Meanwhile, splitting your 8s yields a positive expected value for basic strategists against lower dealer upcards deuce through 7.Īs for splitting the 8s versus higher upcards 8 through ace, the expectation is negative but it is still better than that for hitting as some gambling authors would suggest. All playing decisions (hitting, standing, doubling), bar splitting, result in negative expectation for the recreational blackjack player.

The odds in such cases are not favourable for the players as they have more than 50% chance of surpassing 21.

Any card above 5 will cause them to lose the hand if they decide to risk by hitting. This places them in a very unfavourable position as they can easily go bust. In most cases, this is players’ best move as having a total of hard 16 is a breaking hand. Basic strategy suggests to always split a pair of 8s regardless of the dealer’s upcard.