Should You Get Insurance In Blackjack
- Should You Get Insurance In Blackjack For Real
- Should You Get Insurance In Blackjack Winnings
- Should You Get Insurance In Blackjack Without
- Should You Use Insurance In Blackjack
- Ralph Waldo Emerson |
Never Take Insurance
If you hold a blackjack while the dealer has an ace showing, you will be offered “even money.” Don’t be fooled! This is just another name for what is mathematically the same as insurance. If you take even money, your blackjack will not get paid 3 to 2 like it normally would. If you take the insurance bet, you’re either going to win the $10 on your bet and push or lose the $5 insurance bet while winning your $15 blackjack hand. What’s the point? You’re winning $10 one way or another. However, without taking the insurance bet, you’re going to average roughly $10.38 per blackjack.
| One error I see made repeatedly is the taking of insurance. Let me see if I can't help to clear up why you should never take this. The term 'insurance' is actual a misnomer... you are not actually 'insuring' anything. All insurance is, is a side bet, at 2 to 1 odds, on whether the dealer has a 10 in the hole or not. It is nothing more than that. Insurance is offered each time the dealer has an Ace as his upcard. If you decide to 'take insurance' you are betting one half of your original bet that the dealer has an 10 in the hole. If he has this 10, he will have a blackjack and you will lose your original bet (unless you too have a blackjack) but you will win 2 times your insurance bet, so you will in effect break even for that hand. If the dealer does not have a 10 in the hole, you simply lose your insurance side bet and play continues. Mathematically, it is simply a bad bet both in single deck and multiple deck games. The chances the dealer has that 10 in the hole are almost always greater than 2 to 1. And because you are offered only 2 to 1, you're not getting the 'proper value.' Note: If you are keeping track of the number of 10's that are left in the deck, as well as the total number of non-10's that remain in the deck, and if this ratio falls below 2 to 1, then taking insurance is indeed a good bet. Consider a single deck game, on the very first hand. You're dealt a 10, 10 against an Ace. Insurance is offered. At this point there are 14 tens and 33 non-tens left in the deck. This ratio is greater (although close) than 2 to 1. Insurance should not be taken. This may help clear it up. Suppose you are keeping track of the cards that remain in the deck. At some point insurance is offered and you realize no tens remain in the deck. You certainly wouldn't take insurance here, would you? Of course not. The dealer can't possibly have a 10 in the hole if there are none left. On the other hand, suppose the unlikely scenario occurred where there were nothing but 10's left in the deck. Here you have that rarity of all bets... a 100% cinch, since the dealer must have a blackjack. Now how about a scenario like this: There are 20 cards left in the deck and only two of them are 10's. Even the people who are not mathematically inclined should be able to realize, without stopping to figure it out, this too would simply be a bad bet. The dealer probably does not have one of those two remaining 10's in the hole. Once again, mathematically speaking, if the odds are going to be greater than 2 to 1 that the dealer has a 10 in the hole and if the insurance bet pays only 2 to 1, it is 'not fair.' You will lose money in the long run taking insurance. One of the most common misconceptions in the game is you should always insure a blackjack. The argument goes, 'You will win money on the hand regardless of what the dealer has.' (And this is true. If the dealer has a blackjack you tie your regular bet and win money on your insurance bet. If the dealer does not have a blackjack you lose your insurance bet but win 1.5 times your regular bet. In either case you gain one unit.) Yes, that is all true. However if you do not insure your blackjack, like you're supposed to, you will win more than one unit per hand in the long run!! If you can't understand and implement this simple concept, you will lose money playing blackjack and there is no point in you reading any further - it is simply not your game. Thanks for visiting my site. If you don't believe me, maybe you'll believe one of the seventy different books I own on blackjack... they will all tell you the same thing. Another misconception is you should 'insure' your good hands and not your bad ones. As I've already mentioned, insurance is a side bet... it doesn't have a darn thing to do with the cards you have. Have I ever taken insurance? Of course I have, on several occasions! But then again, I keep track of the ratio of 10's to non 10's and therefore I know when it is correct to do so. |
Blackjack surrender and insurance rules can prove occasionally useful for online blackjack players. They are somewhat unique bets in that you’re making a concession with them that you’re not going to win the current hand. But you can use them to cut your losses and keep your bankroll strong.
When discussing online blackjack strategy, many players talk about the active moves they can use to win a hand. They ask questions like “Should I hit and to get closer to 21 or should I stand and hope the dealer busts?” Or “When should I double or split?”
Should You Get Insurance In Blackjack For Real
While these are important parts of the online blackjack strategy equation, they aren’t quite all of it. There are also times when surrender and insurance can be useful to you. Even though they’re defensive bets in many ways, they can really help you come away as an online blackjack winner in the long run.
In the following article, we’ll explain all you need to know about online blackjack surrender and insurance rules. We’ll explain what they are, how they work, and what the different rules are surrounding them. In addition, we’ll talk about the best strategies to use for online blackjack surrender and insurance.
Basics of Online Blackjack Insurance
In terms of basic online blackjack with standard rules, insurance comes into play whenever the dealer is showing an ace and, as the player, your two cards don’t make 21. As one of your possibilities on the screen, you’ll see the icon for an insurance bet.
Insurance is essentially a side bet that the dealer has a value of 10 on his hidden card and, therefore, has blackjack. If you win, you get paid back odds of 2:1.
How Insurance Works
Normally, if the dealer has an ace showing, you don’t have blackjack, and you don’t make an insurance wager, the dealer will check what the hidden card might be. If it’s something with a value of 10, the dealer has blackjack and you lose your initial bet. And if not, the hand plays out as usual.
If you make an online blackjack insurance wager, you can bet up to half of your original bet. In other words, if you bet $50, your insurance bet can be up to $25.
