A good blackjack player understands that although it is a game of odds like most other casino games, blackjack strategies can cut the house edge down significantly. This increases your chances of more consistent wins and higher eventual payout. A good player understands these strategies and knows how and when to employ them according to statistics of the deck.

Knowing when to split your cards is one crucial strategy that can help you effectively increase your bankroll. You can choose to split your cards when you have two of the same card in your hand, like 9-9 or 8-8. What a split entails is using each card as the beginning of separate hands. This means that you must also double your bet, as you are indeed playing two hands, which also doubles the amount you could win or lose.

The strategy is to split your cards when the odds are that your current hand will lose and splitting will likely result in a better hand. For instance, an 8-8 gives your hand a total of 16, which is usually a losing hand in blackjack. However, splitting your 8’s gives you a better chance of getting an 18 or 19 as you could receive a 10 or Ace as the companion card. This increases your odds of winning and is a wise choice. With a pair of nines, however, splitting is not such a good idea because a hand total of 18 is not necessarily worth risking for two 19’s which could just easily become two 15’s. In some casinos you can continue to split hands as long as you have an exact pair of cards. Remember that every time you split you must bet again, so even though your chances of winning are greater, the amount that you will lose may outweigh your payout.