Posts Tagged ‘Pair Splitting Strategy’
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010
Yesterday I discussed splitting a pair of 9s and how your blackjack strategy should go. Despite the hand total on a pair of 9s being 18, this is still a pair that you will want to split. When faced with a dealer’s up card of 2 through 6 or an 8 was covered yesterday. In those cases you split because the dealer can beat your 18 with three of the five hand totals he could hit to.
See that last line? The reason behind why you are splitting a pair of 9s against those dealer up cards? That is one of the points behind blackjack strategy. It is all well and fine to memorize and then automatically turn out the best play. But understanding why you are making that play is key to mastering your blackjack strategy, and allowing for further blackjack strategy finesses, such as card counting.
Now when you are facing a dealer’s up card of 9 I could simply tell you that you split your pair of 9s there too and be done with it. But since you are interested in mastering your blackjack strategy I am going to tell you why you are splitting those 9s.
Yes, you split a pair of 9s against a dealer’s 9 to improve your standing in that round, but it is just a little harder since the dealer has a 9 too. And there are a few cards that can help you, depending on house rules of course.
If you are dealt a 10 or Ace on one of your split 9s you just bettered your original hand to have a 19 or 20. So you can increase your chances of winning there. And you have a five out of thirteen shot of being dealt one of those cards.
You also have a one in thirteen chance of being dealt a 2, which would give you a hand total of 11. And you of course know that with an 11 your next move in blackjack strategy is to double down.
Finally if you are dealt another 9 you can split again if the house rules allow you to do so. And if they do not you are no worse off than you were when you started. So being dealt a 9 is another one out of thirteen.
So off all the cards that improve your hand or cause your hand total to break even there are seven out of thirteen chances. That leaves six cards that could potentially worsen your hand. But notice that by splitting you have a slight edge in doing so: seven cards can improve your hand while 6 will worsen it.
Now you can see why you need to split a pair of 9s when facing down a dealer’s 9—you have a slight edge in improving your hand. And either improving your hand or minimalizing your losses is desired end result of blackjack strategy.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Rules, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Card counting, Double Down, Game of Skill, House Rules, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Monday, August 9th, 2010
This morning I began talking about blackjack strategy for when you are dealt a pair of 9s. As you might recall I left off by saying that when holding a pair of 9s when the dealer is showing a 2 through 6 or an 8, the best play to make is to split.
While an 18 is a strong there are three hands that the dealer can hit to with one of those up cards and still beat the player. Three out of the five possible hands I should say. And the last time I checked, that was more than 50%, which puts the player at the disadvantage. So that leaves splitting those 9s.
If you are playing in a game of blackjack that allows for doubling after splitting then you gain a little on your blackjack odds: a 0.15% to your odds in fact. And here is why:
Once you split you have two hands that are starting at 9, which is a nice strong card to start with. Let’s say that your next card is a 2, which gives you an 11. You can double down on that 11 and further increase your chances of turning a profit.
Or if you are playing in a game that allows for resplitting and are dealt another 9 you can split again. Sure you have three hands open at that point, but they all have strong starting points. And resplitting adds another 0.08% to your blackjack odds.
What else can you do with that 9? Well, if you are dealt an Ace, it gives you a hand total of 20. And that is a good hand to stand on. A 10 or a face card will also put you in a nice spot with a hard 19.
Now I have not talked about blackjack strategy when you are holding a pair of 9s and the dealer is also holding a 9. The reasoning there for your blackjack strategy is a little bit different. Whereas splitting against a dealer’s 2 through 6 or an 8 works to help improve your chances of a net gain, splitting against a dealer’s 9 is meant more to reduce your net losses. But I will talk more about that one tomorrow morning.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack betting strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Rules, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Double Down, House Rules, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Monday, August 9th, 2010
Every now and then we are dealt what can seem like a strong hand, but in reality it is deceptively strong. I say deceptively strong because while in ordinary blackjack strategy, meaning ordinary hard hands, their hand totals would be fine. But what if they are not ordinary hard hands?
Okay, enough with the mystique. I am talking about those rascally hands that either have Aces or are made up of a pair. In particular I am talking about a certain pair: a pair of 9s.
I know when I have discussed pair splitting blackjack strategy that I have said to pay attention to what the hand total is and to not only focus on the joyous fact that you are holding a pair. In the case of a pair of 9s the hand total is 18. If you were playing this hand out like you would an ordinary hard hand you know that you would stand on an 18. But this is not an ordinary hard 18.
