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Atlassino Academy · Blackjack · Lesson 9 of 21

Pairs: when to split

Splitting a pair puts a second bet of the same size on the felt, so every pair is a question about money — answered here for the rules BCLC (the British Columbia Lottery Corporation) publishes for B.C. casinos.

  • About 20 minutes
  • Illustrated hosts: Leo and Maya
  • Last checked 24 September 2026

Lesson 9 of the blackjack track. You need one thing from earlier: that a pair can be split, and that splitting it is your move — Hit, stand, double, split, surrender has the moves. Here, pair by pair: which ones you split, which you leave alone, and what the other answer costs.

You are dealt two 10s. The dealer shows a 6 — the card the dealer goes over 21 with most often. Do you split them?

Before we start: what would you say?

Nothing is scored here. We come back to it at the end.

The short answer

Always split aces and 8s. Never split 10s or 5s. Split 2s, 3s and 7s against a dealer 2 through 7, 6s against 2 through 6, and 4s only against a 5 or a 6. Two 9s: split against 2 to 6, 8 and 9; stand against 7, 10 and ace. One hand at B.C. tables breaks the pattern — two 8s against an ace.

Maya holds a second chip over the bare felt beside the betting circle where a chip already lies, while Leo watches from the rail; a pair of eights lies face up in front of the seat with the dealer’s seven across from it.

A split costs a second bet

Two cards of the same point value can be pulled apart and played as two hands. You pay for the second hand: a bet the same size as the first, put down beside the original. Behind the original means a double.

8888

One hand of 16, one bet.

88

First hand, first bet.

88

Second hand, second bet.

Split two 8s and the 16 is gone. Each 8 starts a hand of its own, and the second one has to be paid for.
  • Each new hand takes at least one card, and you finish the first before the second is dealt to.
  • Aces are the exception. Split once, one card each, and that is it: two hands that each start on 11, which is the strongest thing two aces can do.
  • After a split, 21 on two cards is not a blackjack. Ace and ten after a split pays 1 to 1, not 3 to 2.
  • A dealer blackjack takes only your first bet. The second comes back.

How often a pair turns up

Out of a six-deck shoe
You are dealtHow often
A pair of any kind14.5% of hands — one in 6.9
Two ten-value cards9.4% of hands, and 64.7% of all pairs
Two of one named rank, say two 8s0.57% of hands — one in 176

So the pair you see most is the pair you never split, and the two worth knowing cold come round rarely enough that you want the answer ready first.

The pairs chart

Six decks · dealer hits soft 17 · blackjack pays 3:2 · double on any two cards and after splitting · surrender · house edge 0.53% with the full chart, hard totals and soft hands included

Pairs, rules published by BCLC for B.C. casinos
Pair2345678910A
2,2PPPPPPHHHH
3,3PPPPPPHHHH
4,4HHHPPHHHHH
5,5DhDhDhDhDhDhDhDhHH
6,6PPPPPHHHHH
7,7PPPPPPHHHH
8,8PPPPPPPPPRp
9,9PPPPPSPPSS
10,10SSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP
  • Psplit
  • Sstand
  • Hhit
  • Dhdouble; hit if you cannot double
  • Rpsurrender; split if you cannot surrender

Where the sign says the dealer stands on all 17s: 8,8 against an ace, split.

Where the sign says no doubling after a split: every cell marked ◦ says hit.

Find your pair down the left and the dealer’s card across the column headings. Two 5s sit there as a hard 10, because that is what they are. If your table runs on other rules, the Blackjack strategy tool redraws it.

Amounts are in Canadian dollars.

The four rows with nothing to decide

AAAA

Always split

Together, a soft 12. Apart, two hands that each start on 11 — worth having against any card the dealer shows.

8888

Always split

Together, a 16, the total nobody wants. Apart, two hands starting on 8, and almost any card helps an 8. At B.C. tables a dealer ace has a better answer.

1010KKK

Never split

A 20. You stand on it against every dealer card there is.

5555

Never split

Read the total, not the pair: two 5s are a hard 10. Double against 2 to 9, take a card against 10 and ace.

Two 9s stand against a 7, a 10 and an ace.

A dealer showing a 7 finishes on exactly 17 more often than on anything else, and your 18 is already past it.

The small pairs, and the line on the sign

Five rows are left, and on each of them the dealer’s card decides.

