Showing posts with label late surrender. Show all posts
Showing posts with label late surrender. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 25, 2014

Splitting Eights

Standard 56-card deck
Standard 56-card deck (Photo credit: Wikipedia)








 

Splitting 8's when the dealer has a 10 or face card as their up card?
















Should a player split 8's against the dealers up card of a 10 when late surrender is offered? 

Basic strategy says that you should always split aces and eights but it also tells you that you should surrender your hand when you have hand that is a total of 16 against a dealers 10/face card, so what about two eights? 

I often get this exact question, "Should I split my 8's or surrender when the dealer is showing an up card of 10/Face card".  


Yes, you still want to split your eights against even if late surrender is offered.

Even when you base the math on a two-deck game, that does not allow double after splitting, these being less favorable house rules than most, the expected value of splitting 8's,  against a 10 is -0.480673, but it is still a shade better than the -0.5 by surrendering..

It's pretty close, mathematically but you should split your eight's, even when the casino offers late surrender or does not allow double after split.

Late Surrender-  Late Surrender is when the house offers you as a player the choice to fold your hand, at the cost of half of the original bet. You must make that after the dealer has checked for blackjack and the decision to surrender is made prior to taking any other action on the hand. For example, once you draw a third card, or split, or double down, surrender is no longer an option.


Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Double Deck Blackjack Basic Strategy

Double Deck Blackjack Basic Strategy

2 decks, H17, DAS, Late Surrender, Peek
Estimated casino edge for these rules: 0.36 %
Dealer Upcard
Your
Hand
2345678910A
5HHHHHHHHHH
6HHHHHHHHHH
7HHHHHHHHHH
8HHHHHHHHHH
9DDDDDHHHHH
10DDDDDDDDHH
11DDDDDDDDDD
12HHSSSHHHHH
13SSSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHRHRH
16SSSSSHHHRSRH
17SSSSSSSSSRS
A,2HHHDDHHHHH
A,3HHDDDHHHHH
A,4HHDDDHHHHH
A,5HHDDDHHHHH
A,6HDDDDHHHHH
A,7DSDSDSDSDSSSHHH
A,8SSSSDSSSSSS
A,9SSSSSSSSSS
2,2PPPPPPHHHH
3,3PPPPPPHHHH
4,4HHHPPHHHHH
5,5DDDDDDDDHH
6,6PPPPPPHHHH
7,7PPPPPPPHHH
8,8PPPPPPPPPP
9,9PPPPPSPPSS
T,TSSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP
Dlr2345678910A
Key:
H= HitS= StandP= Split
D= Double (Hit if not allowed)
DS= Double (Stand if not allowed)
RH= Surrender (Hit if not allowed)
RS= Surrender (Stand if not allowed)

Single Deck Blackjack Basic Strategy

Single, Blackjack Strategy Chart

Criteria:  single deck, dealer hits soft 17, late surrender (after dealer checks, dealer peeks for blackjack. 

1 deck, H17, DAS, Late Surrender, Peek
Estimated casino edge for these rules: 0.01 %
Dealer Upcard
Your
Hand
2345678910A
5HHHHHHHHHH
6HHHHHHHHHH
7HHHHHHHHHH
8HHHDDHHHHH
9DDDDDHHHHH
10DDDDDDDDHH
11DDDDDDDDDD
12HHSSSHHHHH
13SSSSSHHHHH
14SSSSSHHHHH
15SSSSSHHHHRH
16SSSSSHHHRSRH
17SSSSSSSSSRS
A,2HHDDDHHHHH
A,3HHDDDHHHHH
A,4HHDDDHHHHH
A,5HHDDDHHHHH
A,6DDDDDHHHHH
A,7SDSDSDSDSSSHHH
A,8SSSSDSSSSSS
A,9SSSSSSSSSS
2,2PPPPPPHHHH
3,3PPPPPPPHHH
4,4HHPPPHHHHH
5,5DDDDDDDDHH
6,6PPPPPPHHHH
7,7PPPPPPPHRSRH
8,8PPPPPPPPPP
9,9PPPPPSPPSP
T,TSSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP
Dlr2345678910A
Key:
H= HitS= StandP= Split
D= Double (Hit if not allowed)
DS= Double (Stand if not allowed)
RH= Surrender (Hit if not allowed)
RS= Surrender (Stand if not allowed)