Do you ever split a pair of 7's against a dealer 8??

A

Ace007

Well-Known Member
This may sound really stupid, but I am new to blackjack. There was this guy at the table trying to give me advice. I had a pair of 7's and the dealer had an 8. He told me I was supposed to split these, but that just sounds really stupid. Aren't you already in a poor position with a pair of 7's against an 8. Wouldn't splitting the 7's make things even worse if you're assuming the dealer has a 10 in the hole??? Maybe I'm the one that's stupid, but it makes no sense to split in this situation. Thanks in advance for your replies!
 
Ace007 said:
This may sound really stupid, but I am new to blackjack. There was this guy at the table trying to give me advice. I had a pair of 7's and the dealer had an 8. He told me I was supposed to split these, but that just sounds really stupid. Aren't you already in a poor position with a pair of 7's against an 8. Wouldn't splitting the 7's make things even worse if you're assuming the dealer has a 10 in the hole??? Maybe I'm the one that's stupid, but it makes no sense to split in this situation. Thanks in advance for your replies!
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There are some regular BJ (not AP ) books which advocate to split a weak pair to gain at least one strong hand.
 
I'm not aware of any situation that would warrant splitting 7s against a dealer's 8 (advanced plays notwithstanding)—that should always be a hit. Assuming the dealer has a T is a common but incorrect "rule of thumb," though. If you want to decrease your disadvantage to the lowest possible amount, I recommend checking this site's basic strategy engine (see the links to the left), and generate the proper strategy for the game you're playing. This will usually decrease the casino's advantage to around 0.25-0.75%.
 
Ace007 said:
This may sound really stupid, but I am new to blackjack. There was this guy at the table trying to give me advice. I had a pair of 7's and the dealer had an 8. He told me I was supposed to split these, but that just sounds really stupid. Aren't you already in a poor position with a pair of 7's against an 8. Wouldn't splitting the 7's make things even worse if you're assuming the dealer has a 10 in the hole??? Maybe I'm the one that's stupid, but it makes no sense to split in this situation. Thanks in advance for your replies!
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The basic Strategy for splitting 7's v 8 varies depending on the rules of the game and count. For example, in a DD game splitting would be the proper basic Strategy play, but in a 6D game the correct play would be to hit. So, What are the rules of the game that you were playing? You can use the Basic Strategy Engine on the home page of this site to give the correct answer to your question.
 
Thanks for the replies! The game I was playing was 8 deck, hit on soft 17, doubles after splits allowed. I didn't realize that the basic strategy for splitting 7's would change based on the type of game played. Intuitively it just doesn't sound like a good idea in any situation to split 7's against an 8 or higher.
 
Ace007 said:
Thanks for the replies! The game I was playing was 8 deck, hit on soft 17, doubles after splits allowed. I didn't realize that the basic strategy for splitting 7's would change based on the type of game played. Intuitively it just doesn't sound like a good idea in any situation to split 7's against an 8 or higher.
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mmeyers is right. For some reason, I assumed it was a shoe game from the OP, not sure why. One thing to remember about basic strategy is that it's not always intuitive, and what seems like a "good" or "bad" idea has absolutely no bearing on how basic strategy is determined. You would do well to memorize the strategy for the particular game that you prefer to play.
 
It has a fairly low index for making the action, and I think in some variations of single and double deck, it is the correct action. I think I have done it maybe twice.
 
Browsing through various counts on CVData, I have noticed that with some counts, under DAS conditions there is an index for this play. In some cases, I have noticed it to be a negative number, as well :cool:

SP
 
mmeyers said:
For example, in a DD game splitting would be the proper basic Strategy play
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This is true ONLY when the rules allow double after split. And even THEN, the amount that you save is VERY MINUTE; so tiny that someone who's even the SLIGHTEST bit worried about variance is going to be much better off by saving himself the heartache, & NEVER splitting 7's vs 8.
 
basic strategy in

Ace007 said:
This may sound really stupid, but I am new to blackjack. There was this guy at the table trying to give me advice. I had a pair of 7's and the dealer had an 8. He told me I was supposed to split these, but that just sounds really stupid. Aren't you already in a poor position with a pair of 7's against an 8. Wouldn't splitting the 7's make things even worse if you're assuming the dealer has a 10 in the hole??? Maybe I'm the one that's stupid, but it makes no sense to split in this situation. Thanks in advance for your replies!
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1d,2d assuming das.. and yes, i split them..
 
Sucker said:
This is true ONLY when the rules allow double after split. And even THEN, the amount that you save is VERY MINUTE; so tiny that someone who's even the SLIGHTEST bit worried about variance is going to be much better off by saving himself the heartache, & NEVER splitting 7's vs 8.
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I thought being impervious to worries about variance was a prerequisite of card counting. :confused: :whip:
 
Sucker said:
This is true ONLY when the rules allow double after split. And even THEN, the amount that you save is VERY MINUTE; so tiny that someone who's even the SLIGHTEST bit worried about variance is going to be much better off by saving himself the heartache, & NEVER splitting 7's vs 8.
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I say do it - It looks stupid, which is good. zg
 
As others have already said it is BS in a DD game. 66v 7 is also a split in DD BS but not in a shoe game.
 
High-Low TC>5

If you are using Hi-Lo and in a DAS game, you should split 77 vs 8 when TC>5, as mentioned in the book, Professional Blackjack.

I actually did it once. The true count was like 8 or 9 and it didn't end well. I lost both hands to dealer 18.
 
thanks for all the responses! i am trying to learn from everybody. and as far as looking stupid zengrifter. i am doing that fine on my own even without splitting the pair of 7's. lol! so i guess looking stupid is good, but in my case i am losing!
 
Ace007 said:
thanks for all the responses! i am trying to learn from everybody. and as far as looking stupid zengrifter. i am doing that fine on my own even without splitting the pair of 7's. lol! so i guess looking stupid is good, but in my case i am losing!
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Looking stupid with the correct play is the best of both worlds. zg
 
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