With a soft hand, the player should consider doubling only when the hand held has a value of 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, or 18 in casino game. When the player should double with such a hand is indicated in Table 3. This table should be read in the same way as Table 2, in the previous section. Notice that with a soft hand you never double against 2, 7, 8, 9, 10, or A. You double against 3 only when you have soft 17 or soft 18.  When the dealer draws to soft 17, double on (A, 8) against a dealer’s 6 and on (A, 7) against a dealer’s 2. In many casinos, for example in downtown Reno, the player is not allowed to double on soft hands. Restrictions on doubling are very unfavorable to the player. Such restrictions are common, for example, in downtown Reno and in Puerto Rico.  Splitting (When Doubling Down After Splitting Is Not Allowed) In Table 4, we give the strategy for splitting pairs. Table 4 should be read as follows: Determine the block to the right of the numbers representing the player’s pair and under the number representing the dealer’s up card, If the block is white, split. If the block is shaded, do not split.  For instance, if you have two 9s and the dealer has a 7 up, you do not split since the block to the right of (9, 9) and under 7 is shaded. If you have the same pair and the dealer has, for example, 9 up, you split, since the block to the right of(9, 9) and under 9 is white.  Observe that you should split (8, 8)* and (A, A), no matter what the dealer’s up card is. Observe also that you never split (4, 4), (5, 5) and (10, 10). If you have (5, 5), the value of your hand is 10; you never split this hand. If the dealer’s up card is a 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9  you should double down. In two-deck games split (6, 6) against a 2. Splitting (When Doubling Down After Splitting Is Avowed As we already wrote in the first chapter, the option of doubling down after splitting is favorable to the skillful player. When this option is offered, the player should split more often. The strategy for splitting pairs, under these conditions, is given in Table 5.  This table should be read in the same way as Table 4. Observe that you never split (5, 5) or (10, 10). When the option of doubling down after splitting is offered, you split (4, 4) if the dealer’s up card is a 5 or 6. Dealers and various players often criticize such playing decisions, particularly if you lose one or more of the hands you obtained by splitting. Do not listen to them and do not try to explain why you split. But remember, when doubling down after splitting is allowed, the correct decision is to split (4, 4) against a 5 or 6.  Insurance  Strictly speaking, the basic strategy player should not insure. This is true if we assume that the player’s decisions depend only on the following three cards: the dealer’s ace and his first two cards.  Nevertheless, if for example, the player plays two or more hands or sees additional cards before he makes his decisions, the situation is somewhat different.  as stated in the previous chapter, only the players who keep track of tens can make always correct insurance decisions. These players should insure if:  3 X the number of unseen tens ) the number of unseen cards (2)