They go apart not because two small hands are good, but because of what lands on them next. A 2, 3, 4 or 6 is a fine card to start on: a ten added to it makes a 12 to 16 you would have had anyway, and a 5, 6 or 7 makes a 9, 10 or 11 worth doubling.

Which is why one line on the sign decides these hands. Where the table lets you double after a split, the chart stands. Where it does not, 7 squares change, every one a small pair against a weak card:

  • 2s against a 2 and a 3
  • 3s against a 2 and a 3
  • 4s against a 5 and a 6
  • 6s against a 2

All 7 become “take a card”, and splitting anyway costs $0.13 to $0.87 a hand. The line itself costs more than any square it moves: without it the house keeps 0.67% of every bet instead of 0.53%, about $4.70 an hour instead of $3.68 at 70 hands and $10 a hand. Read it before your first hand.

Splitting again

If a split hand comes out as another pair, you may split that too. How many times depends on the province:

  • B.C.No limit printed on the number of hands.
  • QuebecFour hands at most.
  • OntarioFour hands at most; aces once only, one card each.

Where no limit is printed, the sign at your table is where one would be.

And splitting again moves the price of the game without moving one square of your chart. Solve these rules with a four-hand limit and then with none: all hundred squares come back the same, and the house keeps 0.53% of every bet with the limit, 0.53% without it. One split and no more leaves them where they are too, at 0.58%. So when you compare two tables, put this line near the bottom.

Two 8s against an ace

One hand has two answers, and which one you get depends on where you are sitting.

8888

You hold 16.

AA

The dealer shows an ace.

The B.C. rules print surrender. The Quebec and Ontario ones do not.
If your table offersThe chart says
SurrenderSurrender. Hand back half the bet before the hand is played.
No surrenderSplit. Two hands, each starting on 8.

“Rp” in the square says exactly that: surrender, split if you cannot. The pair has not changed; a move that exists at one table and not another has. Which is why an Ontario site that tells its players to split 8s every time is right for their tables.

And it is small money: splitting where you could have surrendered costs $0.15 a hand. Standing on the 16 costs $0.95 — six times as much, and available at every table in the country.

Three wrong answers, and what each costs

Amounts are for an example bet of $10; at twice the bet, twice the cost.

8888vs77
Not splitting what the chart splits

Leaving two 8s together against a 7

$8.02

every time you stand on that 16. Split it and the average moves from −$4.80 a hand to +$3.22, with twice the money on the hand.

Fix: aces and 8s go apart without thinking.

1010KKKvs66
Splitting what the chart stands on

Splitting two 10s against a weak card

$1.21

every time you split them against a 6; against a 5, $1.60. The 20 is +$6.77 a hand, two hands starting on 10 are +$5.56. A weak dealer does not make your strong hand worse.

Fix: two ten-value cards stand against all ten dealer cards.

5555vs99
Reading the pair instead of the total

Splitting two 5s

$6.77

every time you split 5s against a 9, the dearest split on the page. Against a 10, $6.51; against a 6, where you should be doubling the 10, $4.19.

Fix: cover the word “pair” and ask what the total is.

Four smaller ones, none big enough to notice on the night: a card on two 6s against a 6, $3.68 a hand; on two 7s against a 7, $2.85. Standing on two 9s against a 6, $2.35; splitting them against a 7, $0.31.

At the table, with Maya

  • Beside the first bet, never behind it. Behind means a double, a different move entirely.
  • Ask how to signal it. The gesture is not the same everywhere, and asking takes a second.
  • A card on the felt. Some casinos invite you to ask the dealer for a basic strategy card or pick one up in the building. Not every room does. Ask before you put one down.

What the chart does to the price

Play the whole chart — hard totals, soft hands and the pairs here — and these B.C. rules still keep about 0.53% of every bet for the house. The chart lowers the price of playing. It does not take the price away.

Plenty of squares here have a positive average — two 8s split against a 7 come out at +$3.22 a hand, over many thousands of hands. But a pair is dealt to you only now and then, and the whole chart still leaves the house about 0.53%. A good square is not an evening, and it is not a plan.

Maya with a hand on her chest, speaking gently and seriously.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

Splitting doubles what is at risk on the hand. It makes the hand cheaper, not safe, and there is no square here to reach for because the last hand went badly.

Decide your time and your money before you sit down (Game plan walks you through it), and keep to them whether the pairs came or not. If the money on the table starts to feel like money you need, stop and call one of the lines below.

