Splitting 9's in Blackjack - Splitting Nines

When to Split Your Nine's

While you sit at a blackjack table, in a casino or on the Internet, it is important to be prepared for the possibility of being dealt a pair of nine's. A lot of blackjack players have a lot of advice to give when you are dealt a pair of nine's. A lot of players base their advice on math, gut instinct, luck or even card counting. The card counters will most likely play a pair of nine's differently each time, depending on the count at the time, so taking their advice is only advised when you think they will be there, every time you play and get those nine's. Otherwise, I suggest to play a pair of nine's the same way each time you encounter specific scenarios of having a pair of nine's, consistency is the key to playing and not going home mad at yourself for deviating from your strategy. A good way to play consistent is to follow basic strategy, basic strategy is created from calculated odds, not luck or by random guessing. Basic strategy cards, which are the size of a credit card, can be purchased in a lot of casino gift shops or even on the Internet, a few dollar investment, sure goes a long way. Each basic strategy card is specifically tailored to be accurate for tables that they are designed for. For example, the basic strategy card that I use is for tables where the dealer stays on all seventeens, as opposed to hitting on soft seventeen. If the casino you play in hits soft seventeen, my card would not be accurate for all hands on that table and I would suggest finding a basic strategy card that applies to the house rules of the casino you plan to play in.

When dealt a pair of nine's and the dealer stays on all seventeens, my basic strategy card dictates that you split your nine's if the dealer is showing an up card of a two, three, four, five or six. The goal is that if you are dealt a pair of nine's and the dealer is showing a two, three, four, five or six that you should place a second wager out there, equal in the amount of your original bet and inform the dealer that you would like to split your nine's. If the house you are playing in allows you to split multiple times, it would be great to get a third nine, and again you would put a third bet out there and split again. Once you have split as many nines as you are dealt and allowed to split, hopefully you will get a two on some of those nine's, which would make an eleven, which is a great time to double down and get even more money out there. Even if you split your nines and double down on an eleven and get a small card, you are still hoping for the dealer to break and pay your ugly twelve. Against the dealer's seven as an up card, my basic strategy says you should not split your nines, and you should simply stay on you eighteen and hope the dealer has a ten valued card under his or her seven, giving you the win. If the dealer is showing an eight or nine as an up card, my basic strategy card advises you to split your nines, hoping to avoid a push or tie when the dealer has an eight and hoping to turn a losing eighteen against the dealer's nine by splitting and getting two nineteens of your own and getting a push. Against the dealer's ten valued card or ace, I'm instructed by my basic strategy card to not split my nine's, instead I am suppose to stay on my eighteen.

A lot of blackjack players around you might start to bark a little when you split your nine's against the dealer's two, three, four, five or six. They might accuse you of splitting a winning hand and taking away the dealer's bust card. Those player's may not be following basic strategy, or at least not following it every time. It's also good to remember that just because you follow basic strategy every time, does not mean you will win every time, not even every time you have a big bet out there, but hopefully basic strategy will win you more hands than it loses for you on specific hand combinations.