1. Splitting 8s In Blackjack
2. Do You Always Split 8's In Blackjack
3. Should You Split 8's In Blackjack
4. Should I Split 8s In Blackjack

May 29, 2011

A pair of eights is considered a pretty bad hand in online blackjack and no matter which way you cut it there is going to be bad news around the corner.

Should you split 8s when card counting in blackjack? If the deck count is positive – meaning there are more tens in the deck than usual – some may also opt against splitting eights, especially when the dealer’s up card is something like a five or a six.

Split -0.486276 with No Double After Split allowed Split -0.475385 when Double After Split allowed Surrender -0.500 with no variation Splitting is the best option against a 10 (although it is not much better than surrender). In the case of pairs of 8's against an Ace it depends on whether the dealer hits a soft 17. Hey everyone, welcome to another Splitting Deuces video! Here we will be showcasing blackjack sessions and hopefully we can run up a hot shoe once in a while! SUBSCRIBE for more content in the. Sometimes in blackjack, the best offense is a good defense. And splitting pairs is often a form of defense. Take a pair of 8s, especially when the dealer has a 10 face up. If we play it as a 16, we bust too often if we hit, and if we stand, the dealer beats us all 79 percent of the time he makes 17 or better. By comparison, if you split the pair of 8s, your negative expectation drops to £0.48 against the ten and £0.37 against the ace. You can work out on your own which of the two plays is the best one. Player is dealt a pair of 8’s. Dealer’s Up card is a 10. According to Blackjack Basic Strategy Player should Split, but they could also Hit.

All the blackjack strategy chart and all the big blackjack champs consider splitting 8s to be the golden rule written in stone right after the ‘don’t covet the dealer’s wife’ commandment.

My buddy Greg, a man who slapped around a few Atlantic City establishments with his amazing blackjack strategy back in his prime, thinks that the golden rule about splitting eights is nothing but fool’s gold.

Greg never splits eights if the dealer is showing a nine, ten or an ace. He sees this as a trap, a lose/lose situation since by splitting you are exposing yourself to double the loss.

On the surface that logic does make a heck of a lot of sense, since when splitting in blackjack card games you have to bet more. The dealer has a higher chance of beating you with every starting hand except showing a 6 to you 17. So splitting should only be used to maximize your win or minimize your overall loss when used instead of hitting or standing.

There are many players who find the idea of playing a strategy that minimizes losses a bit hard to swallow. Let’s go to the supercomputer and run a few million simulations and see what’s happening under the hood. One of the biggest differences between play in casino and online blackjack is the ability to have a computer to quickly give blackjack players the analysis of every hand and situation.

When the dealer is showing a nine, ten or an ace and you are looking at a pair of eights (sixteen), you will lose about $52.5 out of every $100 you bet into that hand. A hefty loss. Well, there is no surprise there, since 16 against 9, 10, Ace is not the most desirable position to find yourself in.

Now let’s take a peek as to how the situation changes when you split and thus double your bet. Now you’re playing with two hands. The supercomputer (my Android powered smartphone), tells me that splitting eights will damage the player $44.25 for every $100 bet. Still a dog but with a few less fleas.

Forget about standing on 16 in that situation, your overall loses will be even higher.

It’s a no-brainer that it’s better to lose $44.25 than $52.5 out of every $100 bet. So by splitting eights against a dealer’s 8, 9 or ten, you are losing $10 less out of every $100 you put into the hand. Splitting eights is a defensive measure to ensure that your overall loses won’t be as bad as they could have been.

Splitting 8s In Blackjack

Although it’s much better to win in blackjack, it’s the overall war (session) we are trying to win, and not every single battle (hand).

Tags: Aces and eights, Android, Atlantic City, Betting, Blackjack, Casino, Crazy Eights, dealer, Online blackjack, player, Smartphone, USD

• Microgaming’s new blackjack game pays 10:1
  Microgaming has just released a brand new version of blackjack and it's already being distributed...
• $1 Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament this weekend in Atlantic City!
  It's not often that a blackjack event of this magnitude comes along! This weekend, on...
• Bad Beat Blackjack Progressive Side Bet Successfully Tested in California
  DEQ Systems Corp, a provider of blackjack table game solutions, has released Bad Beat Blackjack...
• Winning Strategies for Multi-hand Blackjack in Casino or Online
  Playing multiple blackjack hands could end up costing you money unless the game strategy is...
• Blackjack Players Have More Options to Play Than Ever
  Now blackjack players have a multitude of new opportunities to gamble. Online or off, still...