This is a pair of 9s, and because it is not ordinary you want to play it out in the most advantageous way. This means that if the dealer has a 2 through 6 or an 8 that you want to split that pair of 9s.
Let’s compare shall we?
If you were to stand on a pair of 9s against those dealer up cards you would yield a profit over a large number of rounds. In other words you would need to play a lot of rounds and be dealt a lot of pairs of 9s in order to make that 18 profit. This is because of there are only five totals the dealer can hit to that would not bust him, and three of those five beat your 18. The odds on standing on a pair of 9s against a 2 through 6 or an 8 are not with you.
So what strategy options do you have left? You can hit, which is very not smart in terms of blackjack strategy, or you can split. And splitting is the way to go.
Check back this afternoon for the whys in splitting a pair of 9s. After all, your blackjack strategy is not just about knowing what play to make, but about knowing why you are making it.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Rules, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy, play Blackjack
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
We began discussing this morning the pairs that the smart blackjack player will always split, starting with Aces. But there is one more pair that it is in a player’s blackjack strategy to always split: a pair of 8s.
Thankfully a pair of 8s does not require a lot of description. It is two cards with an 8 on each card. There. That is a pair of 8s.
I have noticed that blackjack players who are novices tend to swing from one side to the far other side. In terms of pair splitting strategy this means that they will start out by splitting every pair because it is a pair and it can be split.
So when they learn that pairs of 5s and 10s should never, ever be split they take that to heart and apply it to all pairs, becoming unwilling to split a thing.
Thankfully they will soon learn that Aces and 8s are two pairs that need to be split.
So on to a pair of 8s. First, do the math. Adding up 8 and 8 gives you a hard 16, which is the worst stiff hand that you could be dealt in the whole game. It is too high to hit effectively—although I know you are playing by basic strategy and hitting it against a dealer’s 7 through Ace. But it is always just a little too low when standing.
It is an underdog hand that just never seems to come out on top as often as you want it to. Your only real hope of winning with a hard 16 is that the dealer will bust. And onlinecasinosuite is agreeable with this.
So let me ask you this: knowing how awful a hard 16 is to play with and that you have better chances of losing with it, why would you not split a pair of 8s as a pair of 8s unsplit is a hard 16.
While starting a hand with an 8 is not the strongest ground you can stand on, you stand a better fighting chance with an 8 than you do with a hard 16.
So work it into your blackjack strategy that while not splitting is good, some splitting is necessary. And splitting a pair of 8s should definitely be in your blackjack strategy as a pair to split.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Wednesday, July 28th, 2010
Yesterday I talked about blackjack strategy in regards to pair that you do not split when you are dealt them. And it does not matter whether you are playing online blackjack or blackjack in a brick and mortar casino, you still do not split those two pairs.
So today I thought we would talk about pairs that you always, always, always split. First up is a pair of Aces.
Logically you have to split a pair of Aces. Do the math and it just seems smart to do so. An Ace is worth 11 or 1, with 11 being the first value given; if that 11 does not work in the hand it is then reduced to 1. So a pair of Aces first adds up to 22, which is a bust. So naturally one of the Aces is reduced to 1, giving the player a hand total of 12. Nasty hard 12.
You can see why any smart blackjack player would split that pair of Aces.
Once split you have two hands that are starting at 11. Not only that you have half of what you need to make 21. If you are playing blackjack in a brick and mortar casino and also happen to be a card counter, and the deck is running with high cards, that would be a good time to split those Aces since your chances of being dealt the cards for a hard 19, 20 or 21 are increased.
Even if you are not a card counter or are even playing blackjack online, it is good blackjack strategy to split a pair of Aces. Doing so takes your hand from a weak position to a stronger one.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Card counting, Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
This morning I talked about a pair that, according to good blackjack strategy is never ever split: a pair of 5s. But there is one more pair that is never eve split either: a pair of 10s.
A pair of 10s could be literally two 10 cards. Or it could be two face cards, not necessarily the same two face cards, meaning a pair could be a Queen and a Jack. Or a pair of 10s could be a 10 card and a face card. The whole point to the pair is that the two cards have the same value.
There are two mistakes that happen when a blackjack player uses some misguided blackjack strategy and splits a pair of 10s. Either he is ill-informed or he is just all caught up in being dealt a pair and cannot resist splitting it.
Mistake number one is that the split is made with the idea that the player can then double down on each of those 10s. First off, not all blackjack games allow for doubling after splitting. This rule is typically found at blackjack tables in casinos and not found at all in online blackjack.
