In this installment of our blackjack series, we’ll be looking at a few things, such as insurance. It’s taking insurance a good thing? What happens if you have a blackjack and the dealer asks for insurance? Should you take even money? These are some of the things that we’ll be covering in this article.
Whether you’re playing in Las Vegas or at an online casino the procedure is pretty much the same. Everyone, including the dealer, receives two cards. It’s at that point that the dealer will check for blackjack if the up card is an ace. But before checking for blackjack the dealer will ask you if you’d like insurance. Should you take insurance?
In my opinion, insurance is a bad bet. Think about that for a minute. If you take insurance, you’re really hoping that the dealer has blackjack. If the dealer does not have a blackjack, you lose half of your bet immediately and the best you can do is win half of your bet. In the worst-case situation, you lose 1.5 times your bet.
There’s only one time when I would take insurance. And no it’s not when you have 20. If the dealer asks for insurance and you have a blackjack, take even money. It’s foolish not to. You have a guaranteed winner in your hand so take it. Other than that, in my own opinion, taking blackjack is simply a bad bet.
Let’s talk about surrender for a moment. Should you ever surrender? There are many conflicting thoughts about using the surrender option when it’s available to you. In my book, I will surrender if the dealer is showing a 10 or face card and I have a really poor hand, like 16. However, if that 16 is comprised of two 8s, I might consider keeping a hand and splitting it.
Generally, surrender can really come back to bite you in the butt. If you’re playing in the real world it pays to know how many big cards and how many little cards are left in the deck or shoe. This will help guide you toward the right decision.
Learning to master or ignore two key options, such as surrendering and insurance, are vital toward you becoming a great blackjack player. Initially, I would simply ignore surrender and never take insurance, but take even money when you have a blackjack. By following this simple strategy you’ll do just fine.
In the next installment of our blackjack series I will be talking about blackjack myths and blackjack misconceptions. Is there a perfect seat to sit in at the table? Does card counting really work? How about online blackjack? I’ll be covering all these things. Until then, good luck at the blackjack tables and may all your bets be winning ones.
