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.
- In Blackjack What Is Considered A Soft 14
- What Is Considered A High Card In Blackjack
- What Is A Blackjack Dealer
A blackjack game in progress Card counting is a casino card game strategy used primarily in the blackjack family of casino games to determine whether the next hand is likely to give a probable advantage to the player or to the dealer. No question that 16 is a lousy blackjack hand. Unfortunately, it’s one of the most frequent hands you are going to be dealt in blackjack. But, by following the above playing strategy you will be optimizing your chances of winning more, and losing less, in the long run. It’s the smart way to play blackjack. In blackjack the dealer is dealt two cards. One of these is face up for the table to see. The other one is dealt face down and is referred to as a hole card. The hole card is the first one dealt. What Is Considered A Blackjack the most popular online casinos out there. Almost all gambling companies offer new customer a first casino deposit What Is Considered A Blackjack bonus. These bonuses are handed out to new customers making a first deposit in the casino section.
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.
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:
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.
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An Introduction to Hard and Soft Blackjack Hands
The game of blackjacks is finally about the different hands, and there are two basic types of hands – hard and soft hands. You may be asking yourself a number of questions, from the elementary (‘so what are blackjack hands?’, what are the hard and soft blackjack hands’?) to other questions (‘how do they differ from each other?’).
Often when you play blackjack, you will come across the usage of the term ‘hand’, and variations, such as ‘hard hand’ and ‘soft hand’. Before getting into what are hard and soft blackjack hands, you must understand that the key to both these types of hands is the ace.
Knowing about hard and soft hands is important because only then will you be able to formulate the proper strategy when you play your hand. This is apart from the fact that the concept of soft and hard hands also influences the dealer’s game, regarding when to hit or stand, for instance.
Hard and Soft Hands – What is a Soft Blackjack Hand?
In Blackjack What Is Considered A Soft 14
As mentioned earlier in this article, the key to both the hard and soft blackjack hands is the ace. So what is a soft blackjack hand? The soft blackjack hand is basically a hand that has an ace. In the soft blackjack hand, the ace has a value of 11. These are the two key elements in the soft blackjack hand – the presence of the ace and its attached value. There is one other thing about the soft hand that you will learn next.
What Is Considered A High Card In Blackjack
When you compare the hard and soft blackjack hands, the soft hand gives you an advantage in terms of card options. You can add a third card to a soft hand and still be confident of not going bust. Take a look at the following example to understand this better.
Suppose you have a soft hand comprising an ace, which counts as an 11, and a 6 (this hand is also called the ‘soft 17’). Normally, if you now drew a card that brought your total count higher than 21, say a 5, you would lose. However, in the case of the soft blackjack hand this is not the case. In such a scenario, the ace would now count as just 1 and you are safe!
Hard and Soft Hands – The Hard Blackjack Hand
A hard blackjack hand differs from a soft hand in two aspects primarily. First of all, a hard hand does not necessarily need to have an ace; it may have one, but it is okay even if it doesn’t have one. The second point of difference is in the value of the ace – the hard hand ace has a value of just 1, and that value is inflexible, unlike in the soft hand.
What Is A Blackjack Dealer
Basically, between the hard and soft blackjack hands, it is the flexibility of the soft hand that gives it an edge over the hard hand even when it comes to the strategy charts.