Simon Thatcher

Blackjack is one of the world’s most popular card and gambling games. It can be found in thousands of casinos, both real world and online.&nbsp;

You can learn about blackjack in our <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-play-blackjack" target="_blank" title="">How To Play Blackjack Ultimate 2025 Guide</a>. If you’re interested in knowing how likely you are to win blackjack, and similarities between blackjack probabilities and betting odds, this is covered <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-are-the-odds-of-winning-blackjack" target="_blank" title="">here</a>.

The topic of splitting cards is a common source of confusion amongst blackjack players. This article will cover the rules for splitting and when you should split your cards, so you can have more confidence in your play. 

When a round of blackjack is dealt, each player initially receives two face-up cards, whilst the dealer is dealt one face-down and one face-up card in most blackjack variants.&nbsp;

The screenshot below shows five hands dealt in Premium Blackjack, a popular computerised blackjack game played in online casinos:

In this case, none of the hands can be split. The reason for this is easily explained using the blackjack split rule, which we’ll go through in the next section.&nbsp;

You can split cards if your first two cards are a pair with the same value.

Examples of cards that can be split are a pair of aces, a pair of 8s or a pair of 7s. Most casinos allow any pair of 10-value cards to be split, for example J-K or 10-Q, even though the cards don’t have the same rank.&nbsp;

However, some casinos only allow 10-value cards to be split if they have the same rank (for example, allowing a pair of jacks to be split, but not a king and a queen).&nbsp;

To signal that you want to split in a real-world casino, first place the same value of chips already staked next to your current chips, to double your stake.&nbsp;

Then, with your palm downwards, separate your index and middle fingers into a V-shape and place the fingertips of these fingers on the table.

Splitting in online blackjack is even easier - if you’re allowed to split, there will be a ‘Split’ button that you can click.&nbsp;

The dealer will split the two cards by moving them side-by-side, making two hands, then deal another face-up card onto each card.

Unless the cards that you split were aces, you'll then be able to hit either of your hands and, depending on the rules of the game, in some cases, double or split again (known as re-splitting). Each of your split hands is treated as an individual hand.

Once you have split your hand you’ll end up with two separate hands, which are played individually, one at a time.&nbsp;

If you’ve split aces, you’ll only be dealt one more card and won’t be able to double. If you’re dealt a 10-value card to your ace, it will normally count as 21 but not blackjack.&nbsp;

For any other value of cards split, you can stand, or hit as many times as you want to. You’ll normally be allowed to double after splitting.&nbsp;

With many blackjack variants, you’ll only be allowed to split your hand once, using the two cards initially dealt to you.&nbsp;

Some casinos and blackjack variants allow you to split more than once. As mentioned previously, this is known as re-splitting.&nbsp;

If this is the case, the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-house-edge" target="_blank" title="">house edge </a>is reduced and you’ll get a higher <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-does-rtp-mean-in-gambling" target="_blank" title="">Return To Player</a> (RTP) for the game. This is the reason a lot of blackjack variants don’t allow re-splitting!

Blackjack variants that allow re-splitting usually limit this to splitting a maximum of three times, giving four hands in total.

Variations in blackjack rules affect the Return To Player (RTP) of the game.&nbsp;

You can see the effect of a range of rule variations on RTP at the excellent Wizard of Odds site <a href="https://wizardofodds.com/games/blackjack/rule-variations/" target="_blank" title="">here</a>. All the variations mentioned that relate to splitting are listed in the table below.&nbsp;

The effect on the Return To Player from the rule variations are all relative to the following rules:&nbsp;

Re-splitting often isn’t allowed, particularly with online blackjack, so this reduces the RTP by 0.10% compared to the above rules.&nbsp;

To give an example of some fairly typical online blackjack rules, here are Premium Blackjack’s rules that relate to splitting:

Premium Blackjack has an RTP of 99.58% even without allowing re-splits, assuming you stick rigidly to Basic Blackjack Strategy (more about this later).

