Playing a Hand of 2 and 2 in a Blackjack Game

Do you know what the best course of action should be when you receive two 2's in a game of blackjack? You might think that this hand is limiting to say the least. But don't be fooled – the trick of looking at this hand is not to see a total of 4 but to see the true cards you have – two 2's. Sometimes this simple pair of 2's can help you make a winning hand as the following example will demonstrate.

To make the most of your 2's, you should split your hand. Splitting your pair into two blackjack hands is highly recommended when the dealer holds 4, 5, 6 or 7. The return splitting will give you falls approximately between $0.01 to $0.23 for each dollar you've wagered on your game.

However, splitting also has its disadvantages. A negative return results on each dollar you've bet if you split when the dealer is holding a 2. Your second option is to hit. But wait, hitting also has a negative return of $0.11. If you want to take the least worse option, you should go ahead and split. And make sure you split when the dealer has a 3 as well. Although the return is negative at -$0.02,hitting will cost you -$0.08 on each dollar.

But be aware that splitting in some situations will bring you a greater negative return on your wager than hitting will. If the dealer holds 8, 9, 10 or Ace, splitting will cost you between -$0.18 to -$0.51. Compare this to hitting, which has a negative return of $0.16 to $0.29. Obviously, under these circumstances the best course of action is to hit when the dealer holds 8 through to Ace.

To recap, when you have an opening hand of 2 and 2, the best courses of action are to hit when the dealer holds 8 through to Ace and split when he holds 2 to 7.