Blackjack: Splitting Cards

See also

• Blackjack: Basic Strategy (Part I)
• Blackjack: Basic Strategy (Part II)
• Blackjack: Splitting Cards
• Blackjack: Rules For The Social Player

You can split your first two cards into separate hands and receive new cards for each hand whenever your first two cards are a pair. The casino is always happy to see a player invest more money, and you're happy to double your money when the odds are in your favor.

The one splitting restriction is that if you split aces, you get only one extra card for each hand. In addition, if you make a natural, it pays only single odds. But splitting a pair of aces is still clearly the right play.
At most casinos, if you split a pair and then draw the same card to form another pair, you can split your new pair again to form three hands.

The general approach to splitting a pair goes along the following lines:

1. Never split a pair of 4s, 5s, or 6s. Number totals like 8 and 10 are good for you because the chances of drawing an ace, king, queen, or jack are quite good. You don't want to break up good drawing hands. And because a 6 is the least promising drawing card, why voluntarily saddle yourself with two of them as the nucleus of a hand? A total of 12 may not be such a great number either, but it's the best you can do under the circumstances.
2. Never split 10s or court cards. By splitting 10s, you give up a likely win in the hope that you win on both hands - not, by any means, the right thing to do because you are not a big enough favorite to win both hands after splitting.
3. Split a pair of 8s (because 16 is such a bad total) unless the banker has a 9, 10, court card, or ace. When the banker has a high card, you're likely to lose, and you don't want to concede twice your stake. (Take a deep breath and draw a card with your 16 in these circumstances.)
4. Split 7s if the banker has a 5, 6, or 7 showing. When the dealer has a bad hand and you figure to be able to improve your total of 14 by splitting, go for it.
5. Split 2s or 3s if the banker has a 7 or lower card showing. With the dealer having a bad hand, it makes sense to play more than one hand if you can.
6. Only split 9s if the banker has an 8 showing. In this case, you figure to get 19 on one hand, and he figures to get 18, so you improve your position. If you don't split, the hand is likely to be a standoff.