Do You Always Split 8's In Blackjack

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Here we have the option to split and play two separate hands, each with a much better starting point of 8. In fact, splitting 8s is recommended by basic strategy most of the time with very few exceptions. This applies to most blackjack variations regardless of deck number, the dealer’s standing rules, and other playing conditions. Meanwhile, if you split the 5s, you will be left with two hands that can easily become stiff (all 10s, all 9s, all 8s and all 7s will make a stiff hand). Also, the opportunity for those two hands to be doubled down will require another 5 or a 6 (for a total value of 10-11), and two 5s have already been drawn out of the deck. Stand (You have blackjack!) Another tricky situation occurs when you are dealt two of the same card initially. The chart below shows what to do in that instance. 10s, jacks, queens, or kings. Never split; stand. Even players with little or no knowledge of basic strategy in blackjack understand one thing: You always split aces and 8s in blackjack. Of course, you can always find contrarians who disagree with everything, no matter how solid the math behind it is. Should You Always Split 8s? Basic blackjack strategy says 8s are a safe and wise split. It’s hard to go wrong with splitting 8s. The math says this works out well in the long run.

  1. Why Should You Always Split 8's In Blackjack
  2. Do You Always Split 8's In Blackjack Games
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Gambling Tips > Blackjack

FACTS OF SPLITTING 8s AGAINST A 10

By Henry Tamburin


The May 2009 issue of Casino Player magazine contains an interview with gambling writer and maverick John Patrick, who advocates an “unorthodox” approach to gambling. In the interview, Patrick offers this explanation (in his words) as to why he wouldn’t split a pair of 8s against a dealer 10 and instead would surrender the hand:

“If you’re playing blackjack for $10 a hand and you are dealt two eights and the dealer has a king showing, the book says to split. So you split and you put another $10 up there. Now, there’re gonna give you a card on each eight, which means you have one eight with a card for $10, and another eight with another card for $10. The dealer still has that king showing. How have you improved your situation? Why would you take a bad hand of two eights and turn it into two bad hands, when you admittedly are inferior to the dealer’s hand?” Patrick then goes on to say that if he were dealt this hand, “I’d surrender. I’m gonna lose that with two eights. I give it up. I tell the dealer, “Go ahead, take half my bet.” I’d rather play a hand I’m going to win.”

On the surface, Patrick’s analysis of splitting 8s against a 10 seems convincing. In fact, most players agree with Patrick and would never split. Unfortunately, that’s a big mistake, and here’s why.

There is no question that the dealer has the upper hand when you hold a pair of 8s against her 10. The math says she’ll make a pat (17-21) hand about 77 percent of the time (assuming she doesn’t have a blackjack), and she has only a 23 percent chance of busting. So, there is no argument here: you are the underdog, period. But, what Patrick and others fail to grasp is the following:

Even though you are the underdog when you are dealt a pair of 8s against a dealer 10, you are less of an underdog when you split the 8s and play two hands with an 8 on each hand.

So, the real question that you should ask yourself is this: If I’m going to lose money on this hand no matter how I play it (and you will), which strategy cuts my losses? Is it hitting, standing, splitting, or as Patrick suggests, throwing in the towel and surrendering?

The only way to know for sure which strategy is best is to calculate in dollars how much you can expect to lose using each strategy and then compare the results. Agreed? And the math to do this calculation is, surprisingly, quite simple. (For the following analysis, I assumed a standard game: 6-deck, s17, das, and resplitting allowed up to four hands.)

What we positively, absolutely, know about hitting or standing on 16 against a dealer 10 is this: on average you will win this hand only 23 times out of 100 (hey, I told you this was a bad hand). (Note: The actual win percent to two decimal places is 23.22 for hitting and 23.16 for standing, which is why basic strategy says to hit 16, when it is 10-6 or 9-7, against a 10). But when your 16 happens to be a pair of 8s, you have an escape: you can split and play each 8 against the 10. Why would you want to do this? Because when you play an 8 against a 10, you stand to win this hand more times ... 38 times, in fact, out of 100 (still a bad hand but better than playing a 16 against a 10). And here’s the key, and what Patrick and others fail to understand: Playing two hands of 8 against a 10 will lose less money than playing one hand of 16 against a 10. Can I repeat that again ... it’s cheaper to play an 8 against a 10 twice than to play the pair of 8s against a 10 once!

