In blackjack game, when you get a pair, you have an option to choose to split the cards. Although players normally will split a blackjack pair to double their winnings or at least break even. But, in the worst case, the players will lose twice as much as their original wager if they don’t know what they are doing. Therefore, you should always learn how to play the blackjack pairs correctly to add your advantage in the game.

The strategy we will discuss below works for most blackjack table. You can also learn these strategies on an actual basis by playing on trusted casino sites like poker88. However, before you apply this strategy, make sure you check the game rules before you sit down and play on a blackjack table. Most of blackjack tables at casino do have decks numbering from four to eight, which doubling after a split should be allowed.

This blackjack strategy works like this:

When you get a blackjack pair, you have an option to split your cards. Your decision whether to split the pair in your hand will depend on the face-up card at the dealer’s side of the table, you always assume dealer’s face-down card is a TEN. Unless you are doing card counting, you don’t have to mind what cards have been dealt to other players. Just focus on what the face up card at the dealer when you get a pair and deciding whether to split or not.

In order to make this strategy simple, remember these 3 rules:

1. Always split for blackjack pairs when you get a pair of Aces and a pair of eights.
2. Never split if you get a pair of tens, which means you only stand when you get a pair of tens
3. For the rest of blackjack pairs, always split them except under certain conditions with a few exception (we will discuss in the next paragraph).

Blackjack Pairs Other Then Aces, Eights And Tens

The rule no. 1 and 2 is straight forward as rule no. 1 requires you to always split if you get a pair of Aces or Eights, while rule no. 2 requires you to NEVER split when you get a pair of tens. For rule no. 3, the decision to whether split or not will depend on the face-up card at the dealer side.

Here are the conditions to always split:

1. Pair of twos or threes: split your cards if the dealer’s face-up card is on a two to seven
2. Pair of fours: split the pair if the dealer’s face-up card on a four to five.
3. Pair of Sixes: if dealer’s face-up card is on two to six, split your card if you get a pair of sixes.
4. Pair of Sevens: split the pair at your hand if you see dealer’s is on two to seven face-up card.

Here are the conditions to split with exceptions:

1. Pair of nines: you should choose to stand if the dealer has seven, ten or ace on his face-up card. But, split the pair of nines if dealer’s face-up card is on a two to six and eight to nine.
2. Pair of fives: you should always double on a two to nine of dealer’s face-up card, and hit if it is any other card.

Summary

In order to correctly play the blackjack pairs, you need to learn the basic strategy to split the pairs with the best advantage at your side. Using the strategy above allows you make the optimal decision to split the blackjack pairs or keep them in pair to increase your advantage.