If it stops being fun

If gambling stops being entertainment, help is available. 19+ in most of Canada; 18+ in Alberta, Manitoba and Quebec. More on responsible gaming.

1-866-531-2600Ontario · ConnexOntario · 24 hours
1-800-461-0140Quebec · Jeu: aide et référence · 24 hours
1-888-795-6111British Columbia · Gambling Support BC · 24 hours
1-866-332-2322Alberta · Addiction Helpline (Recovery Alberta) · 24 hours
1-800-463-1554Manitoba · Problem Gambling Helpline · 24 hours
1-800-306-6789Saskatchewan · Problem Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-888-429-8167Nova Scotia · Mental Health and Addictions Crisis Line · 24 hours
1-800-461-1234New Brunswick · Gambling Information Line
1-855-255-4255Prince Edward Island · PEI Gambling Support Line · 24 hours
811Newfoundland and Labrador · Gambling Help Line · 24 hours
1-844-533-3030Yukon · Reach Out Support Line (CMHA Yukon)

If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8

The lesson on one card

That is the lesson. Here it is on one card — print it or keep it on your phone. Ask the dealer before you put it on the table.

PairsRules published by BCLC for B.C. casinos

Six decks · dealer hits soft 17 · blackjack pays 3:2 · double after splitting · surrender

Pairs: find your pair, then the dealer’s card
Pair2345678910A
2,2PPPPPPHHHH
3,3PPPPPPHHHH
4,4HHHPPHHHHH
5,5DhDhDhDhDhDhDhDhHH
6,6PPPPPHHHHH
7,7PPPPPPHHHH
8,8PPPPPPPPPRp
9,9PPPPPSPPSS
10,10SSSSSSSSSS
A,APPPPPPPPPP
  • Psplit
  • Sstand
  • Hhit
  • Dhdouble; hit if you cannot double
  • Rpsurrender; split if you cannot surrender

Where the sign says the dealer stands on all 17s: 8,8 against an ace, split.

Where the sign says no doubling after a split: every cell marked ◦ says hit.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Set a limit before you sit · Play responsibly · help, day or night: Gambling Support BC 1-888-795-6111, 24 hours

If you are thinking about suicide, call or text 9-8-8

Practice table

Pairs and nothing else, on three levels, with the province’s rules on a switch above the table. Every answer is the square of the chart for the rules you pick — so the one hand that changes from province to province changes here too, and you can watch it happen. Amounts are for an example bet of $10, an example and not a suggested bet.

The practice table needs JavaScript. Here is one hand from it, with the answer.

Six decks · dealer hits soft 17 · blackjack pays 3 to 2 · doubling after a split · surrender · no stated limit on re-splitting

Two 8s against a 7. Together they are a 16, and the dealer is showing a card that finishes strongly. What now?

The chart says: Split.

  • Split them Yes. One 16 becomes two hands starting on 8, and the average result changes from −$4.80 for standing to +$3.22.
  • Stand on 16 A 16 that stands is paid only when the dealer goes over 21, and against a 7 that is not often. It costs $8.02 a hand.
  • Take a card Better than standing, and still $7.30 a hand worse than splitting. A card that helps a 16 is a 5 or less; a card that helps an 8 is almost anything.

This is the one cell where splitting turns a losing hand into a paying one: two hands that start on 8 against a dealer 7. It also puts a second bet on the felt, and that bet can lose too.

The practice table deals these hands on three levels, and the answer to every hand is the square of the chart above for the rules you pick.

How the practice table works

One strip, no rounds. Every square on the strip is one hand of this lesson, and they are all there from the start. The square keeps your first answer; when a level’s squares are full the next level begins by itself, with no button in between.

The answers. Every hand is a square of the chart on this page, and the answer is read from the engine for the rules you picked, not written down beside the hand. The moves offered follow those rules too: surrender appears only where the rule book prints it.

Practice. A hand answered against the chart goes on your list. Practising deals those again; answering one correctly takes it off. Practice does not change the count: only first answers do.

Jumping ahead. The level buttons above the table are all live: press one and the run carries on there. The squares you left empty stay empty on the strip.

Levels. Level 1: aces, 8s, 10s and 5s — the four rows with no thinking in them. Level 2: 2s, 3s, 4s, 6s and 7s, where the dealer’s card and the table’s rule on doubling after a split decide. Level 3: the 9s row, and 8s against an ace under each set of rules.

