Font of Knowledge

If you play Blackjack for any length of time (trust me!), you’ll inevitably hear someone say that, “only fools split fours, fives, or faces”. Well, that’s almost correct but not quite.

In fact, it is correct basic strategy to split a pair of fours under the following conditions:

• It is a multi-deck game (the most common games are 6 or 8 decks dealt from a shoe)
• The dealer’s up card is a five or a six
• Double after split is allowed

The last item is the key.  If double after split is not allowed, the proper play is to treat your pair of fours as a total of eight and just hit it.

You won’t win every hand this way but, over the long run, that’s the correct way to play your pair of fours (assuming you’re not counting cards - but that’s a whole separate series of posts!).

So, try it with confidence next time.  And don’t worry about anyone who might give you the “fools” line.  You are right and will do better than those players over time.