The problem with this strategy, aside from the instances in which doubling after splitting is not allowed, is that the player is giving up a strong hand for something weaker. True, starting a hand with 10 is not too bad of a building block. But it is weaker when compared to an unsplit pair of 10s.
The other mistake that the player forgets about doubling after splitting, and is intent on trying to build two strong hands. But, again, the player is giving up strong blackjack ground for weaker ground.
The reason why you do not split a pair of 10s is right in front of the player’s face: 10 plus 10 equals 20. And in blackjack the only hands that the dealer could beat you with is if he winds up with a natural blackjack or hits to 21.
A hard 20 is one of the strongest hands in blackjack. It is good blackjack strategy to hang on to that hard 20 and stand. It is simply wasteful to throw away that strength just for the sake of splitting a pair.
Tags: Blackjack, Blackjack Payout, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Double Down, Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Tuesday, July 27th, 2010
Like any game of skill, blackjack requires strategy. Any good game of skill worth the trip to an online gambling site requires good strategy. The most commonly used strategy tool in both online blackjack and blackjack played in a brick and mortar casino is basic strategy.
Basic strategy comes in the form of a chart with player hands running down the left hand side and all of the dealer up cards running across the top. When using basic strategy you find your hand and run it across the line until it intersects with the line of the card the dealer is showing. The play at the intersection is the best statistical play for you to make.
But if you look at a basic strategy chart you notice that it is somewhat divided into three sections based on the player’s hand. These sections would be the hard hands, the soft hands and the pairs. This is because each of these types of hands are played differently. Soft hands are played differently because of the Aces in them, and pairs are, well, pairs.
We are going to look specifically at one pair today: the pair of 5s.
One of the most common pair playing mistakes made is splitting a pair simply because it is a pair. It is the thing to do with a pair, right?
Not exactly. In some cases splitting is the right thing to do. But not always. In the case of a pair of 5s in a game of blackjack you do not split them. With all but two dealer up cards you double down. The only time you do not double down is when you are facing a dealer’s 10 or Ace.
So why the double down? Adding 5 and 5 together gives you 10. And if you compare the hard 10 line of a basic strategy chart to the pair of 5s line you will see that they are identical.
Do you know what happens when you double down? You are taking 1.6% off of the dealer’s edge. Simply because you have the upper hand and stand to make quite a tidy sum off of him if you win with a double down. And starting with a 10, be it a hard 10 or a pair of 5s, is a good place to start when doubling down in blackjack. Ten is halfway to 21.
It is important to not only follow your strategy when playing blackjack, it is important to understand why you are making the plays you are making. Such is the case with the strategy behind not splitting a pair of 5s.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Payout, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Double Down, Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Wednesday, June 23rd, 2010
When it comes to blackjack strategy it is important to understand that not all of your strategy should be focused on offensive playing. Meaning, it should not all focus on making money for you. Not every part of blackjack is in good order for you to win. If blackjack was a game that let you win all the time then online casinos and brick and mortar casinos would not offer it.
Anyway. Defensive blackjack strategy.
Regardless of whether you are playing online blackjack or blackjack in a brick and mortar casino you must understand that there will be times when you are dealt a losing hand. It sucks. But it happens. And it is not the time to try to make money. So you play some defensive blackjack and try to minimalize your losses.
Being dealt a pair of 8’s is one of these hands that need defensive playing.
Looking at basic strategy and it shows you to split your pair of 8’s no matter what the dealer’s up card is. For the majority of up cards this makes sense. But some players wonder why they should split against a high card like a 10—to them it seems like they are only setting themselves up to lose more money.
But this is not the case. Because this is a losing hand—hey, face it, sometimes they happen—you need to look at what your percentage of losing is and how much you stand to lose.
If you do not split your pair of 8’s you can wither hit or stand. If you hit you have a 62% chance of losing; and if you stand you have a 77% chance of losing. So you split because starting a hand with 8 is somewhat better than starting with a 16 against a 10.
Now let’s look at this in terms of money. You know now that you will lose 62% of the time if you hit and 77% of the time when you stand on a pair of 8’s against a dealer’s 10. Because standing has a greater chance of losing we are not going to look at money, just know that it will be worse than the money lost on hitting.
Hitting would result in an expected loss of $54 per $100 wagered, whereas splitting results in an expected loss of $49 per $100. I know, it is not much of a difference, but every little bit helps in blackjack.
