I won't write an entire TR, because it would be too similar to my last several trips. But the BJ hand of the trip was one that stands out. Dealer 6 showing. Double Deck at The Orleans I'm dealt 7 and 7. I split first card, 7. I split again next card 3. I double and receive a 4 next card 4. I double and receive a 10. next card 7. I split again. next card 5. I stay with 12. next card 10. I stay with 17, Dealer flips a face card for 16. Then she draws an ace. I lose a double, win a double, lose a single and push a single. End up losing one unit after all that.
What a bitch! I don’t play blackjack like I did years ago but whenever I’ve had a hand like yours, and played it just like you did, I’ve never ever hit it. Even when I had to dig into my pocket for more $$ to play it out. Just once please.
Could have been worse. Not disagreeing with anything the OP did. I would have played it exactly the same. But I hate sevens, even against a six. When splitting sevens, I am just hoping to break even
On my just-completed trip, I got this at DTG: 8-8, split versus a dealer 5. 8-8-8, split 8-3, double 8-3, 8-8-8 split 8-2, double. 8-7 8-9 So, I had two doubles, a 15 & a 17 . The doubles ended up being crap cards & the dealer had her hard 15, but hit the 5. I lost 6 bets in that one hand...but hey - I played it "correctly"!
I like when this happens. Notice that the first 5 cards add up to a soft 21 but I STILL hit. This is why knowing the rules of the game are important. I turned a potential push (had the dealer drawn to 21) into a guaranteed 6 Card Charlie win!
One of the many reasons I got burned out on BJ years ago. I can play pretty good basic strategy. Your double downs and your splits are supposed to be your money makers, but they don't pan out.
I've had numerous iterations of this hand, with a 7 and I'm sure with several other numbers, and many times lose more than 1 hand. Consequently, as Travel Fanatic said, it could be worse and thus, nothing really earth shattering or noteworthy here IMO. I say this as an almost 100% blackjack player, I probably wouldn't have remembered this as losing only 1 hand is, at least for me, a step in the right direction (I usually lose far more than win, hands or during trips).
Yeah, that's the misconception about splits. They arent always supposed to be moneymakers. Sometimes its just about splitting to get the less shitty options
But when you have that kind of situation going, with splits being split further and doubled, and the dealer has a 5 or a 6 showing: your odds of winning all of it are pretty decent. I love those situations, and when they come through, it’s the best thing in blackjack. When the results are disappointing, or complete busts, it sucks, but at least you can say you dared to play the hand right. I never walk away feeling bad after that kind of loss. I remember one time, playing at Bellagio in a six deck shoe, I split 3s against a 4, and I can’t remember all of the details but it was three splits, and a couple of doubles with bad hits. I was at the end of my bankroll when this happened, and I had to pull cash out of my wallet to make the last couple of plays. Dealer busted, and I was back to life, and ended up walking away a winner. Of course I think there was a time or two when something similar happened and the dealer didn’t bust and took away everything, but who remembers that stuff?
Thanks for all the comments. I didn't have great expectations by splitting 7's, but anytime I can put more money on the table against a 6, I will. I usually look for the double opportunity after splitting. BTW, The Orleans has about the best BJ rules in Vegas, since it's a double deck game. They don't allow mid deck entry, so occasionally, if I'm tipping and playing alone at the start of a shuffle, the dealer will deal deeper into the decks, allowing for some intel on my part.
There are a couple of comments about splits not being money making hands. But the topic of this thread is this particular split hand you were dealt. The player advantage for your hand is about +24% EV when splitting. That's a pretty significant advantage! Of course, with a large variance. This case is not even remotely a case of splitting to lessen a potential loss.
Exactly — a dealer with a 4-5-6 showing has a 40%+ chance of busting. As a rule you want to put as many of your chips on the table as you can. I double anything From A-2 to A-7, and hard 9-11 (8 for single deck) and split everything except 10s, and split and double at every opportunity after a first split.
The vast majority of my BJ sessions go the way of how my double and split opportunities turn out. If I lose most of them it’s highly unlikely I’ll have a winning session. The reverse is also true. Even if my session is going sideways I’ll almost always welcome every opportunity to push as many chips out there that I can in those situations…
