Why do you split 8s vs 10?

Michael Shackleford, who calls himself "the Wizard of Odds," says splitting 8s against a dealer 10 has the "smallest expected loss" (as opposed to staying, hitting or doubling) of all moves with a pair of 8s.

sfgate.com - Splitting 8s in blackjack: Is it worth the risk? - SFGATE

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Blackjack players are taught early on to split aces and 8s. But your faithful gambling columnist, always the skeptic, wonders: why?

Before we get into specifics, it's only fair to offer a primer for the rookies: In blackjack, when your first two cards match, you're allowed to "split" them, essentially turning one hand into two. When you split aces, you get only one card for each ace. When you split all other cards (including 10s, though cardrooms frown upon this), you can play the hand out however you like. Naturally, you're only going to split cards if doing so helps you win (or gives you a stronger hand to stand a chance against the dealer) - which brings us to our lesson about splitting 8s. Experts say the reason to engage in this tactic is to improve your hand: A 16 is not a strong hand, and the likelihood of turning each 8 into an 18 is relatively strong (as there are 16 10s in each deck). Still, justification for this move is marginal at best. Mathematicians say that over the course of millions of hands, there is a percentage factor in favor of splitting those hands. But because many of us gamblers likely won't live long enough to see millions of hands, other experts offer different explanations. Michael Shackleford, who calls himself "the Wizard of Odds," says splitting 8s against a dealer 10 has the "smallest expected loss" (as opposed to staying, hitting or doubling) of all moves with a pair of 8s. It's important to note that Shackleford's math indicates there's still an expected loss - likely more than half of your original bet. Other experts advise against splitting 8s against anything but a 7, or unless the dealer shows a bust card of 3, 4, 5 or 6. (In the latter case, you likely would split anything short of 9s or 10s.) John Patrick, who has written books on the subject, advises players against splitting 8s against what he considers to be the dealer's "power" cards (9, 10, jack, queen, king and ace). "Why would you take a rotten hand of two 8s where you're risking one betting unit and turn it into two rotten hands where you're risking two units?" he asked rhetorically during a recent interview. "The answer is: You don't. You should hit that lousy 16 and probably get beat, losing one unit instead of losing two." I side more with Patrick on this one, though I do split 8s when the dealer shows a 9. In my experience in Northern California casinos, staying on two 8s usually causes great consternation among the other players at the table. Sometimes, my fellow players even curse me out. In the long run, however, I know I'm losing less money on that hand than they are. It's a small consolation for an otherwise gutsy play.