If the dealer has ace on he ‘s hand, and i took insurance. then if the dealer really got blackjack/21, do i get pay to my insurance and the original $? or just the insurance.
6 thoughts on “A question over here about Insurance bet in blackjack.?”
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Insurance is perhaps the least understood of all the commonly available rules for Blackjack. This is not necessarily a bad thing because the insurance bet is normally a poor bet for the player, with a high house advantage. However, that’s not always the case. So, here we go:
If the dealer turns an up-card of an Ace, he will offer “Insurance” to the players. Insurance bets can be made by betting up to half your original bet amount in the insurance betting stripe in front of your bet. The dealer will check to see if he has a 10-value card underneath his Ace, and if he does have Blackjack, your winning Insurance bet will be paid at odds of 2:1. You’ll lose your original bet of course (unless you also have a Blackjack), so the net effect is that you break even (assuming you bet the full half bet for insurance.) This is why the bet is described as “insurance”, since it seems to protect your original bet against a dealer blackjack. Of course, if the dealer does not have blackjack, you’ll lose the insurance bet, and still have to play the original bet out.
You get paid on the insurance bet but lose your original bet. So for example if you’re betting $10 and put down $5 for the insurance bet, you lose the $10 bet but get paid 2-1 on the $5 bet thus breaking even for the hand. Unless you are a card counter, never ever take insurance or even money (same thing really). The dealer only has a 4/13 chance of having blackjack. For insurance to be worth it, they would need to have a 4/12 chance of having it. By you taking insurance, you’re giving the house an extra 2.6% roughly of your bet.
If you win the insurance bet, you usually net a total of zero dollars.
For example, if your original bet is $10 and you insure it for $5, then you will lose the original $10 (because the dealer’s 21 beats your hand), but you will win $10 on the insurance bet (because the dealer has a ten in the hole). So you win $10 and lose $10, for a net of zero.
Don’t do it, insurance is a sucker bet!
When the dealer has an “Ace” up and offers insurance (which is the only time insurance can be taken) you, as the player have the option of taking insurance for only up to half of your original bet. (Example: Your original bet on your hand was $30.00, so you can insure the hand for $15.00). If the dealer does then indeed have blackjack, even though you would normally lose your original $30.00 bet to the dealer’s blackjack, you actually come out even because you’re original $30.00 bet pays your $15.00 insurance bet 2 to 1.
If, on the other hand, with the dealer’s ace turned up against your $30.00 wager and you choose to insure your hand for half -$15.00), and the dealer does not have blackjack, you lose the $15.00 and the hand is played out as normal to determine the outcome.
insurance is a side bet. nothing more. technically, a person who is just watching the table could reach in and bet insurance without actually having a bet. insurance is just called that to sucker you into placing the bet to protect your investment (bet). if you think the dealer is going to get blackjack, take insurance. it’s as simple as that.
but as ben has explained, there is no reason for you to believe that the dealer will get blackjack, therefore, you should NEVER take insurance. there is a myth that suggests that if you have 20, you should take insurance. this is the worst possible advice, because there are two less face cards in the shoe for the dealer to get blackjack!
most casinos will enforce that a player who takes insurance, must bet exactly half their bet. the rest, half their bet or less. a casino could easily allow a player to bet more than half their bet, but i guess some casinos have a conscious. actually, this is for security reasons, but that is another story.
remember, if the dealer does not have blackjack, the game continues. you still may lose. i mention this because i have seen many times a player takes insurance and complains when he has 18 and the dealer gets 19 and they lose their bet. “oh, i had insurance!” guess what, you lost!
ps, who gave cw a thumbs down? get lost hater!
pps, ben did give the most advanced answer, with the comment on card card counting. i don’t think your there yet.