Can anybody give me a good idea of why you should split 8s against a face card? It seems as though he's going to get a 20 about 30% of the time, while an 18 or 19 is very possible the rest of the time.

Is it because a 16 vs. a face card is just really bad and splitting the cards will make it easier to hit on a few cards?

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"You gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" - Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs

The player is -0.53536 to hit 8,8 and is -0.4748 to split them. So if you are a gambler who lives and dies with the percentages, you should split 8,8. A more important fact to keep in mind is that blackjack is a dying casino game with the 6-5 payoffs taking over everywhere. A good player can really no longer bring the house percentage down to just under 1% as in the 3-2 payoff games. My advice?.........stay away from blackjack.......period!

I'd never really considered it, but maybe I will stay away from Blackjack. Those 6-5 payoffs don't look promising. Thanks, Mike.

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"You gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" - Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs

And it's really too bad, Harvey. It's a fun and relaxing game, but the casinos have gotten far to greedy. Any chance the player had to make a few bucks now and then has pretty much been taken away. Just about the only place in Laughlin that still pays 3-2 on a BJ is the Riverside. My wife likes to play. So that's where we go.

Spliting 8's is always good, because you'll lose less money than staying on 16 or hitting a 16. You'll be creating two new hands, both of which have greater chances to win.
The Wizard of Odds says "Splitting is the best decision because it results in the lowest overall loss for the hand. The expected loss for each 8 would be just under half of -.535361."
I do believe that if you are on your last hand, and you've bet the farm, that betting even more might not be practical, regardless the odds. It's the same logic that applies to taking "even money" in blackjack insurance. Yes, statistically speaking, you're better off not talking it. But there are very few gamblers (that when they get blackjack on a huge bet,) wouldn't want a "guarenteed 100% return" on your investment.

Thanks for the advice, gamblermic. I really appreciate it.

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"You gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?" - Mr. Blonde from Reservoir Dogs