This means that if the possibility of re-splitting was added to the game, it would add 0.10% to the RTP, giving a total RTP of 99.68%.

Blackjack theory has been studied for many years, leading to the development of optimum strategies for play.&nbsp;

Foremost amongst these is Basic Blackjack Strategy, which tells you exactly how to play, no matter what cards you and the dealer are dealt.&nbsp;

Basic Blackjack is covered extensively in the <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-play-blackjack" target="_blank" title="">How To Play Blackjack Ultimate 2025 Guide</a>. Here, we’ll just focus on when you should split.

If you just want to know when it’s best to split, feel free to skip to the ‘Basic Blackjack Strategy‘ section below, or use Outplayed’s excellent <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/blackjack-strategy-calculator" target="_blank" title="">Blackjack Calculator</a>, which does all the hard work for you.&nbsp;

There are a few basic principles to consider when deciding whether or not to split.

Blackjack rules differ between different casinos and different blackjack variants, but a key principle that applies regardless of these differences is “Always split aces and eights”.&nbsp;

If you look at the Basic Blackjack Strategy chart for pairs in the next section, you’ll see that if surrender is allowed, the dealer hits on soft 17, and you have a pair of 8s against a dealer’s ace, it’s better to surrender.

If you have a pair of aces and don’t split, your hand will be worth 2 or 12, both of which are poor hands. Splitting gives you two very strong hands worth either 1 or 11, partly as you now have a good chance of being dealt a 10 to end up with the maximum 21.&nbsp;

With a pair of 8s, your hand is a hard 16, one of the worst hands possible. It’s much better to split those 8s to get two hands with a value of 8, from which you have several ways to achieve a decent hand value.&nbsp;

In the world of card counting, there are a few occasions when not splitting aces or eights is theoretically marginally better. Stanford Wong details this in his 1975 book, Professional Blackjack.

In practical terms, these situations don’t occur often enough to make a significant difference, so it’s likely that most card counters will stick to the “Always split aces and eights” rule.&nbsp;

To consider not splitting aces, the remaining deck would have to be so unfavourable to card counters (due to a count of -3 or lower) that they’d be better to leave the table completely.&nbsp;

This is a nice easy one which always applies, even to card counters - you should never split 5s.&nbsp;

A pair of 5s gives your hand a value of 10 points, which is a very strong hand and one of the best hands for a player to have in blackjack. You have a good chance of being dealt a ten to give you 20 points or, even better, an ace to give 21.&nbsp;

This is much better than splitting the pair to end up with two weak hands worth 5 points each.&nbsp;

When playing Basic Blackjack Strategy, you should never split 10s, since you already have a hand worth 20 points (the second highest points value possible), and you’re likely to end up with a worse hand if you split to get two hands worth 10 points each.&nbsp;

This is one where card counters will often break this basic rule since there are a few occasions when it’s better to split 10s rather than stand. Here are the most important two:

These are two of the most important blackjack deviations for card counters. Blackjack deviations involve changing your strategy from Basic Blackjack Strategy when the deck is favourable to you.&nbsp;

Renowned gaming mathematician, blackjack specialist, and member of the Blackjack Hall of Fame, Don Schelsinger, published his influential 1997 book Blackjack Attack - Playing the Pros’ Way.

In it, he listed his ‘Illustrious 18’, the eighteen most important blackjack deviations for increasing your edge over the casino when card counting using the Hi-Lo system.&nbsp;

Here’s the full list of the ‘Illustrious 18’, which ranks the deviations from Basic Blackjack Strategy in terms of their impact on the house edge. The two deviations mentioned above for splitting 10s are ranked very highly in 4th and 5th place:

According to Don Schlesinger, the top 12 of these deviations account for more than 90% of all the gain that can be achieved by making changes to Basic Blackjack Strategy when card counting using the Hi-Lo System.