Always

Wow, that was a bombshell I just dropped, and I’m sure you’re all saying, “Yeah, right Tamburin, now prove it!” So, let’s do it.

Let’s first look at hitting or standing on 16 against a 10. If you win 23 hands out of 100, this means you’ll lose 77 hands and have a net loss of 54 hands. So, if you were to bet $10 on each hand, you would wind up with a net loss of $540 after 100 hands. With me?

Now let’s look at the scenario of splitting the 8s and playing each 8 against a 10. Here you’ll win 38 hands and lose 62 hands resulting in a net loss of 24 hands. At $10 wagered per hand, your net loss is $240. Double that and your total loss is $480, which is $60 less than hitting or standing. Voilá, I told you so: playing an 8 against a 10 twice (which is what you do when you split 8s) is cheaper than playing a 16 against a 10 only once!

The fourth playing option that Patrick proposed is to surrender the hand. The arithmetic of surrender is pretty easy: you automatically lose half your bet on every hand. So, after 100 hands, your net loss if you surrendered the 8s all the time would be $500; therefore, Patrick’s option costs you $20 more than splitting.

So let’s summarize the losses after 100 hands for each playing option:

  1. If you hit, you’ll lose on average $540.
  2. If you stand, you’ll lose on average $540.
  3. If you surrender, you’ll lose exactly $500.
  4. If you split, you’ll lose on average only $480.

It’s clear that no matter what strategy you use, you are going to lose money when you hold 8s against a 10. But ... here’s the key ... you’ll save more money in the long run if you split.

I know that every once in a while you are going to lose both of your split hands and feel lousy about it (been there, done that). If it’s any consolation, keep this thought in mind when it occurs: You made the mathematically correct play holding a lousy hand, and in the long run, you’ll wind up with more money in your pocket compared to playing the hand any other way.

Do You Always Split 8

So now that you’ve read the math-based analysis on how to play a pair of 8s against a 10, are you still going to follow Patrick’s advice and surrender? Or have I convinced you to split? I’m waiting.

(Note: For the purists who are reading this, there are, in fact, a few rare games where surrendering 8s against a 10 is the mathematically correct play, and that’s in 2-, 4-, 6- and 8-deck games where the rules specify that the dealer must hit soft 17 and double-down after pair splitting is not allowed. But these are terrible games that you shouldn’t be playing in the first place. In all other games, splitting 8s against the 10 is the best strategy.)

Two aces and two eights in a standard deck of playing cards.

Splittingaces and eights is part of blackjackbasic strategy. Rules vary across gambling establishments regarding resplitting, doubling, multiple card draws, and the payout for blackjack, and there are conditional strategic responses that depend upon the number of decks used, the frequency of shuffling and dealer's cards. However, regardless of the various situations, the common strategic wisdom in the blackjack community is to 'Always split aces and eights' when dealt either pair as initial cards.[1] This is generally the first rule of any splitting strategy.[2]

Do You Always Split 8

Splitting[edit]

The object of blackjack is for a player to defeat the dealer by obtaining a total as close to 21 as possible without accumulating a total that exceeds this number.[3] In blackjack, the standard rule is that if the player is dealt a pair of identically ranked initial cards, known as a pair, the player is allowed to split them into separate hands and ask for a new second card for each while placing a full initial bet identical to the original wager with each. After placing the wager for the split hands the dealer gives the player an additional card for each split card. The two hands created by splitting are considered independently in competition against the dealer.[4][5] Splitting allows the gambler to turn a bad hand into one or two hands with a good possibility of winning. It also allows the player to double the bet when the dealer busts.[2] Some rules even allow for resplitting until the player has as many as four hands[4] or allow doubling the bet after a split so that each hand has a bet double the original.[6][7] The standard rules are that when a bet is doubled on a hand, the player is only allowed to draw one more card for that hand.[8][9]

Card

Aces[edit]

Why Should You Always Split 8's In Blackjack

A pair of aces gives the blackjack player a starting hand value of either a 2 or a soft 12 which is a problematic starting hand in either case.[2][10] Splitting aces gives a player two chances to hit 21.[11] Splitting aces is so favorable to the player that most gambling establishments have rules limiting the player's rights to do so.[2][10] In most casinos the player is only allowed to draw one card on each split ace.[8][10] As a general rule, a ten on a split ace (or vice versa) is not considered a natural blackjack and does not get any bonus.[6] Prohibiting resplitting and redoubling is also common.[2] Regardless of the payout for blackjack, the rules for resplitting, the rules for doubling, the rules for multiple card draws and the dealer's cards, one should always split aces.[10][12][13]

