Splitting Eights in Blackjack
Written March 8, 2008 by Jack Jones
If you have ever taken a look at a basic strategy card, book on blackjack, or an experts column online then you will always see they recommend splitting eights against a dealer 10. However, many players realize that they are going to end up losing even with two different 8’s going against the dealer 10, so they depart from optimal play and just hit instead of splitting.
While this is a hand that hurts most players, you have to realize that the perfect strategy tries to minimize losses at times instead of just making sure you win each hand. Blackjack is a game where the proper hit, stand, splitting and doubling decisions are necessary in order to cut the house edge down to a minimum. These proper decisions are called basic strategy and have been arrived at by computer simulations of millions of hands.
But fallacious logic tells you that splitting this hand creates two losers. Seems every time you split those eights you get, at best, two 10s. Then the dealer always has a nine or 10 in the hole, and bang, the jingling you hear is all your money falling into the dealer’s tray.
So what happens to the average player? He starts deviating from basic strategy because FEAR sets in. The FEAR is actually False Evidence Appearing Real. FEAR camouflages the logic of computer studies. But according to basic strategy, the proper move is to split 8s if the game you’re playing doesn’t allow surrender. Why? Because you will lose more money in the long run if you hit instead of splitting. Mathematically, when you just hit the hand, you will lose $51 for every $100 wagered. However, if you split, you will lose $44 for every $100 bet. A seven dollar difference for every hundred dollars wagered.
The key behind basic strategy is: Win more money not necessarily more hands.