Some dealers are even instructed to advise players on accepting insurance.

Casino operators themselves want you to believe they are doing you a favor by allowing you to insure yourself against a possible dealer blackjack. This “rationalization” is a load of bosh. Some players argue in favor of insurance and the basic premise of their argument is that you lose your entire initial bet if you do not insure your hand as opposed to breaking even when you accept insurance. Had you not insured your hand, you would have been $20 down. you neither win nor lose money on this round. You lose the initial $20 you have staked on your hand but win another $20 from your insurance bet. The dealer peeks under their hole card and it turns out it is indeed a ten-value card giving them a blackjack.

You want to protect yourself against a potential dealer blackjack and decide to accept insurance so you post an additional $10 bet on top of your initial $20. We assume you have wagered $20 on your original hand, which is not a natural, and the dealer exposes an Ace. Provided that the dealer does not have a ten-value card in the hole, you lose the insurance bet and play on your hand continues as usual.īlackjack Insurance Additional TipsLet’s see how buying insurance works with a concrete example. If the dealer indeed has a blackjack and you do not, you lose your original stake but win the insurance bet at casino odds of 2 to 1, i.e. There are two possible scenarios when you take insurance. The chips for the insured bets are placed within the semicircular stripe that runs across the table and reads “ Insurance Pays 2 to 1”. You can insure any two-card hand against a dealer blackjack by betting up to half of your original wager. When you buy insurance, you are practically betting your dealer has a ten-value card in the hole next to their Ace for a blackjack. This is an optional proposition wager which is treated separately from your original bet. How Blackjack Insurance Worksīlackjack players are offered insurance whenever the dealer’s exposed card is an Ace. Let’s take a closer look at what insurance in blackjack is, how is it identical to the blackjack even-money payout, and why you should avoid both of them if you are a basic strategy player. Few are bold enough to argue in favor of taking insurance but the vast majority of blackjack experts recommend you to refrain from ever making this bet. The latter is a type of proposition bet in blackjack that has been the subject of hot debates for decades.

Blackjack insurance payout