A split occurs when a player breaks even or loses money on one hand, but wins money on the other. This is done by taking a “split” or “push” card, which gives the player two new cards instead of one.
When playing blackjack, it is important to understand how splits work in order to make the most profit possible. When splitting aces, for example, if the player gets an Ace and a two, they would take the Ace and put it in front of them, then put the two in the middle of the deck.
This gives them two new cards to play with – an Ace and a three. Because both hands are now equal (2-2), the player would now want to either keep their two (a total of four cards) or push (give up all their chips). .
In general, if you are playing against another person and both of your hands end up being even (two cards each), then you have no choice but to split. However, if you are playing against another person and one of your hands has an Ace and a two (a total of four cards), then you can choose to either split or push. If you choose to split, then you would take the Ace and put it in front of you, then put the two in the middle of the deck.
This gives you two new cards to play with – an Ace and a three. Because both hands are now equal (4-3), the player would now want to either keep their two (a total of six cards) or push (give up all their chips).
If you choose to push instead, then you would give up all your chips instead of splitting. This is because if you split your ace and get another ace as well as another 2 card, then your hand would be 8-5 which is better than 5-3.
