Splitting aces and 8s

Always split aces and 8s. That is one of the golden rules for blackjack players but not according to a friend of mine. He insists that splitting 8s against a dealer upcard of 9, 10 or ace is crazy because you are probably going to lose anyway, so why double your loss by splitting?

Although my friend's logic appears to make sense, it is flawed. Here's why.

When you split in blackjack, you must bet more. That is a fact. The strategy of pair splitting, then, only makes sense if you end up either winning more or losing less in the long run versus standing or hitting.

Losing less is often a hard concept for blackjack players to grasp. For example, you can expect to be dealt a 12 through 17 hand about 43 percent of the time you play blackjack. No matter what strategy you follow, the dealer will, on average, win more hands than the player will (with only one exception -- a 17 versus a dealer's upcard of 6). Thus the best a player can do in a losing situation is to use a strategy that will allow him to lose less in the long haul.

This is in fact the situation with a pair of 8s against a dealer 9, 10 or ace. If you hit the 8s (or 16), you will lose on average about $52 for every $100 bet. That is quite a hefty loss. However, when you pair split, you break up your 16, double your bet, and play two hands of 8. A computer analysis of this situation shows you will lose about $43 per $100 bet when you split 8s. This is still a losing proposition from the player's perspective. But notice by splitting you've won just enough split hands to reduce your overall loss $9 per hundred dollars wagered. You've reduced your loss by pair splitting the 8s, which is why it's the better strategy than hitting or standing. To put it another way, playing two hands starting with an 8 on each is better than playing one hand starting with 16 when the dealer shows a 9, 10 or ace.

To be sure, sometimes when you split a pair of 8s against, say, a dealer 10, you will lose both split hands. You might even hear some comments from the dealer or fellow players about why you should have stood or hit. Forget about them. Just remember that in the long run, which means after you are dealt many pairs of 8s, you will wind up losing less than if you stood or hit. Follow the basic strategy and always split 8s no matter what the dealer shows.

Thankfully my friend always splits aces. You would think that every blackjack player would automatically split aces. But recently I observed a young player pass on splitting aces because "she was afraid to bet more on the hand." I even offered to make the bet for her at no risk (if the bet lost she owed me nothing). But it was like talking to a wall. She insisted on hitting the pair of aces and drew two 10s and broke. She was mumbling incoherently when she left the table knowing full well that if she had taken my offer she would have had two hands of 21 (by the way, I was card counting and the count was positive, indicating she had a good chance of drawing 10s to her aces.)

It use to be standard casino policy that when you split aces you would get one and only one draw card to each split ace. Sometimes the player would draw another ace and was stuck with a hand of 12. Nowadays many casinos allow players the opportunity to resplit aces. In the above example, the player could split his third ace and play three hands. Resplitting aces is a favorable player rule that adds about 0.06 percent in the player's favor. It doesn't look like much of an edge, but every bit helps so always resplit aces!

Follow the golden rule and always split 8s and aces no matter what the dealer upcard happens to be. Splitting aces will result in significant gains for the player. Splitting 8s for the most part is a defensive play that will cut down on your losses. But keep in mind you will lose your fair share of hands when you split 8s, but if you were to hit or stand, you would on average be losing more money. It's the smart play to make when you play blackjack.