How Does Insurance Blackjack Work?

Insurance blackjack is a separate betting option that players can make when playing blackjack. It is an optional side bet that can be made when the dealer’s up card is an ace. The purpose of insurance blackjack is to protect the player’s original bet against the possibility of the dealer having a natural blackjack.

When a player makes an insurance bet, they are essentially betting half of their original wager that the dealer has a ten-value card as their hole card, which would give them a natural blackjack. If the dealer does have a natural blackjack, the player will win their insurance bet at 2:1 odds, effectively breaking even for that hand.

However, if the dealer does not have a natural blackjack, the player loses their insurance bet and continues playing with their original wager. In this scenario, whether or not the player wins or loses their original bet is determined by whether they beat the dealer’s hand or not.

It’s important to note that while insurance bets may seem like a good idea in theory, they are generally not recommended by experienced players. This is because over time, making insurance bets will actually decrease your overall expected return on investment in blackjack.

In fact, studies have shown that over time, taking insurance in blackjack will cost players money in the long run. This is because even though there are more ten-value cards in a standard deck than any other value (since there are four each of tens, jacks, queens and kings), there are still more non-tens than tens overall.

This means that even though it may seem like there’s a higher chance of the dealer having a ten-value card as their hole card when showing an ace up card, in reality it’s still much more likely that they do not have one.

Despite this fact, many new players still choose to make insurance bets out of fear of losing their entire wager if the dealer has a natural blackjack. While it can be tempting to try to protect your bet, keep in mind that the best way to win at blackjack is to use basic strategy and make mathematically optimal decisions based on the cards you have been dealt.

In conclusion, insurance blackjack is an optional side bet that players can make when playing blackjack. While it may seem like a good idea to protect your original wager, over time insurance bets will actually decrease your overall expected return on investment in blackjack. Instead, focus on using basic strategy and making mathematically optimal decisions to increase your chances of winning in the long run.