Insurance – is it worth taking it when playing blackjack?

It’ll get your heart pumping when the dealer shows an ace. And when you’re given the option to take insurance or not. This is especially true if you’ve not mastered the basic blackjack strategy chart. In the following paragraph, we’ll take a closer look at the insurance side bet and when it’s worth taking it. We’ll also point out the difference between insurance and even money bet.

So without further ado, let’s dive into blackjack insurance and even money bets to get you up to speed.

21+ | Terms & Conditions Apply | NJ Residents Only
Betmgm$25 FREE on Signup
100% up to $1.000 on First Deposit
Hotspot Leaderboard
Visit Casino
Review
Insurance

The blackjack insurance and even money concept explained.

On average, it’s believed that the dealer will reveal an ace as up card once every 13 hands. Showing an ace naturally means that the house’s probability of getting a blackjack is quite high. That’s why they are offering insurance to players to secure their hand if the dealer makes blackjack.

Typically, an insurance bet costs half the price of the main bet. And if the dealer hits blackjack, you’ll get 2:1 back instead of losing a hand or get “push” if you have blackjack too.

The even bet money is also an option if you have a blackjack. But know that even money bet is only available before the dealer check to see if the house has blackjack or not. So essentially, an even money bet means that you’ll get your wager back instead of 3:2 payouts (depending on the table you’ve picked, of course).

What most gamblers don’t understand about insurance and even money bet

If you do the math, you’ll realize that even money bet and insurance give you the same payouts.

While it could be tempting to insure a 20 count but not a 16, most gamblers fail to understand that insurance bets have nothing to do with the hand you hold. Instead, what you’re doing with an insurance bet is betting on the dealer getting a 10 value card. Thus there is no direct correlation between your hand’s count, and the odd of the dealer’s hand is a 10. Meaning that if you take this into account, insurance is more a side bet than anything else.

Why do casino offer this bet?

It would be easy to assume that insurance bets are available because the casino wants everyone to win. After all, casinos love to pay progressive jackpot on slots. So, it’s easy to think the same could apply to winning blackjack hands. But nothing could be further from the truth in this case.

Indeed, it’s worth pointing out that they are more likely to bust when a dealer shows an ace. This means that the casino’s edge is around 7.4% when you take an insurance bet. In other words, this means that even if the house makes a blackjack, you’ll give about 4% of your edge to the house over several sessions if you always say yes to insurance.

All and all, gamblers who have a low bankroll may want to protect their hands. But scared money is no winning money at a blackjack table.

Are there any cases where you should take insurance when playing blackjack?

Contrary to popular belief, insurance is not always a losing bet. In fact, if you master the high low card counting strategy we discussed on blackjack.me. You’ll realize that when the true count is 3 or greater, you should always take the insurance bet or even money when you have blackjack.

As your blackjack knowledge increase, you should remember that only 4 out of 13 cards in a deck could give a blackjack. But if you take out all the small cards in a deck (2, 3, and 4), the odds change. The same goes for adding more than 10 value cards.

The only way to know what’s left in a shoe is to practice card counting. But you won’t always be right either. Thus, you should calculate your success at the table over multiple sessions because you’re playing the odds, not sure wins.

21+ | Terms & Conditions Apply | NJ Residents Only
Betmgm$25 FREE on Signup
100% up to $1.000 on First Deposit
Hotspot Leaderboard
Visit Casino
Review
Blackjack BetMGM