For completeness, these other deviations where it’s technically better to split 10s rather than stand are also mentioned in Stanford Wong’s book. However, they aren’t important enough to make the ‘Illustrious 18’ list:

Only a very small proportion of blackjack players will ever get involved with card counting, which is difficult and takes lots of practice.&nbsp;

This means that, unless you’re doing a worthwhile <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/best-casino-bonuses" target="_blank" title="">casino offer</a> involving blackjack, the casino will always have the edge.&nbsp;

Even so, you can minimise this house edge by following Basic Blackjack Strategy, which is the most effective strategy that doesn’t involve advanced methods like card counting.&nbsp;

There are various Blackjack Strategy charts, which you can find here. However, we’ll focus on the strategy for pairs here, so you can see when it’s best to split, stand, hit, double, or surrender. 

Although committing this strategy chart to memory will allow you to play the best possible game of blackjack quickly, if you’re playing blackjack online, whether computerised or in a live casino, it’s much easier to use Outplayed’s <a href="https://outplayed.com/calculators/blackjack-strategy-calculator" target="_blank" title="">Blackjack Calculator</a>, which is based on Basic Blackjack Strategy, instead.

Splitting in blackjack can be confusing at first, but isn’t difficult with a little practice. Here are some of the key facts to bear in mind about splitting.&nbsp;

When Can You Split In Blackjack?

The world of elite sports is highly demanding, with athletes putting their bodies under immense stress during their training and in competition.&nbsp;

Professional tennis players are highly conditioned individuals with teams of experts around them to coach them and look after their physical and mental well-being, including advice on avoiding injuries.

Even so, there will inevitably be times when a player is injured seriously enough that they need to withdraw from a competition.

When <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-faq" target="_blank" title="">Matched Betting</a> on the match result of a tennis game, it’s essential to check the retirement rules carefully, to avoid losing money on your bets.

You can then decide whether to back and lay your bet at a betting exchange or if you need to <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/dutching" target="_blank" title="">dutch</a> your bet with another bookmaker in the same group.

In this article, we’ll look at why players withdraw from matches, the difference between a walkover and a retirement, how different bookmakers handle tennis retirements, and what to do if you’re using the tennis match result market for Matched Betting.

Retirement is often used to describe the time when people choose to stop working. Whilst tennis players retire at the end of their career, this generally isn’t what ‘tennis retirement’ means in the tennis world.&nbsp;

Tennis retirement is where a player withdraws from a match after it has started.&nbsp;

The retirement is generally medically related, due to illness or injury.&nbsp;

Retirement is different from a walkover, when a player withdraws from a match before it starts, meaning their opponent gets a ‘free pass’ to the next round without needing to play a game.&nbsp;

How Common Is Retirement In Professional Tennis?

The training undergone by professional tennis players is very thorough, leading them to have very well-conditioned bodies.

This, in conjunction with excellent technique, minimises the risk of strains and injuries.

Despite these obvious advantages over recreational tennis players, the sheer volume and intensity of professional matches means that retirements are fairly common.&nbsp;

The Grand Slam tournaments, comprising the Australian Open, French Open, Wimbledon, and US Open, are the most prestigious tennis competitions.&nbsp;

A <a href="https://www.espn.com/tennis/story/_/id/21586057/tennis-failure-complete-numbers-rate-withdrawals-retirements-atp-tour" target="_blank" title="">study</a> of the rate of retirements and walkovers between 1992 and 2017 showed an upward trend in players withdrawing from ATP Grand Slam events. In 1992, withdrawals affected 2.56% of games. This had gradually increased to 5.51% by 2017.&nbsp;

<a href="https://lida.sport-iat.de/dtb-tennis/Record/4005420" target="_blank" title="">Data</a> from all the ATP tournaments and the four Grand Slam tournaments in 2000 revealed that tennis retirements affected 2.1% of matches (around 1 in 50).&nbsp;

One of <a href="https://www.atptour.com/en/players/roger-federer/f324/bio" target="_blank" title="">Roger Federer</a>’s many impressive career accomplishments is that he never retired from a tennis match, despite playing 1526 games and winning 20 Grand Slam titles.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Reasons Why Players Withdraw From Matches

A <a href="https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5349393/" target="_blank" title="">study</a> looked at all 89 United States Tennis Association (USTA) Pro Circuit matches played in 2013.