Eights[edit]

If a player is dealt a pair of eights, the total of 16 is considered a troublesome hand. In fact, the value 16 is said to be the worst hand one can have in blackjack.[10] Since sixteen of the other fifty cards have a value of 10 and four have a value of 11, there is a strong chance of getting at least an 18 with either or both split cards. A hand totaling 18 or 19 is much stronger than having a 16.[6] Splitting eights limits one's losses and improves one's hand.[10][11][12] Probabilistic research of expected value scenarios shows that by splitting eights one can convert a hand that presents an expected loss to two hands that may present an expected profit or a reduced loss, depending on what the dealer is showing.[14] A split pair of eights is expected to win against dealer upcards of 2 through 7 and to lose less against dealer upcards of 8 through ace.[15] If a player hits on a pair of eights, he is expected to lose $52 for a $100 bet. If the player splits the eights, he is expected to lose only $43 for a $100 bet.[16]

History[edit]

Do You Always Split 8's In Blackjack Games

Blackjack's 'Four Horsemen' (Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James McDermott), using adding machines, determined that splitting eights was less costly than playing the pair of eights as a 16.[17] They were part of a 1950s group that discovered that strategy could reduce the house edge to almost zero in blackjack.[18] Now a typical strategy involves the following sequence of playing decisions: one decides whether to surrender, whether to split, whether to double down, and whether to hit or stand.[19]

One of the earliest proponents of the strategy of splitting eights is Ed Thorp, who developed the strategy on an IBM 704 as part of an overall blackjack strategic theory published in Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One in 1962.[18][20][21] Thorp was the originator of the card counting system for blackjack.[18]

Notes[edit]

Do You Always Split 8's In Blackjack Card Game

  1. ^Gros, p. 60
  2. ^ abcdeOrtiz, p. 56
  3. ^Gros, p. 48
  4. ^ abGros, p. 51
  5. ^Jensen, pp. 22–23
  6. ^ abcSchneider, p. 47
  7. ^Gros, p. 52
  8. ^ abSchneider, p. 49
  9. ^Gros, p. 50
  10. ^ abcdefJensen, p. 53
  11. ^ abJensen, p. 56
  12. ^ abHagen and Wiess, pp. 68
  13. ^Schneider, p. 48
  14. ^Hagen and Wiess, pp. 66–67
  15. ^Scoblete, Frank. 'Why Splitting Eights At Blackjack Is An Iron Clad Rule'. Golden Touch Craps. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  16. ^Tamburin, Henry (25 October 1999). 'Splitting Aces and Eights'. Casino city Times. Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  17. ^Snyder, Arnold (2005). 'Blackjack Basic Strategy: Aces and Eights'. Player Magazine (republished).
  18. ^ abcGros, p. 44
  19. ^Jensen, p. 51
  20. ^Thorpe, Beat the Dealer as cited in Snyder, Arnold citation below
  21. ^Levinger, Jeff (10 February 1961). 'Thorpe, 704 Beat Blackjack'(PDF). The Tech. Retrieved 30 May 2009.

References[edit]

  • Dunki-Jacobs, Frits. Betting on Blackjack: A non-counter’s Breakthrough Guide to Making Profits at the Tables. Adams Media. pp. 28–34. ISBN1-58062-951-2.
  • Gros, Roger. The Winner's Guide To Casino Gambling. Carlton Books Limited. pp. 44–69. ISBN1-85868-899-X.
  • Hagen, Tom & Sonia Weiss (2005). The Everything Blackjack Strategy Book: Surefire ways to beat the house every time. Adams Media. pp. 66–68. ISBN1-59337-306-6.
  • Jensen, Marten (2003). Beat Multiple Deck Blackjack. Cardoza Publishing. pp. 22–23, 51–56. ISBN1-58042-069-9.
  • Ortiz, Darwin. Casino Gambling For The Clueless. Carol Publishing Group. pp. 55–59. ISBN0-8184-0609-7.
  • Schneider, Meg Elaine. The Everything Casino Gambling Book (2nd ed.). Adams Media. pp. 47–49. ISBN1-59337-125-X.
  • Thorp, Ed (1966). Beat the Dealer: A Winning Strategy for the Game of Twenty-One. Vintage. ISBN0-394-70310-3.

Do You Always Split 8's In Blackjack Game

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