Can you ever surrender after hitting?

Blackjack surrender after hitting, is it possible? If you’ve ever been dealt an appalling hand of cards and seen that the dealer’s upcard is set to cause you issues, you may well have taken advantage of the surrender rules that exist in blackjack. While not every casino will allow blackjack surrender, where it is available, it can certainly be beneficial at times and it definitely has its place. In this article we take a look at Blackjack surrender after hitting. 

As you’ll no doubt already know, there are numerous variants when it comes to blackjack and they all come with their own twist on the rules. The same is true when it comes to surrendering: with both early and late surrender, it’s the casino rules that will dictate which you can benefit from. That being the case, do any casinos have rules that allow you to surrender even after hitting? Well, that’s what we’re going to explore now.

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Blackjack Surrender

What even is surrender in blackjack?

Surrender can be seen as a bit of an insurance policy while playing blackjack. It’s an option that comes into play once you’ve been dealt your initial two cards and when you can see the dealer’s upcard. Depending on the blackjack rules you play with. If these cards are less than favorable, surrender allows you to do just that: give up! You fold on the hand and you receive half of your wager back. Not every casino allows this as an option so it’s important to check before you start playing.

If you’ve read our previous blackjack articles, you’ll know that hand signals are important when it comes to playing in a land-based casino. That’s because it protects the player and the house in that there can be no confusion over what was meant. When it comes to surrender, there are two hand signals that can be used:

  1. Take your finger and use it to draw a horizontal line behind the bet. The action with your finger is like cutting 
  2. Hold up both of your hands with the palms showing. This is a hand signal that’s recognized in many circles as meaning that you give up

The different types of Blackjack surrender

There are two different versions of surrender when playing blackjack. The first is known as early surrender. With this version of surrender, the player decides to give up at the earliest stage possible. This is when the two cards have been dealt and the dealer has their upcard. The decision to surrender is made before the dealer even peeks to check for a natural blackjack. If a player decides to surrender at this early stage, they forfeit half of their wager.

The second version of surrender is known as late surrender. There is only one real difference when this is compared to early surrender: you don’t surrender until the dealer has had the chance to check their hole card for a natural blackjack. If the dealer doesn’t have a natural blackjack then a player can surrender at this point. However, if there is a natural blackjack then the player can’t surrender as the dealer will have won and the player will lose their entire wager. 

Are there advantages to surrendering?

There are plenty of players out there who will avoid the option to blackjack surrender after hitting at all costs. That’s because they feel that simply giving up means that they and control to the house and they lose any influence over the outcome of the game. However, surrendering can be right in certain situations and can even help you to limit your losses.

There are times when you’ll have a hand when the chances of winning are almost zero. When the odds are so heavily out of your favour, it makes sense to surrender and to at least limit the amount that you lose. When you find yourself in a situation that is more than just a little disadvantageous, surely it’s better to play safe and see half of your wager returned rather than lose it all.

While the early surrender option is less common these days, you can take a look at the effect that it has on the house edge to understand why it’s the right option at times. If playing against an ace upcard, early surrender reduces the house edge by 0.39%. If the upcard has a value of 10 then you reduce the edge by 0.24%. Blackjack is all about getting that house edge as low as possible and that’s why surrendering just makes sense. 

So, can you blackjack surrender after hitting?

Having looked at how early and late surrender work, you may have already worked out the answer to this question. Unfortunately, once you hit you lose the option to surrender. Likewise, if you stand, split or double down, the option to surrender is lost

With what we’ve seen about early and late surrender, the options only exist at the start of your turn. When you go on and play your turn, the option to surrender passes. Something that players should take note of is that surrendering is always the preferable option when a hand loses 75% of the time. That’s because this leads to a player losing half of their bet on average. Just remember to act rather than take your turn and regret it.

When should you surrender?

Surrender may lead to you getting half of your wager back, but it isn’t an option that’s right all of the time. Indeed, if you’re using it constantly, you may as well just set up a regular payment to your favorite online casino and not even bother playing the game. 

Some of the times when surrender will be the right option include:

  • The player has hard titles of 5-7 or 12-17 and the dealer has an ace
  • The dealer has an ace and the player has 3-3
  • The player has 6-6 against the dealers ace
  • The dealer has an ace vs the player’s 7-7
  • The players holds 8-8 vs the dealer’s ace

Yes, these hands could also be split but surrender still works out best over the long term. Another example would be when a player has hard 14-16 against a 10. In this scenario, early blackjack surrender is the strategy to go with.

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