Check yourself

Maya with a finger raised and a knowing look.

Mayaformer floor supervisor · manners, money and breaks

Five quick ones. Pick an answer, then check it. No timer, no points: just whether it stuck.

1You hold two 8s. The dealer shows a 7. What does the chart say?

Show the answer

Answer: Split: put up a second bet and play two hands. Two 8s are a 16, and a 16 that stands is paid only when the dealer goes over 21 — on a 7, 26.2% of hands. Split them and each 8 starts a hand of its own: the average moves from −$4.80 to +$3.22. It also puts a second bet of the same size on the felt.

  • Hit: take one card and hope Better than standing, and still $7.30 a hand behind splitting. A card that helps a 16 is a 5 or less; a card that helps an 8 is almost anything.
  • Split: put up a second bet and play two hands Standing keeps one 16 against a dealer card that finishes strongly. Two hands that start on 8 do better by $8.02 a hand.
  • Surrender: give up half and move on Surrender is offered at B.C. tables, and here it hands back half the bet on a hand whose average result is +$3.22 if you split it.
  • Stand: 16 is something, two 8s are nothing A 16 that stands is paid only when the dealer goes over 21, and a 7 does that on 26.2% of hands. Standing here costs $8.02 a hand.
2Your table’s sign says the dealer hits soft 17, blackjack pays 3 to 2, and doubling after a split is not allowed. You hold two 4s; the dealer shows a 5. What changes?

Show the answer

Answer: The chart now says take a card instead of splitting. Small pairs are split for the hands that follow, and those hands are worth having only if you can double them. Take the double away and 7 squares of this chart change. Two 4s against a 5 is one: splitting anyway costs $0.87 a hand.

  • The chart now says take a card instead of splitting Splitting small pairs against a weak card pays off through what comes next: 9s, 10s and 11s you would want to double. Take that away and the reason goes with it. Splitting anyway costs $0.87 a hand.
  • Split, and simply do not double afterwards Splitting without the chance to double afterwards is exactly what a table without the rule leaves you with, and that is why the chart stops splitting two 4s against a 5 at such a table.
  • Nothing: that rule is about doubling, not about splitting It is about both. 7 squares of the pairs chart change when that rule changes, and two 4s against a 5 is one of them.
3You split two aces. On the first ace you are dealt a king. What are you holding?

Show the answer

Answer: Twenty-one, paid the same as any other hand: 1 to 1. Twenty-one on two cards, paid 1 to 1. Ace and ten after a split counts as an ordinary 21, not a blackjack, and each split ace takes one card and no more.

  • Blackjack, paid 3 to 2 A blackjack is the first two cards of the original hand. After a split a blackjack cannot happen, whichever rule book the table plays by.
  • Twenty-one, and you may take another card if you like Split aces get one card each and no more, so there is nothing to ask for.
  • Twenty-one, paid the same as any other hand: 1 to 1 Right. An ace and a ten on a split hand is a 21 like any other, and it is paid like any other.
4One table’s rule book prints a limit of four hands on re-splitting; another prints no limit at all. What is different about the chart at the two tables?

Show the answer

Answer: Nothing in the chart at all: every square is the same under both. Nothing. With a four-hand limit and with no limit, all one hundred squares of the pairs chart are identical. The price moves a hair — 0.53% of every bet with the four-hand limit, 0.53% without one, and 0.58% at a table that allowed one split and no more — but nothing you do at the table moves at all.

  • Nothing in the chart at all: every square is the same under both Right. With a four-hand limit and with no limit at all, the same hundred squares come out of the same rules. What moves is the price, and it barely moves: 0.53% of every bet with the limit, 0.53% without it. The answers in the squares do not move at all.
  • Aces stop being split, since they can only be split once in any case Aces are split once under both rule books, and the chart splits aces against all ten dealer cards under both.
  • The small pairs stop being split: there is less to be had from them That is what the rule about doubling after a split does, and doubling after a split is a different rule. The limit on the number of hands changes no square of the chart.
  • You split more often at the table that prints no limit The chart is the same at both tables, so you split on exactly the same hands. Only what happens after the second split differs, and the difference that makes to the price is too small to show at two decimal places.
5You sit down with a plan for the evening and the pairs chart in your head. Over an evening, what has the chart done? new situation

Show the answer

Answer: It has lowered the average price of playing, and changed nothing about one evening. The chart lowers the average price of playing, and that is all it does. Played in full — hard totals, soft hands and pairs — these rules still keep 0.53% of every bet for the house: about $3.68 an hour at 70 hands and $10 a hand, averaged over many evenings. One square with a positive average does not change that, and one evening lands far from the average in both directions.

