You're dealt a pair of 7s. The dealer shows a 2. Split or play it as one hand? Basic strategy answers:
| Split ← | -0.1555 |
| Stand | -0.2928 |
| Hit | -0.3622 |
| Double | -0.7244 |
| You bust on the next card | 46.2% |
| Dealer 2 busts | 35.4% |
Split is worth 0.1373 more per unit than Stand. On a $10 bet that is $1.37 handed over every time you get it wrong. Across the 340 situations in this chart it ranks 244th by expected value — better than 96 of them, worse than 243. 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 7s 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.