Splitting is an interesting component of playing Blackjack that allows you to enter two hands in the same round if the first two cards in your initial hand are of the same value. So what is splitting, when can you do it and when should you? Read on to find out.

What is splitting in Blackjack?

A player can split in a round of Blackjack if their opening two cards are of the same value. This means any pair from Ace through to nine and any two cards valued at ten (for instance, a ten and a Queen).

If a player decides to split, they must place a second bet for that round of the same value as their original bet, essentially doubling their stake. The two cards are then treated as the first card of two new independent hands that are played out separately. Should one of these hands become a pair, the player is allowed to split again and enter a third hand whilst tripling their stake, and so on.

Generally, you are allowed to hit or double down on a split hand, with the exception of if you have split two Aces, in which case the two hands are often not allowed to consist of more than two cards. In some cases, a Blackjack achieved on a split hand will not count as such, and simply be valued at 21.

Do You Always Split 8's In Blackjack

In a game of Blackjack, opportunities to split will likely be rare. You have an approximate 0.5% chance of getting any pair from Aces to nines in your opening two cards, and a 9.4% probability of getting two cards valued at ten.

When to split in Blackjack

It is arguably universally agreed that there are two scenarios in which you should always split: if you have a pair of Aces or a pair of eights.

You must carefully consider if you are going to split in Blackjack.

While you are likely to be prohibited to getting only one more card on two split Aces, this nonetheless presents two separate opportunities to get Blackjack. There will be an approximate 30.4% chance of a hand starting on an Ace getting Blackjack, equating to a 51.6% probability that at least one of your two hands will do so.

Meanwhile, a pair of eights presents a value of 16. This is widely considered to be the weakest opening hand in Blackjack, by virtue of the fact it is one beneath the minimum value of 17 that the dealer is required to finish on (meaning it is always likely to lose) but has a significant risk of going bust when hitting. Splitting a pair of eights averts this problem.

For a pair of nines, you should split in all circumstances unless the dealer’s face up card is a seven, worth ten or an Ace, in which case you should stand. If the dealer’s face up card is a seven, the most likely outcome is that their second card will be worth ten, meaning they will be forced to finish the round with a hand worth 17, less than your hand’s value of 18.

If the face up card is worth ten or an Ace then they have a chance to get Blackjack, meaning standing on a value of 18 is the option that presents the best chance of winning.

With the exception of pairs of fives, for pairs between two and seven you should look to split when the dealer’s face up card is certain values between two and seven and they are at the greatest risk of going bust. The information discussed in the last few paragraphs is summarised in the table below:

Should You Split 8's In Blackjack

Blackjack splitting strategy

NB: This table assumes four to eight decks in play and that the dealer hits on a soft 17.

When not to split in Blackjack

Under no circumstances should you split on a pair of tens. An opening hand worth 20 is very strong and can only be beat by a Blackjack or a three-card hand worth 21, and the dealer has just an approximate 12.2% chance of getting this in any given round. When splitting a pair of tens, you are likely to end up with two separate hands both worth less than 20, essentially spurning a strong opportunity to win the round by putting yourself at risk of doubling your losses.

You should also never split on a pair of fives. In this situation, the best approach is to double down, as this will provide an approximate 53.8% chance of finishing your turn with a strong hand containing a value of 18 or higher. The exception here is if the dealer’s face up card is worth ten or an Ace and they therefore have a chance to get Blackjack, at which point you should hit.

For pairs of twos, threes and sevens you should not split if the dealer’s face up card is at least an eight, and for pairs of fours and sixes you should not split if the dealer’s face up card is at least a seven. For pairs of fours, you should also never split if the dealer’s face up card is beneath five, at which point they have a plausible opportunity to build a high value hand via three cards.

Enhance your Blackjack strategy

If you’re looking for general advice on how to play Blackjack, read our guide to Blackjack. If you want to learn more on how to inform your Blackjack strategy, remember to read our articles on how to double down and surrender, alongside how to place a side bet and insurance bet.

We also have an article outlining an advanced Blackjack strategy. If you want to learn more about Blackjack beyond how to play the game, you can read about the history of Blackjack.

Play Blackjack on Pinnacle Casino

Should I Split 8s In Blackjack

Pinnacle has a wide range of Blackjack games for you to enjoy, including Live Blackjack, Classic Blackjack, Vegas Strip Blackjack and many more!