There are two things can happen with this insurance bet.
- The online dealer, whether an automatic dealer or a live one, checks their hidden card and turns over a card with a value of 10, meaning blackjack. You lose your original $50 bet on the hand, but win the insurance bet, which returns 2:1, or $50 on your bet of $25, for a profit on that bet of $25. Your overall outcome on the hand is a loss of $25, which is less than the $50 you would have lost without the insurance.
- The dealer checks their hand and finds out that they don’t have blackjack, meaning you lose your $25 insurance wager. At that point, the hand proceeds. If you were to lose the hand, your overall loss goes up to $75, while a win would return a profit of $25 overall instead of the $50 you would have won without the insurance.
When Should You Use Online Blackjack Insurance?
Should You Get Insurance In Blackjack Winnings
Well, if you’re playing with correct basic online blackjack strategy, you should never use insurance. Think about the math.
- The dealer’s chances of turning over a card for blackjack are 9:4 against. There are nine cards with values that aren’t 10 in the decks (ace through nine) and four with a value of 10 (10s, jacks, queens, kings.)
- You are only getting paid 2:1 odds if you win the bet. To use the common denominator, you’re getting paid 8:4, despite the 9:4 odds of you losing the bet. Basically, you’re not getting paid enough to compensate for the odds of insurance.
The only time you should use insurance is if you’re card counting. And, as we’ll explore below, card counting is rarely effective in online blackjack.
Basics of Online Blackjack Surrender
When you make a blackjack surrender bet, you are essentially surrendering your hand before the hand is over. You would do this because you don’t think you have a good chance of winning based on what you have and what the dealer has. The incentive for this wager is that you only lose half of your original wager instead of all of it.
Some players might be wary of surrender because it seems like a losing play. In actuality, it can be an effective blackjack strategy to cut down on potential losses. It is actually a much better play than insurance.
How Blackjack Surrender Works
In most online blackjack variations, you can surrender any hand, regardless of what cards you and the dealer have. But, in actuality, there will only be certain situations that make sense.
If you know basic blackjack odds, you know that you’re in bad shape in this hand. If you so choose, you could surrender the hand. Instead of losing $20, you would lose just $10.
After you surrender, your hand is over. The risk you run with surrender is that, if the cards turned your way, you might have won the hand.
When Is Surrender a Good Play in Online Blackjack?
Most basic online blackjack strategies suggest surrendering on hands like the ones above. When you have 16, your chances of hitting and staying under 21 are slim. Yet if you stand, the chances that the dealer somehow busts while sitting with 10 are pretty unlikely as well.
You’ll also find occasions when you’re advised to surrender at 15 as well. When you get to more advanced strategies, you might find it depends on which cards you have to make up the 15. For instance, whether you surrender might depend on whether you have a 10 and a five or an eight and a seven. But the bottom line is that it’s mathematically in your favor to surrender at times.
Different Rules for Online Blackjack Insurance And Surrender
We’ve told you about online blackjack insurance and surrender in terms of the standard formats most often used at top real money online casinos. But you have to keep in mind that there are occasionally different rules for these bets that can be found online. It’s important to know the rules in place for surrender and insurance so that you can choose the proper strategy.
Late Surrender Versus Early Surrender
Most online blackjack games (and casino versions as well) use the late surrender format. This means that the dealer will check to see if they have blackjack before the surrender is offered. Obviously, this comes into play only when the dealer is showing an ace or a 10.
Early surrender gives you the chance to surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack when they are showing ace or 10. When early surrender is an option, it is an advantage for the player. Having the chance to surrender before a blackjack check will bring several more hands into play where surrender is a good, money-saving strategy.
Online vs. Offline Play With Insurance and Surrender
The main difference when it comes to online and offline blackjack play is that, when you’re playing in a casino, you have the opportunity to count cards. Online play makes this next to impossible. But if you can count cards, you’ll find that surrender and especially insurance comes into play much more often.
By card counting, you can know which cards have already been played. That gives you a better idea of what cards are still in the deck. And this can come into play with insurance and surrender.
Should You Get Insurance In Blackjack Without
For example, there may be times when insurance is actually a good play if you can count cards. If there are enough cards with a value of 10 still in the deck, the odds of the dealer having blackjack with an ace showing might increase to the point where it makes sense to make the insurance bet.
By the same token, you might find that surrender strategies change depending on which cards are still remaining in the deck. Unfortunately, online blackjack makes card counting almost impossible. Shuffling is either constant or, in the case of live online dealers, much more frequent than in casinos.
FAQ on Blackjack Surrenders and Insurance
Should the Size of My Bankroll Affect Whether I Use Surrender or Insurance?
If a play is strategically correct, the size of your bankroll should not affect it. If you find yourself making any kind of blackjack decision based on whether or not you have enough of a bankroll, it could be a sign that you need to lower the size of your bet per hand. Don’t eliminate certain strategic plays just because you’re trying to stay afloat longer.
Should I Consider a Blackjack Variation That Doesn’t Allow Surrender?
Unlike insurance, surrender is a good strategic play at times when you’re up against standard blackjack odds. Therefore, any online game that denies it to you will be lessening your potential payback. Unless the game in question offers up some other rule that’s extremely advantageous to you, you should avoid it if surrender is not available to you.
Aren’t Surrender and Insurance Like Betting Against Yourself?
If you think about surrender and insurance in this manner, it could dissuade you from using them. That could be a mistake, especially in the case of surrender. Think of them in terms of boosting your overall payback, even if they might be a concession in the moment.
Conclusion on Surrender and Insurance Rules
Should You Use Insurance In Blackjack
We hope that you now understand online blackjack surrender and insurance rules clearly. More importantly, we hope that you know how and when to use these bets to increase your online blackjack winnings over the long haul.