There's a general rule of thumb when you want to split 10s in blackjack games. This is what I recommend:
* Blackjack card counters often split 10s when ten-rich decks are in play.
* If you're a mediocre blackjack player, never split 10s – stick on a hand total of 20.
* Intelligent blackjack tournament players may split 10s when they're betting heavily, particularly on the last hand.
Let's lay it out there for the card players; there are predominantly two types of blackjack players who split 10s. These include casual players with no clue about the best blackjack playing strategies. The other type is the professional card player, a blackjack enthusiast. These players know the game inside and out. Today, we will consider the merits of splitting tens for casual players and professionals.
WHAT ARE 10-VALUE CARDS?
In games of Blackjack, there are many options for 10-value cards. These include Tens, Jacks, Queens, and Kings. Many players don't know that a pair of 10-value cards includes many options besides 10-10. Any two 10-value cards will suffice, notably:
* 10 +10
* 10 + Jack
* 10 + Queen
* 10 + King
* Jack + King
* Jack + Queen
* Queen + King
HOW TO PLAY A PAIR OF 10-VALUE CARDS?
Despite many different combinations of 10-value cards, there are only two ways to play these hands:
* Stand pat
* Split the pair
If you decide to stand with a pair of tens, your hand total is 20. If you split, you effectively play two blackjack hands with a starting value of 10. You can continue hitting until you reach your desired hand total (ideally 21) or until you bust. Additional bets are required for split hands.
WHEN TO RE-SPLIT 10-VALUE CARDS
Some bricks-and-mortar and online casinos have rules allowing players to re-split as many as three or four hands. For example, if you are dealt a pair of 10s upfront, you can split them. If re-splitting is allowed, you can split another pair of 10-value cards from the cards dealt and create new hands (three or four) with a starting value of 10.
When you play blackjack against the dealer, most casual players split tens when the dealer's upcard is weak, such as 5 or 6. However, in my career, I have witnessed loads of players splitting tens irrespective of the dealer's upcard.
Players follow a certain logic when splitting tens against the dealer's 5 or 6. It goes as follows: If the dealer has a weak upcard, I have a pretty good chance of creating two great hands, starting with a 10-value card in each hand. So, why not split the hand and potentially double the payout?
If only it were that simple. Take a look at these numbers.
There's a concept in Blackjack known as the expected value. This details the average quantity you want to win per hand when you stand on a pair of tens compared to what you can win when you split 10-value cards versus the dealer's five upcard.
My analysis is predicated on a standard six-deck blackjack game, with the dealer standing on a soft 17.
* There is an 83% win rate when you stand on a pair of tens. There is a 17% loss rate when you stand on a pair of tens. It makes sense because it's difficult for the dealer to beat a hand value of 20.
* If you split a pair of 10-value cards once, there is a 63% chance of winning. That means there is a 37% chance of losing on each hand. That's a substantial decline in the number of hands won by players simply by splitting a pair of 10-value cards. Splitting often results in a total hand value of less than 20.
Assume that you are betting C$10 upfront. After 100 hands played, this is what you can expect on average:
STANDING
WIN: 0.83 multiplied by C$10 multiplied by 100 hands = C$830
LOSE: 0.17 multiplied by C$10 multiplied by 100 hands = C$170
NET PROFIT: C$660 (difference between winnings and losses)
SPLITTING
WIN: 0.63 multiplied by C$10 multiplied by 100 hands = C$630
LOSE: 0.37 multiplied by C$10 multiplied by 100 hands = C$370
NET PROFIT: C$260 per hand (difference between winnings and losses)
When you split a pair of tens, you are playing two hands of Blackjack. That's why your overall profit doubles from C$260 per hand to C$520 for both hands.
TAKEAWAY
The analysis, as mentioned above, indicates that standing on a pair of tens versus splitting a pair of tens against a dealer's five upcard should result in C$140 more winnings when standing versus splitting.
Be advised: We can use the same analysis for any value dealer upcard, number of decks in play, and combination of playing rules. The result always ends up being the same. If you are a basic strategy player without any card counting skills, it's always a better idea to stand pat on a pair of tens. Splitting is not the right decision. Be advised that splitting tens reflects poor form in Blackjack; by deduction, re-splitting tens is an even worse strategy.
SO, WHEN DO YOU SPLIT 10s?
There are two cases where splitting tens is a good idea. First, in cases where an abundance of 10-value unplayed cards exists, it makes sense to split a pair of tens and then play split hands valued at 20. This presents the opportunity to have two hands of 20.
However, casual blackjack players are unlikely to know how many 10-value cards remain in the deck. Card counting is an important skill when playing Blackjack and splitting tens. As a card counter, you are probably better off splitting when the count is +5 or more when using the hi-lo card counting system. That's when you split a pair of tens when the dealer is showing a five upcard.
Despite that, pair splitting tens at land-based casinos tends to attract too much suspicion from the blackjack dealer and management. If you do this, be advised that you might be considered a card counter. During any single play session, it is foolhardy to split tens consistently. Do this sparingly.
There is another instance where splitting tens should be considered. When you are playing tournament blackjack, particularly the last hand, your goal is to finish with more chips than the other players; after a certain number of hands, the blackjack player with the biggest chip stack tends to walk away a winner. You may not do this by simply betting all the chips available to you (bet limits & strong opposition) – you may have to split a pair of tens so that you can place additional bets and win double in a single-play session.
My tournament example highlights splitting tens to win big.
Going into the last hand, the tournament leader had $2000 more than I did. He was the first to bet with a $5000 maximum. Likewise, I matched his $5000 bet. At this juncture, I knew that he would still win if he won, and I won my hand. He was ahead of me by $2000. My only hope was to bet more by pair splitting or to simply double down. Remember, I had $5000 worth of unbet chips for pair splitting purposes. The blackjack tournament leader had a hand value of 18. He stood.
Luckily for me, a pair of queens came up. Naturally, I split them. Then I posted another $5000 bet. Guess what? I drew two Royals – picture cards – and then stood pat with my 20s. Naturally, the overzealous dealer busted, and I won the round. I advanced through the tournament because I scooped up $10,000 on the last hand, but my opponent only won $5000. I was up $3000 – ($5000 minus his $2000) in the final chip count.
As you can tell from the above example, splitting tens in a tournament-style situation can be profitable. This is true when you need to play more money to win more money to edge out the opposition. Remember, you need to know how to budget accordingly. Splitting pairs requires equal-value bets for every split hand. You won't be able to pair split if you don't have the money to make the bets needed. With doubling down, it's a different story since that's just one bet for one more card.
Further information about blackjack playing strategies, including betting strategies for tournaments for online and land-based casinos, is available in Chapter 10 and Chapter 15 in the Ultimate Blackjack Strategy Guide.