Blackjack Insurance - What is it and is it worth it?
Life, Fire, Health, Car…. So many things have insurance. Is it any small wonder that Blackjack also has insurance?
Before thinking you need to call your agent and take out a policy for a card game, let us assure you, that’s not necessary. But we can say this – it’s kind of a sucker bet.
Insurance in blackjack is a play taken when the dealer has an ace showing. If the dealer has an ace, he or she will offer the players at the table insurance. This insurance is against the dealer having blackjack (which is essentially an automatic loss for everyone.)
So how does Blackjack’s insurance work? Well, you place an amount of up to ½ of your original bet in the insurance part of the table. From there, one of two things can happen:
- The dealer indeed has Blackjack. You lose your initial bet, but get paid 2-1 on your insurance bet. Some simple math makes us realize that this translates into you getting back your original bet (at best – assuming you bet the full 1/2)
- The dealer doesn’t have blackjack. You lose your insurance bet (bye bye) and the hand goes on as normal.
So, let’s recap this real quick: Insurance only pays when the dealer has blackjack. And it can only pay up to your original bet (since it pays 2-1 on up to one half.) That doesn’t sound like a very smart bet to us.
When it comes to Blackjack, a player needs to be aware of everything going on, from knowing the odds, to being aware of how many decks of cards are being played in the shoe. Insurance bets are a risky proposition, so if you can avoid making that type of bet altogether, that’s definitely the safer bet.
Now, we CAN say that an experienced (and good) card counter might take insurance if he or she is reasonably sure the dealer has blackjack. But this is rare indeed.
Lastly, some venues (the ones who pay 3:2 on player blackjack) may also offer a “one to one” insurance for a player who has 21, while the dealer shows an ace. This means that instead of the normal “push” if the dealer has blackjack; the player with the natural 21 will immediately be paid 1-1 for his or her blackjack. Again, this is a bad bet, unless you are a super card counter.
Insurance is good for some things (house, car, etc), but is usually not a good play in Blackjack. The best insurance you can have is just smart play overall. Good luck!
