Fools Gold

To Split or Not to Split – Is that really even a question?


While playing Blackjack or Spanish 21, I have often seen young, reckless players split a hand of 20. Though this often creates frustration for the table, I have routinely pondered if this move is worth it. Is it wise to break up the second best possible hand in hopes of obtaining two equally strong, if not stronger hands?

My answer…No!

Looking at an 8-shoot deck of regular Blackjack (no card counting implied), there are 128 cards with a face value of 10. Now let us imagine that the player is the only one playing, has a hand of 20, with the dealer having an up card anywhere from a 2-9. With this scenario, it mathematically does not make sense to split up the 20 as the player has only a 30% chance of getting 1 additional 10 and a 9% chance that they will get 2 additional 10s. Now imagine that a number of 10’s have already come out of the deck from previous hands, and chances for success drop even more!

So why do players split 20’s then? It’s called gambling folks!

Now, my argument against splitting 10s goes far beyond the poor mathematical probability is offers for success. The more glaring instance I have seen, in my abbreviated gambling career, is where one lucky, well not so lucky better, split his 10s, got two hands of 20, only to see the dealers 12 turn into a 21.

Therefore, my argument against not splitting 10s is to just play the game like it’s supposed to be played. Hit when you are supposed to hit and stand when you are supposed to stand. Remember, there are other people at the table too, who often have a lot more wagered then some hot shot who will split 10s. Gambling is more fun when you win, so play the game like it should be played and sit back and let the winnings pile up.