Splitting 3's in Blackjack - Splitting Threes |
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| How to Play Blackjack |
When to Split Your Three's
It seems every Blackjack player has an opinion of when to split your threes. Some players will base their theory on math, some on “gut feelings” and some flip a coin or chose some other form of random variables to decide their hand. According to basic strategy, which is calculated by a computer, using the odds to generate the system, there are good times and bad times to split. In the examples I provide in this article, the house stays on all seventeens. If you are dealt a pair of threes and the dealer is showing an up card of a two, three, four, five, six or even a seven, you should split your threes. Just because basic strategy says it is a good move, though based on odds, it is not always going to work out the way you hope. Even if it works out more times than it doesn't, you could still lose on your big bet hands and win more often on your small bet hands. When you split your threes, you are going to place a second wager that is equal to the original bet, the dealer will split those threes and give you a card on your first three. Hopefully it would be a seven or eight, which would make for a great double down, if the house you are playing in allows for doubling down after splitting. An ideal outcome would be if you got an other three, spit again, and keep getting threes to split, until you hit the maximum amount of times you can split, get double downs on all of them, and watch the dealer break. Basic strategy also dictates that you should not split your pair of threes against a dealer up card of an eight, nine, ten valued card or ace, against those up cards, you would want to hit, not split. Also, if you are at a table where doubling down after splitting is not allowed, you should not split your threes against a dealer's up card of a two or three, again, you should just hit in those instances. Basic strategy is just that, basic. Just because you follow basic strategy to the letter and do what it tells you, every time, does not mean you will win every time, just means that hopefully it will work out for you, more often than not. When you start to fluctuate your bet, “more often than not” turns less relevant and “when it works out” becomes more of the focus. I always recommend that you should play the same every time, regardless of how much you placed for a bet. One of the worst feelings in the world is putting a big bet out there, getting a great pair of threes against the dealer's break card, not having the money or the guts to split the pair, watching all of the beautiful sevens, eights, ten valued cards and aces come out and then watching the dealer make a multi-card twenty one, whipping out the whole table and your fellow blackjack players are blaming you for not doing your part and following basic strategy. Consistency is the best way to avoid the ever so painful “Doh!” moments. It is also good to keep in mind, no matter how you decide to play your pair of threes, there will always be someone there to tell you how you should have played the hand. I can almost gurantee that if you had played it their way every time you get a pair of threes, you would run in to someone else that advises you play it an other way. |
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