These were made up of 47 men’s tournaments and 42 women’s tournaments.

It showed that 80% of the withdrawals were due to injury; four times higher than the rate for illness.&nbsp;

Whilst there’s plenty of crossover, the type of injury leading to a player withdrawing from a match tends to <a href="https://journal.aspetar.com/en/archive/volume-13-targeted-topic-sports-medicine-in-tennis/injury-trends-in-professional-tennis-across-different-surfaces" target="_blank" title="">vary depending on the court surface</a>.&nbsp;

In general, muscle and tendon injuries are very common in tennis.&nbsp;

Here’s a breakdown of some of the reasons for injuries across the three main surfaces upon which tennis is played.&nbsp;

Even the very best tennis players, with the best training and equipment, sometimes retire for seemingly unlikely reasons. Jannik Sinner, currently ranked number 1 in the <a href="https://www.atptour.com/en/rankings/singles" target="_blank" title="">ATP rankings</a>, withdrew from a <a href="https://tennisuptodate.com/atp/i-had-blisters-and-couldnt-move-sinner-on-miami-open-retirement" target="_blank" title="">2022 Miami Open match against Francisco Cerundolo</a> due to blisters causing movement to be very difficult.&nbsp;&nbsp;

Why Tennis Retirement Rules Are Important For Bettors

Bookmakers and exchanges have their own rules for dealing with tennis retirements, and these have the potential to affect your bets.&nbsp;

If you're <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-faq" target="_blank" title="">Matched Betting</a> using the tennis match result (betting on the winner of the game), it’s vital to take care with the tennis retirement rules for a particular bookmaker.

The issue is that the different retirement rules could lead to you lose money on your Matched Bet.

There are three main tennis retirement rules groups, which we’ll look at in the next section.&nbsp;

The differing rules mean it’s important to only back and lay your match result bets if the bookmaker you’re betting with is in the same group as the exchange you’re laying on.

All exchanges are in the same group, which we’ll call Type 1.&nbsp;

If your bookmaker is in a different group to the exchanges, you’ll need to dutch your match result bets with another bookmaker in the same group.&nbsp;

<a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/dutching" target="_blank" title="">Dutching</a> involves placing multiple back bets to cover all outcomes. When betting on the tennis match result, you dutch your bets by backing one player/pair with one bookmaker and the other player/pair with another bookmaker.&nbsp;

When Matched Betting on the match result market, you should carefully check the tennis retirement rules for your bookmaker so you know if you can back and lay your bets or if you’ll need to <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/dutching" target="_blank" title="">dutch</a> with another bookmaker in the same group.&nbsp;

This section includes the tennis retirement rules for a large number of different bookmakers and the four betting exchanges.

Links to the retirement rules for the bookmakers and exchanges are included.&nbsp;

Bear in mind that the rules are subject to change at any time. If you’re unsure of the rules, you should always check for yourself.

The rules below are correct as of the writing of this article.&nbsp;

Bets are valid if one set is completed.

With this category, all bets are valid if at least one set is completed in the match. All of the exchanges fall into this category, so if you're backing a tennis bet with one of the bookies in this group, you can safely lay your bet on one of the exchanges.

Bets are only valid if the full match is completed.

In this category, bets are only valid if the full match is completed. If a player retires early, all bets are void. There are no exchanges in this category, so you should not lay bets off against bookies in this category. Instead, you would need to dutch your bets between bookies in this group.

Bets are only valid if the full match is completed, however matches do not need to be complete if a player is disqualified.

In this category, bets are only valid if the full match is completed. If a player retires early, all bets are void.

There are no exchanges in this category, so you should not lay bets off against bookies in this category.

Instead, you would need to dutch your bets between bookies in this group. The difference here is that if a player is disqualified, all bets will be settled on the player progressing to the next round/deemed the winner.

Disqualification is incredibly rare (9 players have been disqualified since 1990).