Remember that there are reasons behind the plays in basic strategy. They are the best statistical plays both in terms of offense and defense for blackjack. Even while losing hands do not give you the best chances of winning, you need to play for the best odds. If splitting 8’s is the best odds and has the smallest expected loss that is the way to play.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Tuesday, June 8th, 2010
Yesterday I wrote a post about the types of pair splitting there is in blackjack. Pair splitting happens no matter if you are playing blackjack online or in a casino. In order to make the most of pair splitting in terms of strategy and improving your blackjack odds, you need to know when to split pairs.
Basic strategy is the first place to start. A basic strategy chart can be used in blackjack as the most basic way to gain an advantage through splitting pairs. But eventually, once you have mastered basic strategy, you can begin to work in other little bits of strategy. These other little bits offer you the chance to tweak your strategy to increase your blackjack odds a little more.
In yesterday’s post I talked about offensive, aggressive and defensive pair splitting. Okay, I mentioned reckless pair splitting, but that is not to be done.
Offensive pair splitting is when you take a not so great hand and turn it around to make it advantageous. Aggressive is when you take a good hand and push the envelope of your odds to increase them even more. And defensive pair splitting in blackjack is when you try to minimize your losses as best you can.
The choice to play with just basic strategy or to tweak your strategy to try to increase your blackjack odds a little more is up to you. If you really feel that you cannot make the tweaked pair splitting, then resort to whatever play your basic strategy chart says.
That being said here is each pair with when to make offensive, aggressive or defensive pair splits. Notice that not every single pair against every single up card is here. That is because not every single pair splitting decision should come from this. If it is not listed here, play according to basic strategy.
4/4 vs. 5 or 6: aggressive
6/6 vs. 2-4: defensive
6/6 vs. 5 or 6: offensive
7/7 vs. 2, 3 or 7: defensive
7/7 vs. 4- 6: offensive
8/8 vs. 2-7: offensive
8/8 vs. 8-Ace: defensive
9/9 vs. 2-6 and 8: aggressive
9/9 vs. 9: defensive
Ace/Ace vs. 2-8: aggressive
Ace/Ace vs. 9-Ace: offensive
Give yourself some time to practice these. Try playing blacking online in an online casino’s free-play mode. The more you practice your blackjack pair splitting in a free-play mode the more comfortable you will be when playing a real game of blackjack online or in a casino.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack player, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Game of Skill, How to play Blackjack, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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Monday, June 7th, 2010
Knowing when to split pairs is according to basic strategy is one thing. Knowing the difference between types of pair splits in blackjack is another. Sometimes you have to deviate from what basic strategy tells you to do. It all has to do with the type of pair splitting that is necessary.
Pair splitting happens no matter if you are playing regular blackjack or online blackjack. So you will have to eventually decide how to split a pair whether you are at a blackjack table or playing blackjack online.
There are four types of pair splitting in blackjack: Offensive, Aggressive, Defensive and Reckless.
I am going to show you how these types play into improving your blackjack odds. All of the money figures are based on a $10 wager
In the case of Offensive pair splitting you are starting with an average or potentially losing hand and improving your odds. An example of this would be if you were dealt a pair of 7s and the dealer is showing a 5. If you were to stand you could expect an average of a $3.30 loss. But if you split you have a net average of about $1.20. This taking a loss and turning it around, making it an offensive pair splitting.
With an aggressive split you are taking a good hand and pushing the limits on it. For this example we are going to say that you have been dealt a pair that you would probably normally stand on: a pair of 9s and the dealer has a 6 showing. You could expect a $2.80 profit on standing, but by splitting you could expect $4.40 in profit. That is taking a strong hand and pushing it for something more.
Defensive pair splitting is when you have a pair that you know you are probably going to lose with no matter what, and your play is to try to minimize the loss. Let’s say you have a pair of 3s against a 7, and you decide to hit; your expected loss would be $1.50. But if you were to split your expected loss would only be $0.70.
As for Reckless pair splits, those are pair splits done without any real reasoning behind them. They are made just for the sake of splitting. Do not do them.
Tomorrow I will cover which type of pair splitting strategy to use for each pair in blackjack. I do recommend practicing with pair splitting strategies. This does take some time, but the best place to practice is with some online blackjack in a free-play mode.
Tags: Basic Strategy, Blackjack, Blackjack basic strategy, Blackjack Odds, Blackjack Payout, Blackjack strategy, Blackjack Tips., Game of Skill, Online Blackjack, Pair Splitting, Pair Splitting Strategy
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