 When you play Blackjack you have the ability to do something called splitting pairs. This is a choice, not something that you have to do when you play the game. Many players rely heavily on the ability to split pairs while others rarely, if ever do it. It’s totally up to you and something that you should learn about so you can call upon the tool if you need it.
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Splitting Pairs: What is it? |
Splitting pairs refers to when you are dealt a matching pair of cards. If you are dealt matching cards you are allowed to split the hand into two different hands and play them separate of one another. For an example we’ll take the worst hand that you can be dealt in the game of Blackjack, which is 16. If you are dealt two eights you have a total of 16 and this is a total that is hard to work with because it is not likely to win as is but if you hit you will likely end up busting. When you split the pair you have a much better chance of success. Here's the example of a simulated hand with the same cards dealt.
Dealer |
Player #1 |
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Player has a pair of eights. Option to Split |
If you are playing a face down or hand held game and you are dealt a pair of matching cards you simply need to place the cards face up in front of your bet just like you would when you are doubling down. At this point you will put a matching bet next to your original bet in the betting circle. When you do this the dealer will separate the two cards and deal a second card to the first hand. You will now play this hand to completion and after you have done so the dealer will deal a second card to the second hand.
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Player #1 HAND #1 |
Player #1 HAND #2 |
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| Player #1 has split his hand into two hands and doubled his bet.
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If you have already split pairs and you are deal pairs again in the process most casinos will allow you to split the pairs again, which will create another hand for you to play. Most casinos, both online and brick and mortar, will allow you to split pairs up to three times, which will effectively make four different hands with four different bets. You will need to refer to the rules of the casino that you play in to be certain of their specific splitting and re-splitting rules.
Dealer |
Player #1 HAND #1 |
Player #1 HAND #2 |
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Player #1 has split his hand into two hands and doubled his bet. First hand has another pair. Some casinos allow you to split up to 3 times.
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Splitting pairs may also occur when you have 10 value cards, as you could split a King and a Jack hand, though most people don’t consider this a good move.
Dealer |
Player #1 |
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Player has two value "10" cards and may split, but it is not usually considered a good play. |
Why not keep the 20? You can also choose to split Aces, and this is considered a very strong play. However, if you split aces and you then draw a 10 value card on one of the split aces you will not receive a Blackjack payout because it is not considered Blackjack, instead it is considered a normal 21. Most Blackjack experts advise that you should always split ace pairs, even if there are a lot of restrictions on it. If you haven’t done this yet, you should definitely stop and think about the possibilities of splitting aces, and splitting any pairs for that matter.
Dealer |
Player #1 |
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Player has pair of aces and has the option to split them. Considered a good play. |
Dealer |
Player #1 HAND #1 |
Player #1 HAND #2 |
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Player #1 has split his original two aces into two pairs. Great move because there's an increased chance of getting "21". Notice that the HAND#2 is not blackjack, but just "21".
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