  • It has told you how much to put on each hand The chart says which move, never how much. The one thing it says about money is that a split is a second bet of the same size — decided by the rules, not by you.
  • It has lowered the average price of playing, and changed nothing about one evening That is exactly what it does: about $3.68 an hour at 70 hands and $10 a hand, on average, over many evenings. One evening lands far from that in both directions.
  • It has taken the house edge off those hands The chart lowers the price; it does not remove it. Playing every hand correctly still does not decide how one evening ends.
  • It has turned the pairs into money: the 8s against a 7 average a gain One square can have a positive average and the evening can still cost you. Played by the whole chart, these rules leave the house 0.53% of every bet.

And the question we opened with

Two 10s against a 6: the answer is no, you do not split them. A 20 is about as high as a hand gets, and you stand on two ten-value cards against every dealer card there is, weak ones included. Split the two 10s against a 6 and you trade +$6.77 a hand for +$5.56 — $1.21 gone, every time. A weak dealer card is a reason to want money on the table, and you already have money on the table, on a 20.

Where to play, and further reading

Blackjack in Canada The casinos that list blackjack, by province, with the minimum bets they quote. Blackjack strategy The same pairs table for your own table’s rules, including a table without doubling after a split.

19+ (18+ in AB, MB, QC) · Play responsibly · help, day or night: Gambling Support BC 1-888-795-6111, 24 hours

Further reading

  • Rules of Play for Table Games: Blackjack · British Columbia Lottery Corporation (BCLC)The rules this track follows section by section: six decks, the dealer on soft 17, doubling, splitting and surrender.
  • Game rules: Blackjack · Loto-Québec (Société des casinos du Québec)Québec’s rules: one to eight decks, a face-down dealer card, and the soft-17 rule left to the sign at the table.
  • Playing Blackjack · Fallsview Casino Resort and Casino NiagaraOne Ontario operator’s own booklet, including both blackjack payouts and both dealer rules it may post.
  • Blackjack: how to play · OLG PlaySmartOntario’s beginner page: the moves, the hand signals it describes, and what insurance is.
  • Know the game: Blackjack · Casinos Regina & Moose Jaw (SaskGaming)A Saskatchewan operator on what the chart does and does not do, and where to pick one up in the building.
  • Blackjack basics · Wizard of OddsWhat three common ways of playing blackjack without the chart cost, on that author’s own table.

How it’s worked out

Rules, numbers and hosts

Rules. The rules BCLC publishes for B.C. casinos: six decks, dealer hits soft 17, blackjack pays 3 to 2, double on any two cards and after splitting, surrender, no face-down dealer card, and no limit printed on the number of hands you may split to. It is a preset for learning, not a statement about any one casino: check the sign at your table.

Numbers. Every figure on this page is worked out when the page is built, by the same engine as our Blackjack strategy tool. For each pair and each dealer card the engine averages every way the hand can go — including the hands that follow a split, and the doubles on them where the rules allow — and the chart shows the move with the higher average result. A mistake’s cost is the average result of the chart’s move minus that of the mistake, per hand, shown in dollars for an example bet of $10 with each average rounded to the cent first, so a cost is always the difference of the two amounts shown. Against a 10 or an ace it counts only the hands where the dealer does not make blackjack, because then your decision changes nothing. How often a pair comes is arithmetic on a six-deck shoe, marked as such where it appears. The house edge assumes the full chart — hard totals, soft hands and pairs — and cards shuffled after every hand.

The one thing the engine had to be asked twice. The cells that change when doubling after a split is not allowed were counted by solving the same rules twice and comparing all one hundred cells, not by taking the count from a book. The same was done for re-splitting, and that comparison is why this page says re-splitting changes no cell: the engine was asked, and the answer was none.

Hosts. Leo and Maya are illustrated characters. Their backstories, a former dealer and a former floor supervisor, are written for the course: neither is a real person, and neither speaks for any casino. The rules and numbers on this page come from the sources it cites, not from their experience.

No promise. Blackjack is played against the house. The chart lowers the price of playing; nothing on this page removes that price or tells you how an evening will end.

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