If you're prepared to take the small risk then you can dutch this group with group 2a. In the event of a disqualification, you will have one losing bet and one void bet.

These rules can change at any time so it’s important to double-check the rules yourself.&nbsp;

At a professional level, tennis puts great physical demands on players.

It’s no surprise that despite their high levels of conditioning there will be occasions when injury or illness leads them to withdraw from a match.&nbsp;

If a player withdraws from a match after it’s started, this is known as a retirement.&nbsp;

When betting on the match result of a tennis match whilst <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/matched-betting-faq" target="_blank" title="">Matched Betting</a>, it’s vital to check the tennis retirement rules for the bookmakers, so you know whether you can safely back and lay your bet, or if you need to <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/dutching" target="_blank" title="">dutch</a> your bet with another bookmaker in the same group.&nbsp;

If the bookmaker uses Type 1 rules, you’re fine to lay your bet at any exchange.&nbsp;

For bookmakers that use Type 2a or 2b rules, you’ll need to dutch your bet with another bookmaker in the same group, by backing one player/pair with one bookmaker and backing the other player/pair with the other.&nbsp;

Tennis Retirement Rules 2025

Value betting involves placing bets that are more likely to win than suggested by the bookmaker’s odds.

Value betting is a betting strategy that gives you an edge over the bookmakers by finding odds that are higher than they should be.

It involves accurately working out how likely an outcome is, then using this information to find ‘overpriced’ bookmaker odds and betting on these.

Unlike with <a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting"></a><a href="https://outplayed.com/what-is-matched-betting">Matched Betting</a>, you won’t lock in a profit when placing a value bet.

But, if you can consistently find bets that have value to you – known as positive expected value (+EV) bets – you can make fantastic long-term profits from value betting.

Even better, value betting works with <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/top-tips-to-avoid-being-gubbed">gubbed accounts</a>.

In this article, you’ll find out about how bookmakers set their odds, different value betting techniques, and a range of value betting tools.

First, we’ll look at some key ideas that help us understand how to find value bets.

Fair odds accurately reflect how likely a bet is to win.

A bookmaker offering fair odds would have no edge and would pay out as much in winnings as they took in losing bets over time.

With a coin toss, the chance of either heads or tails is 50%.

A bookmaker offering fair odds on a coin toss would pay double your stake if you won and take your stake if you lost.

To work out the return on a winning bet, the bookmaker multiplies your stake by the decimal odds. You win double your stake on a winning bet at fair odds for a coin toss, so the return on a £10 stake is:

Return = Stake x Odds = £10 x 2.0 = £20

£10 of this is just you getting your stake back, so the profit is £10.

There’s a 50% chance your bet wins, so you’ll make £10 profit half the time and lose your £10 stake the other half. Over time, you’ll break even, and so will the bookmaker.

The bookmaker would then go out of business quickly, which is why they don’t offer fair odds.

Implied probability shows how likely an outcome is, as implied by the odds.

It’s a really important concept when it comes to value betting. Lower odds bets are more likely to win, and higher odds bets less likely.

To work out the implied probability of a bet, you divide 1 by the decimal odds. For the fair odds coin toss bet, this is:

Implied probability = 1 / 2.0 = 0.5 = 50%

We know the actual chance of either heads or tails is 50%. Since the implied probability of the bet is the same as the actual likelihood of it winning, we can see that the odds of 2.0 are fair.

In betting, <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/what-is-expected-value">expected value</a> is the average profit you’ll make from placing a bet.

It takes into account the likelihood of the bet winning or losing, the profit you make if it wins, and the loss you take if it loses.

For a £10 bet on a coin toss at odds of 2.0, the expected value (EV) is:

EV = (0.5 x £10) + (0.5 x -£10) = £5 - £5 = £0

This is just a way of saying, with maths, that you win £10 half the time and lose £10 the other half. It also shows there’s no long-term value to this bet for either you or the bookmaker. We’ll look at how to find that value later.

