Currently, you can insure anything, including your car, boat, home, and even your life. If you choose, you can also get insurance for a blackjack game at a casino.
Things are a little different when it comes to the latter insurance. Many individuals dispute the idea of insuring bets, yet few can deny the importance of insuring assets. The more time you spend around gamblers, the more you realize that insurance is unquestionably a contentious topic in blackjack. That implies it’s time to dig deeper and find out what is insurance in blackjack.
What Is Insurance in Blackjack?
During a blackjack game, players can buy blackjack insurance if the dealer’s up-card is an ace. The insurance bet is, in fact, a side bet. The insurance bet is typically offered at a payout of 2:1 if the dealer’s second card is a 10-value or picture card, resulting in a blackjack. In other words, if the dealer has a blackjack, the player will receive twice the original insurance bet. If the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, the insurance will be lost, and the game will continue as normal.
Opinions on blackjack insurance are divided in the gambling community, as many experienced gamblers believe that it’s better to rely on a solid blackjack strategy. It’s mostly because blackjack insurance odds aren’t usually in the player’s favor. Let’s go into detail below to learn more about blackjack insurance.
How Does Blackjack Insurance Work?
The purpose of the insurance bet is to protect the player in case the dealer has a blackjack. Here’s how blackjack insurance works:
- When the dealer’s face-up card is an ace, the dealer will offer the players the option to take insurance before they continue playing their hands.
- To buy insurance, the player must place a bet on the insurance line that is located on the blackjack table. The insurance bet can be up to half the player’s original bet.
- If the dealer has a blackjack (a hand totaling 21 with only two cards), the player who placed an insurance bet will win 2:1 payout, which means the player will receive twice the amount of their original insurance bet.
- If the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, the player loses the insurance bet, but the game will continue. The player can still win or lose their original bet based on the outcome of the game.
Advantages and Disadvantages of Insurance Betting
Before you make a decision, it’s important to consider the advantages and disadvantages of blackjack insurance. Let’s take a closer look.
Advantages of blackjack insurance:
- Protects against dealer’s blackjack. The main advantage of blackjack insurance is that it protects the player’s original bet if the dealer has a blackjack.
- Additional payout. If the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack and the player has insurance, the player will receive a double amount of their insurance bet, offsetting the loss of their original bet.
Disadvantages of blackjack insurance:
- Negative expected value. The odds of the dealer having a blackjack are less than the odds of the dealer not having a blackjack, so taking out insurance on every hand will result in a net loss over time.
- Higher house edge. By offering insurance, the casino increases its overall edge, meaning that players who take insurance are effectively giving the casino more of an advantage.
- Distraction from basic strategy. Many experienced blackjack players consider insurance to be a distraction from the strategy. If players focus on their own hand based on the basic strategy, they have more chance of winning over time.
When to Take Insurance in Blackjack
Let’s say that your strategy is to get blackjack insurance. In that case, knowing the best circumstances for that strategy to pay off is vital.
For instance, if you know how to count cards and have a high count, you may have a better chance of determining if the dealer has a blackjack. Insurance is a good idea if you think the odds are in your favor.
Furthermore, if you play high-stakes blackjack and bet a large sum of money, you may want to buy insurance to protect your investment.
Finally, if you play in blackjack tournaments, you may have to take risks to increase your chip stack and advance to the next round. Taking insurance in specific scenarios may be a calculated risk you’re willing to take.
What Are the Odds for Insurance Bets?
The probabilities of winning an insurance bet in blackjack are determined by the number of decks used and the specific rules of the game being played. When the dealer’s up-card is an ace, the dealer’s odds of having a blackjack are around 9:4, or approximately 31%. This means that around 4 times out of every 13 times the dealer displays an ace, they will have a blackjack.
The reward for an insurance bet, on the other hand, is normally 2:1, which means that if the player bets $10 on insurance and the dealer has a blackjack, the player will receive a $20 payout. The expected value of the insurance bet can be determined by multiplying the likelihood of the dealer having blackjack by the insurance bet payoff. In this situation, the anticipated value of an insurance bet would be negative, implying that the player would lose money over time on this form of wager.
For example, if only one deck of cards is utilized, the dealer’s probability of having blackjack is 4.83%. If the insurance payment is 2:1, the expected value of the insurance bet is -8.75%. This indicates that the gambler will lose 8.75 cents for every dollar wagered on insurance.
Conclusion: Is Blackjack Insurance Worthwhile?
There’s no doubt that casino gambling can be profitable in a single night. However, if you want to find out what is profitable and what isn’t, it will take time and effort to figure it out. Therefore, it’s also important to keep in mind that blackjack insurance will cost you money in the long run.
The dealer must either have a 10 or a picture card in their hand for you to win your insurance bet. A single deck contains 16 of those, so there’s only about a 30% chance of hitting one. If you do, you get a 2:1 return, so your 30% shot doesn’t seem so bad.
However, it still means you’ll lose this type of bet most of the time. Therefore, in most cases, buying insurance is not worthwhile if you want to maximize your chances of winning. Instead, you should focus on basic blackjack strategy and making strategic decisions based on your own hand and the dealer’s up-card.
FAQ
Is insurance a good bet in blackjack?
Taking insurance at a blackjack table is almost always a bad idea. It is preferable to stick to a simple blackjack approach.
What’s the point of taking blackjack insurance?
Although purchasing insurance at a casino appears to be a good idea, there is more to it. Casinos have a bigger house edge in this scenario, making it a poor decision for most players.
In blackjack, how much may you wager on insurance?
The amount you can bet on insurance in blackjack is usually limited to half of your original bet.
What role does insurance play in blackjack?
Insurance is a side wager in blackjack that a player can make when the dealer’s face-up card is an ace. Taking insurance protects the player’s original bet in the event that the dealer has a blackjack. If you want to know more, see our article “What is insurance in blackjack?” above.
