How to play a pair of aces in blackjack

Aces provide a distinct strategic advantage over the dealer. This is because blackjack players can tailor the value of their ace according to their hand without exceeding 21.

Blessed with a pair of aces? You can count yourself twice as lucky. A pair of aces can be split into two separate hands, thus providing two strong chances at hitting 21. Other options in blackjack include standing and hitting, surrendering, or doubling down, although none are as effective as splitting when it comes to playing a pair of aces.

Of course, any two cards of the same denomination can be split in much the same way as a pair of aces. What makes this the most powerful duo, however, is that they are the only pair to provide a choice of starting hand values: either a 2 (1 + 1) or a soft 12 (1 + 11). (Soft hands are any which include at least one ace in the first two cards.)

Let’s say you kept your pair of aces as one hand. In this instance, you would start with a value of 12 (one ace played as ‘11’, the other as ‘1’), and only a 9 would give you blackjack.

Splitting your aces, on the other hand, opens up the floor so that you have four ways to get to 21 using your two new hands. For instance, you could make blackjack by pairing either ace with a 10, jack, queen, or king, respectively.

Still not sure how that looks in a typical blackjack game? Take a look at the table below to see why splitting aces is the most favourable strategy in both US and European blackjack.