What is splitting in blackjack?
Splitting means taking a pair of identical cards and separating them into two independent hands, each with its own equal bet. You then play each hand separately. It turns one possibly bad hand into two potentially better ones.
When to split
Basic strategy has clear rules. Always split aces — you get one card on each ace and any 10-value card gives you 21. Always split 8s — a pair of 8s is a hard 16, one of the worst blackjack hands, and splitting gives you two chances starting from 8. Never split 10s — a 20 is already a winning hand. Never split 5s — a pair of 5s is a 10, a strong doubling hand, not a splitting hand.
Re-splitting and resplit aces
Many casinos allow re-splitting if you draw another matching card after splitting. Some limit re-splitting to 3 or 4 hands total. A notable restriction at many tables is that split aces receive only one card each and cannot be re-split. If your split ace draws another ace, most casinos won’t let you re-split it — you just play the hand as soft 12.