If you have mastered Basic Blackjack strategy then it is pretty clear that you should never split two 10's regardless of the dealer up card. But is that really true? What if the dealer is showing a 6 against you two fantastic looking 10's. You must have a large advantage and so maybe it's a good time to push it and win two bets? Is this the Casino just trying to stop you for doing it and losing the edge?
Even though it is called basic strategy we can see by going through a simple scenario that the strategy has been tested and simulated to achieve the best results and reduce the house edge to the minimum. So when it declares to not split 10's there is a good reason.
If we take the best scenario when you are holding 10's and the dealer is showing an up card of 6. If you run that scenario through a hand simulator 500 times with a bet of $5 you will find that you are betting a total of $2500. If you do not split the 10's then your expected profit is $1750.
If you split the 10's for the same 500 hands then you are now betting a total of $5000, so you are adding more risk exposure but the expected profit actually drops! You can expect a profit of around $1050. This is based on the basic fact that your second card will not always been the strong one you are hoping for and the times the dealer does not bust out.
As the dealers up card gets stronger things get much worse. For example if the dealer has a 9 or higher you will actually expect a loss from splitting the 10's. This means that to minimize the house edge to as small as possible you should never split the tens.
As with any rule there is always an exception. This comes into play when you are not playing basic strategy and when you can bring in other data points into the decision. This includes such items as what cards have already been played in the deck and so what cards are left to be dealt.
Even though it is called basic strategy we can see by going through a simple scenario that the strategy has been tested and simulated to achieve the best results and reduce the house edge to the minimum. So when it declares to not split 10's there is a good reason.
If we take the best scenario when you are holding 10's and the dealer is showing an up card of 6. If you run that scenario through a hand simulator 500 times with a bet of $5 you will find that you are betting a total of $2500. If you do not split the 10's then your expected profit is $1750.
If you split the 10's for the same 500 hands then you are now betting a total of $5000, so you are adding more risk exposure but the expected profit actually drops! You can expect a profit of around $1050. This is based on the basic fact that your second card will not always been the strong one you are hoping for and the times the dealer does not bust out.
As the dealers up card gets stronger things get much worse. For example if the dealer has a 9 or higher you will actually expect a loss from splitting the 10's. This means that to minimize the house edge to as small as possible you should never split the tens.
As with any rule there is always an exception. This comes into play when you are not playing basic strategy and when you can bring in other data points into the decision. This includes such items as what cards have already been played in the deck and so what cards are left to be dealt.
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