You're dealt a pair of 2s. The dealer shows a 2. Split or play it as one hand? Basic strategy answers:
| Split ← | -0.0889 |
| Hit | -0.1149 |
| Stand | -0.2928 |
| Double | -0.5856 |
| You bust on the next card | 0.0% |
| Dealer 2 busts | 35.4% |
Split beats Hit by 0.0260 per unit staked. Small, but it is the same small edge in every shoe you ever play — and it compounds over a lifetime of hands. Across the 340 situations in this chart it ranks 211th by expected value — better than 129 of them, worse than 210. Expected value is per unit staked, computed for multi-deck, dealer stands on soft 17, double after split allowed. The model and the code are published as data.
Against a dealer 2 (35% bust chance), splitting 2s turns one mediocre total into two playable hands while the dealer is vulnerable. With double-after-split allowed, you also keep the option to press each new hand — that's where the split profit comes from.