Why Should You Always Split 8's In Blackjack

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One of the best rules in blackjack is the 3 to 2 payout when you get an ace and a ten on your initial hand. This is called a “natural” or a “blackjack”. But you’ll find more casinos than everoffering games where the payout for this hand is only 6 to 5.

Here’s how that works:

Why Should You Always Split 8's In Blackjack Games

According to this basic strategy table, you should always split 8’s. The one exception is if dealer hits soft 17 and the casino offers surrender, in which case you surrender your 8’s against an ace. Why Basic Strategy Recommends Us to Split 8s It is important to warn you that no matter what you do with this pair, it gives you negative expectation over the course of time. This is a losing hand by default but splitting makes it better – it helps us lose less money in the long run, especially if we face a powerful dealer whose upcard is a 10. Why Splitting Tens is a Bad Move Posted July 10, 2013 by Ken Smith. Among my recent emails from players, I have several on the topic of splitting tens. One player mentioned that he seems to win more often than not when splitting tens against a dealer 5 or 6, so he was wondering if the play could be justified. Pairs of aces should be always split for a reason opposite to that for splitting 8/8. Aces are easily the most important cards in the whole game of blackjack. The player is better off starting two individual strong hands with aces (11) against any dealer upcard rather than holding onto a 12, albeit a soft one.

In a normal blackjack game, you bet $100. You get a natural. Your payout is $150.

In a 6/5 blackjack, you bet $100. You get a natural. Your payout is only $120.

Casinos offer other rule changes that favor the player in exchange for the reduced payout, but these rules are never good enough to account for that lower payoff on a natural.

Here are some examples of those favorable rules:

  • Single deck game
  • Dealer stands on soft 17
  • Player can double after splitting
  • Player can double on any 2 cards

These rule changes do have an effect on the house edge. A single deck game has a house edge 0.61% better than a single deck game. The dealer standing on soft 17 instead of hitting has a houseedge of 0.2% better. Being able to double after splitting is good for almost 0.15%. Being able to double on any two cards is worth about 0.2%, too.

In fact, if you combine all the rules variations I listed, you’ll get a net gain of 1.2%, which is significant.

Here’s the problem, though:

Why Should You Always Split 8

6/5 blackjack gives the house an extra 1.35% edge.

And most casinos don’t give you ALL the good rules. They just give you enough good rules to convince you to try their 6/5 game.

Don’t do it. Even if you’re an excellent card counter, overcoming that extra 1.35% is tough.

Want to know how much that would actually cost you?

Assume an average 3/2 blackjack game offers the house an edge 1%. The 6/5 version has a house edge of 2.35%, instead.

Assume 60 hands per hour at $10 per hand. That’s $600 in action per hour.

You’ll lose, on average, $6 per hour playing the standard game.

But if you play 6/5 instead, you’ll lose an average of $14.10 per hour.

Why Should You Always Split 8's In Blackjack Terms

Just say no to 6/5 blackjack. If enough players refuse to play, the casinos might stop offering it.