those 2s
against a 2; and if the multiple-deck game doesn’t allow doubling after
split, then you don’t split blackjack those 2s against a dealer’s
upcard of 2
or 3. Confusing? Sometimes.
Sometimes you split a pair of 4s and
sometimes you don’t. If you can double after split pairs, then when
the dealer shows a 5 or 6, you split those 4s in both single
and
multiple-deck games.
But when you can’t double after split,
you simply hit your two 4s (an 8 after all) against all dealer upcards
in a multiple-deck game, but you double down on that 8 against a
dealer’s 5 or 6 in a single-deck game.
Never take insurance in
multiple-deck games. However, sometimes you can make a good insurance
bet during the first round of play in single-deck games even if you are
not a card counter.
Look around and see if there are any 10s in
the hands of the players to the right and left of you. If they have
none and you also have none, insurance becomes a good bet as seven
non-10 cards have been removed from the deck (the dealer’s ace counts
too). That means of the 45 remaining unseen cards, 16 of them are 10s.
Always insure your hand in such a case. That bet now has the edge for
the player.
Because
of the nature of split blackjack, a change in some of
the decisions in given situations is called for requiring more than the
knowledge of basic strategy.
Split
Blackjack is
followed by Blackjack Soft Hands Strategy
OR
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