Bookmakers set their odds to ensure they profit in the long run. They work out the fair odds for a bet, then set their odds lower than this to give themselves an edge.

For a coin toss, they might lower the odds from fair odds of 2.0 to 1.9. This bet will return £19 if it wins (a £9 profit), and you’ll lose £10 if it loses.

EV = (0.5 x £9) + (0.5 x -£10) = £4.50 - £5 = -£0.50

In the long-term, you’ll lose 50p on average for each £10 bet you place, meaning this is a negative expected value (-EV) bet.

The bookmaker, on the other hand, makes a 50p profit for every £10 staked. This is their edge, or margin, and is the key to how they make money from the bets they offer.

Bookmakers use betting analysts, sports traders, and quants (quantitative analysts) to assess, as accurately as possible, the likelihood of an outcome.

The odds can then be set accordingly, making sure to reduce the odds a bit to factor in that all-important margin.

Some bookmakers also take into account odds from betting exchanges or other bookmakers when setting their own odds.

When two football teams play each other, betting analysts look at data, including previous results, recent form, expected weather conditions, team selection, and injuries.

They use this to predict the likelihood of the outcomes of a wide range of bets.

A bookmaker setting match odds for Serbia v England might assess the chances of the three possible outcomes as:

These correspond to fair odds of 9.52 for a Serbia win, 4.65 for a draw, and 1.47 for an England win.

To factor in a margin, the bookmaker lowers these odds to set their actual odds. For this game, they might have odds of 8 for Serbia, 4.5 for the draw, and 1.44 for England.

These are Betfred’s actual odds for the game. The imagined fair odds are an estimate of what these might be.

An educated guess was made that Betfred reduced Serbia’s odds by a much bigger factor than England’s, to take account of the <a href="https://daily.jstor.org/betting-on-the-longshot/">favourite-long shot bias</a>.

It’s been observed many times that bettors tend to bet on ‘long shots’ or ‘underdogs’ more than they should, based on the odds, so bookmakers can reduce the odds of long shots by more than they do with favourites.

Bookmakers can be roughly divided into two types – sharp bookmakers and soft bookmakers.

Sharp bookmakers are aimed at professional bettors. They tend to have lower margins and adjust their odds very quickly, using sophisticated systems.

Sharp bookmakers set their own odds, using advanced systems and models.

Most of the process is automated, allowing them to react to events like player injuries quickly, often adjusting odds in a few seconds. They are also often the first bookmakers to create a particular betting market.

The initial odds offered by a bookmaker are called opening odds. They are often released late at night or early in the morning, so are also known as overnight lines.

Although they don’t operate in the UK, Pinnacle are often referred to as the sharpest bookmaker. They don’t offer <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/qualifying-bet-guide">sign-up or reload bonuses</a>, so can afford to have smaller margins on their betting markets.

Pinnacle post opening odds with low betting limits of perhaps a few hundred pounds. ‘Sharp’ bettors – experienced, well-informed, and often professional bettors – are often the ones placing the first bets on these opening odds. Pinnacle then adjust their odds based on the betting activity of these sharp bettors, whose opinion they value.

Once Pinnacle have refined their odds from their opening odds, they can confidently increase their betting limits to as high as £50,000 or more for some markets.

Due to their sophisticated methods, sharp bookmakers have very efficient odds. This means that, once the margin has been removed from their odds, they tend to be an accurate indicator of fair odds.

Many Asian bookmakers, for example, Dafabet and 188Bet, are generally considered to be sharp bookmakers.

Soft bookmakers are aimed at casual bettors. They tend to have higher margins and adjust their odds relatively slowly, often in response to odds changes at sharp bookmakers or exchanges.

Most well-known bookmakers, like Bet365, Paddy Power, Ladbrokes, and William Hill are soft bookmakers. They offer <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/qualifying-bet-guide">sign-up and reload bonuses</a> and have bigger margins than sharp bookmakers.

Soft bookmakers don’t price their markets as efficiently as sharp bookmakers, so their odds tend to be a worse indicator of fair odds.

