Dear
Mark,
It seems the consistent recommendation in blackjack
is to always split
8s. But if the dealer is showing a strong card, does
it make sense to
put more money on the table with the dealer in a strong
position? Bill
S.
I
am sure, Bill, that most readers will warm to your
point; it has a
certain healthy smell of horse sense about it, but
not quite enough.
Watch closely. With two 8s against a dealer 10 card,
the good common sense your momma raised you with tells
you that splitting this hand just creates two losers.
It probably seems that every time you've split 8s
it in the past, sure, you might occasionally get two
10s, but then the damn dealer flips over his card
and it's always a 10 card in the hole.
But
actually, what you're really doing when you split
8s is
breaking up a 16, the worst possible hand you
can have in blackjack.
Here's
the arithmetic, Bill, based on a kazillion computer
simulations
of 8s against a dealer's10. If you split 8s, you
will lose $44 for
every $100 wagered. If you were to just hit the
hand, you would lose
$51 for every $100 bet. You may not necessarily
always put extra jingle
in your pocket by splitting 8s, but you will lose
less money over the
long run if you split 'em.
Good
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