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When to Double Down

The reason why the Doubling Down option is such a good lies in the fact that it is a good chance to increase your profits when you are sure to have a stronger hand with one extra card or are confident that the dealer will bust. The reason many players prefer to Double Down on 9,10 or 11 is because all the decks have a high percentage of 10 valued cards, and thus the extra 10 will sure make such a hand a very strong one. Moreover, in case you choose to Double Down depending on the dealer face up card (when the dealer has a high probability of busting) will increase your chances to win and therefore get larger payouts. The most important thing the player must remember is that when choosing to Double Down the player not only increases his bet and gets one more card, but the fact that the hand automatically atands and nothing more can be done. The basic Blackjack Tips for when to Double Down include:

Hard hands

• Player‘s hand – 11
  Double down if the Dealer’s hand is not an Ace
• Player‘s hand – 10
  Double down if the Dealer’s hand is not a 10 or Ace
• Player‘s hand – 9
  Double down when the Dealer’s hand is not a 3, 4, 5, or 6

Soft hands

• Player‘s hand – Soft 17 or 18
  Double when Dealer’s face card is a 3, 4, 5 or 6
• Player‘s hand – Soft 15 or 16 (Ace with a 4 or 5)
  Double when Dealer’s face card is a 4,5 or 6
• Player‘s hand – Soft 13 or 14
  Double when Dealer’s face card is a 5 or 6

When to Split a Hand

When the first two cards dealt to the player are a pair of the same rank, he may choose to split them in order to make two separate hands. However, this option is not always advisable as some of the pairs make a strong hand when not split or a too small value when split. Moreover, the value of the dealer face up card has a great influence upon the decision on whether to split or not to split. Nevertheless, there are still such hands that can never be split as there are those that should always be split. Here are the basic Blackjack Tips for splitting hands:

• Player‘s hand – Pair of Ace’s
  Always Split
• Player‘s hand – Pair of 8′s
  Always Split
• Player‘s hand – a Pair of 2′s or 3’s
  Split against Dealer’s 4, 5, 6, or 7
• Player‘s hand – a Pair of 6′s
  Split against Dealer’s 3, 4, 5, or 6
• Player‘s hand – a Pair of 7′s
  Split against Dealer’s anything less than an 8
• Player‘s hand a Pair of 9′s
  Split against Dealer’s 7, 10 or Ace