Despite their bigger margin, it can be easier to find overpriced odds with soft bookmakers, since their odds are more likely to be mispriced.

This can be exploited by value bettors, who can often bet on overpriced odds at soft bookmakers, extracting long-term value.

Exchange odds are set by bettors, and change as a result of supply and demand.

Betting exchanges use peer-to-peer betting, where bettors bet against each other, rather than taking bets offered by a bookmaker. Exchanges make money by charging a commission on winning bets, although you can get <a href="https://outplayed.com/matchbook">0% commission with Matchbook</a> with <a href="https://outplayed.com/user/register">Outplayed membership</a>.

Exchange odds arise differently to bookmaker odds. To form the market initially, individual bettors set their own odds. These odds then change as bets are placed. If more bets are placed on one outcome, these odds tend to drop, and the odds for the other outcomes in the same market increase.

As more bets are placed and more money enters the market, it becomes more ‘well formed’. The amount of money available to place bets (the liquidity) increases, and the gap between the back and lay odds (the spread) decreases.

New Yorker columnist James Surowiecki suggested a compelling idea in his book The Wisdom of Crowds.

He argued that “the many are smarter than the few”. In terms of betting exchanges, the suggestion is that a large number of people betting on a market, and causing the odds to change, often leads to odds that more accurately reflect the likelihood of the bet happening than bookmaker odds, set by experts.

Studies have shown a very close correlation between the implied probabilities of an outcome at betting exchanges and the likelihood of that outcome occurring.

A 3-year study by Franck, Verbeek and Nüesch, of all 5478 games played across the ‘Big Five’ football leagues (England, Spain, Germany, Italy, and France), showed that exchange odds tend to be a better predictor of actual results than bookmaker odds.

Source: <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=1503350">SSRN</a>

Another reason exchange odds are a better indicator of fair odds is that the odds aren’t reduced to create a margin, unlike at a bookmaker.

The idea of the wisdom of crowds isn’t perfect.

For example, if a bookmaker’s odds for Liverpool start to drop, just because lots of people decide to back Liverpool, this could lead to more people betting on them.

This would then cause the odds to drop further. Herd mentality could then ensue, with ‘fear of missing out’ leading to ever more bets placed on Liverpool.

Since there was no sound reason for the odds dropping, bets placed on Liverpool would have increasingly poor value the further the odds dropped.

Value betting is the placing of bets on betting markets that have been overvalued by bookmakers.

It’s clear that the odds are literally stacked against us when we bet at a bookmaker.

What Is Value Betting? Everything You Need To Know

Blackjack Switch is a <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/how-to-play-blackjack" target="_blank" title="">blackjack</a> variant that gives a fascinating twist on the standard rules of this very popular <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/ultimate-guide-to-casinos" target="_blank" title="">casino</a> game. You’re dealt two hands and have the option to swap the second card dealt between your hands to improve them.&nbsp;

This new rule adds a new layer of strategy to your play. Although it’s sometimes obvious whether or not you should switch, many situations are less clear.&nbsp;

In this article, you’ll discover the history of Blackjack Switch, how it’s played, and strategies to minimise the house edge to give you the best long-term outcomes and more enjoyment from the game.&nbsp;

Whether you use Blackjack Switch for <a href="https://outplayed.com/blog/why-you-need-to-do-casino-offers" target="_blank" title="">casino offers</a> or just play recreationally, this guide will tell you everything you need to know.&nbsp;

Blackjack Switch is one of many variations on this classic table game. The table set-up will look very familiar to anyone who has played blackjack:

In Blackjack Switch, you’re always dealt two hands, receiving two face-up cards in each hand with the initial deal. The dealer is dealt two cards - the first face-up and the second face-down.&nbsp;

Here’s an example hand that shows the initial setup:

In this example, the two player hands are fairly poor. Both will bust if you’re dealt a 10-value card (the most common card in the deck).

Clicking ‘Switch’ swaps the four and the jack between the hands, giving two much stronger hands:

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