When to split in blackjack

When you play online Blackjack, the split option is the possibility to play two hands separately when you have a pair. Split each card and the dealer will add one card to each hand, giving you two hands.

Sounds fancy, but why and when should you split in blackjack?

Many blackjack players are looking forward to splitting their pairs, as it is a lot of fun to play two hands instead of one, and to get twice as much excitement.

Splitting is a good thing for players as this option reduces the house edge. Assuming it is done correctly, because if you split the wrong hands, this will cost you money over the long run. Remember you will bet twice as much compared to a regular hand, so split cautiously.

When to split pairs in blackjack

As always, it depends on which pair and what the dealer's up card is. And if you play basic strategy, you should memorize the various cases. After all, these computations were made a long time ago by statisticians, so all proper action are known. There is no upside in playing otherwise.

Even if you do not play perfectly, there are four cases that are very easy to remember. Always spits 8s and aces. Never splits 5s and 10s. As it has been shown that you do not benefit statistically for splitting (or not splitting) these pairs, no matter what the dealer's card is.

Intuitively we can think about it this way. 16 is the worse hand with only about 20% chance of winning, so if you get a chance of splitting with your pair of 8s, you should take it obviously. Similarly if you have a pair of aces, it is better to split as an ace is the strongest first card you can have.

On the other hand if you have two tens, 20 is such a strong hand you should not split. And for a pair of fives, it turns out it is much better to hit from a ten than to have a hand starting with a five, one of the worse possible first card.

Thinking about it this way, it is much easier to remember the above rules. For the other pairs, the decision to split or not will depend on the dealer's up card.

For example a pair of nine is a strong hand that you should split, except if the dealer has a ten or an ace. A pair of seven should be split if the dealer has seven or less. A pair of six should be split if the dealer has six or less.

A pair of fours should not normally be split. Both pairs of twos and three should be split only if the dealer has between seven and four.

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