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Should I ever double or split for less than the full wager?
Although most casinos will permit to doubling or splitting for less than the full wager, you should always wager the full amount permitted.
Where doubling down is concerned, this is a move that is done when your odds of winning (whether by beating the dealer's total or watching him bust) with just one hit are extremely high, so betting less does not make sense. In fact, the reduction in the house's edge anticipates that you will take full advantage of these opportunities, and if you do not, your overall performance will be significantly worse. Would it were possible to triple or quadruple instead—but never double for less.
We've seen a few blackjack Web sites that advise doubling down for less when the dealer's chances of having a pat hand seem high (an upcard of seven or higher)—but this does not bear out. Remember that basic strategy accounts for the likely values of every unknown card, so the dealer's hole card is not necessarily a ten. There are many times when you'll be facing a scare card and the dealer will turn over a five and bust on the first hit.
Where splitting is concerned, it makes even less sense. In most cases, you're splitting to take advantage of the dealer's probable bust—so again, the odds of winning are extremely high. But in other cases, a split is made with the expectation that one hand may win while the other loses, resulting in a break-even for the player. If you wager less on a split hand, and the hand with the lesser wager wins while the other loses, you've still lost money.
Possibly the only time that splitting or doubling for less is sensible is when you've been doing poorly and don't have the bankroll to make the full wager. In this case, it's still not a profitable choice, but it's more sensible than exceeding your budget for the session by going into your pocket or calling for a marker so that you can make the full wager.
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