Splitting tens

I will be in town October 14, for 4 nights at the Flea-mont. if all goes well anyway. but I am not trying to get barred. I did get put out of GG once earlier this year while not gambling. it was just some young security officer trying to prove himself I suppose. I have a friend that lost his winnings at the GG when he tried to cash out and had no ID on him. I met the owner of the GG about a week ago when I was in there, got a selfie with him, he looked wasted. end of ramble.

You keep splitting 10s and I'll keep standing on 16. I really hate it when others at the table try to tell me how to play.

The question is if you split 10s and draw a 10 for your first split card, do you split again?

Yes, you do. In for an ounce, in for the pound.

You bet I do! See my first hand in the OP.

I have been doing a lot of further research on the matter and am coming to some pretty surprising results.

First I have to comment on the responses both here and elsewhere. People really like to believe what they have always believed. Most folks rarely do their own research. I'm not trying to change anyone's mind, I'm just relating what I have found.

During a hand of BlackJack someone is eventually going to ask "What does the book say to do?" The proper answer should be "Which book?"
There are a lot of different opinions, or subtleties, of how to play a hand of BJ according to basic strategy. All of the answers are based on solid math, the differences are based on how, and why, the question is asked.

I am a recreational player. My nightly hands played is more likely to be in the hundreds rather than the thousands. I'm not in it for the long haul. My goal is to make as much money as fast as possible.
It's true, in the long run, you should make more money by not splitting tens than doing so. BUT, and it's a big but, that is based on not resplitting or doubling after. It is also based on many, many thousands of hands.

When a hand is analyzed from my perspective it makes overwhelming sense to split the tens.
What is surprising me is the number of "experts" who agree with this. On the surface everyone says "never split tens" but when the hand is looked at by itself....

The idea is to look at one single hand of BJ. A Pair of ten cards dealt against a dealer 5 or 6. There is a far greater chance of making more money by splitting than standing pat.

jphelan linked an article by Henry Tamburin. His mathematical explanation and advice are to NOT split tens. However, in his book 'Take the money and run' he shows that the math is for one split of tens with no resplitting and no double downs after splitting. If you are allowed to re split at least twice and double down after splitting the math is so far in the players favor that it is a good move. However, he recommends against it as a card counter as he believes it brings too much attention to the player and could disrupt the end game of advantage play. I don't have an end game other than to make as much as I can as fast as I can. Most players are NOT advantage players.

Bryce Carlson wrote the book 'BlackJack for blood'. It is a pretty complicated book where he puts forth his Omega II card counting system. The system is considered one of the best but it is complicated and takes a deep mathematical understanding to implement. What I do like is his very methodical approach to the game. He just doesn't give a statistical analysis of the basic play but goes deep into the math and tackles all the variables.
He shows that splitting tens is a good move. Certainly better than all the bad connotations people seem to have with it.

The one thing I never knew could be done in Blackjack, is that you are allowed to ask other players if you can buy their insurance on whether or not the dealer has Blackjack. I knew a person through friends who used to be on teams with Kenny Uston. He would know when the deck was rich in 10s and would ask other players who initially didn't want insurance, if he could buy it. The dealer didn't say that it wasn't allowed and most players agreed to it.

He also would go to be early and get up at 4am to go and play the graveyard shift. The tables are relatively empty and many of the dealers were on autopilot mode, whereby they were just putting in their hours and not paying close attention.

He also believed that if you can handle your alcohol, that you should order a drink and count while drinking.

You're claiming that Bryce Carlson or ANY other legitimate blackjack author recommended that non-counters split tens? I don't believe that for a nanosecond. Has Rob Singer written a blackjack book by the way?

And the stupid goes even deeper. You claimed that when the casino allows doubling down after splitting, that is an incentive to split tens. Pray tell what hand would you EVER double down on after splitting tens. On a soft 21? Or on a twelve, a thirteen, a fourteen, a fifteen, a sixteen, a seventeen, an eighteen, a nineteen, or a twenty?
Those are your only options- so name one time it's smart to double after splitting tens.

But if you're looking for a playing method that will keep those nice folks at the Golden Gate treating you well, I think you've nailed it. Congrats.

In Cowboys OP he states he doubled down when he drew an ace to one of his split hands. From the sounds of it he is just a recreational player out to have fun. If he wants to spit tens and double down on soft 21's have at it. On a side note I will add I fully understand others peoples play does not have any effect on my hand but it drives me nuts when people vary from basic strategy.

This is exactly the reason that I prefer pitch games. I pay far less attention to what the other players do.

I like your user name (oddswrkin). I never hear that anymore.