"PLAYER"

Surrender:

Surrender offers you as a player the choice to fold your hand, at the cost of half of the original bet. You must make that decision prior to taking any other action on the hand. For example, once you draw a third card, or

split, or double down, surrender is no longer an option.

The two varieties of surrender, early and late, differ only in the way a dealer blackjack is handled. In an early surrender game, a player may choose to surrender before the dealer checks his cards for a blackjack, offering a cheap way out even if the dealer turns out to have a blackjack. Because this offers a healthy advantage to the player, this version (early surrender) is rarely offered. The much more common variation is late surrender, where the dealer checks for blackjack first, and then only if he does not have blackjack will allow players to surrender their hands.

Surrender is a nice rule to have available for players who use it wisely. Unfortunately, many players surrender far too many hands. If you play in a game with surrender, use the Strategy Engine to determine when surrender is the appropriate play. To see how bad a hand must be to properly be surrendered, consider the following: To lose less with surrender, you must be only 25% likely to win the hand (ignoring pushes). That is, if you lose 75% of the time, and win only 25% of the time, your net loss is about 50% of your bets, equal to the amount you'll lose guaranteed by surrendering. So, learn to use the surrender option, but make sure you know when it is appropriate.

It's worth mentioning again that the vast majority of surrender is LATE surrender, after the dealer checks for BJ. Make sure you choose the right option over on the Strategy Engine. And if you do find a game that offers early surrender, drop me a note. Good opportunities like that are rare.

Hitting/Standing:

In the face-up shoe game, you indicate that you want another card by tapping the table behind your cards with a finger.  You'll be required to make the hand signals, rather than just announcing "hit" or "stand" to the dealer.  This is to eliminate any confusion or ambiguity in what you choose, and also for the benefit of the ever-present surveillance cameras.  If you go over 21, or "bust", the dealer will collect your bet, and remove your cards from the table immediately.  When you decide to stand, just wave your hand in a horizontal motion over your cards.

In the face-down game, things are a little different.  You'll hold the first two cards with one hand.  To draw another card to your hand, simply scrape your cards across the table felt lightly.  Watch another player at first to see how this works.  The dealer will deal your additional cards on the table in front of your bet.  Add them to your total hand value, but leave the actual cards on the table.  If you go over 21, just toss the two cards in your hand face up on the table.  The dealer will collect your bet, and discard your hand.  When you decide to stand, you should tuck the two cards you are holding face-down under the chips that you have bet.  This can be a bit tricky the first few times.  Don't pick up the bet to place the cards underneath.  Remember, once the cards are dealt, you can't touch the chips in the circle.  Simply slide the corner of the cards under the chips.
 

Doubling Down:

Players are allowed to double down for any amount up to the original bet amount, so you could double down "for less" if you wanted.  Just remember that you do give up something for being allowed to increase your bet:  the ability to draw more than one additional card.  If the correct play is to double down, you should always double for the full amount if possible.

Splitting Pairs:

If you are playing a hand-held game, toss the cards face-up in front of your bet just like a double down.  Then, in either type of game, place a matching bet beside the original bet in the circle.  Note that you must bet the same amount on a split, unlike a double-down, where you are allowed to double for less.  The dealer will separate the two cards, and treat them as two independent hands.  Let's say you draw a 3 on the first 8, for a total of 11.  Many casinos will allow you to double down on that hand total of 11 at this point.  When this is allowed, the rule is called "Double after Split", predictably enough.  Regardless, you can play the first hand to completion, at which point the dealer will deal a second card to the second hand, and you can begin making play decisions on it.

If you get additional pairs (in the first two cards of a hand), most casinos will allow you to resplit, making yet another hand.  The most common rule allows a player to split up to 3 times, making 4 separate hands, with 4 separate bets.  If double after split is allowed, you could have up to 8 times your initial bet on the table if you chose!  Some casinos restrict resplitting, and some allow unlimited splitting.  Another fine point is that you are allowed to split any 10-valued cards, so you could split a (Jack, Queen) hand.  However, this is usually a bad play: Keep the 20.

The other complication for pair splits concerns splitting Aces.  Splitting Aces is a very strong player move, so the casino restricts you to drawing only one additional card on each Ace.  Also, if you draw a ten-valued card on one of your split Aces, the hand is not considered a Blackjack, but is instead treated as a normal 21, and therefore does not collect 3:2 odds.  Some casinos allow resplitting Aces if you draw another, while many do not allow resplitting Aces although they often do allow resplitting of any other pairs.  With all these restrictions, you may wonder whether it makes sense to split Aces.  The answer is a resounding YES.  Always split pairs of Aces.

Insurance and Even Money:

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.

In the simplest description, Insurance is a side-bet, where you are offered 2:1 odds that the dealer has a 10-valued card underneath ("in the hole").  A quick check of the odds yields this:  In a single deck game, there are 16 ten-valued cards.  Assuming that you don't see any other cards, including your own, the tens compose 16 out of 51 remaining cards after the dealer's Ace was removed.  For the insurance bet to be a break-even bet, the hole card would have to be a ten 1 out of 3 times, but 16/51 is only 1 in 3.1875.

The situation is often thought to be different when you have a Blackjack.  The dealer is likely to offer you "even money" instead of the insurance bet.  This is just the same old insurance bet with a simplification thrown in.  Let's ignore the "even money" name, and look at what happens when you insure a Blackjack.  Let's say you bet $10, and have a Blackjack.  You would normally collect $15 for this, unless the dealer also has a blackjack, in which case you push or tie.
Let's assume that the dealer has an Ace up, and you decide to take insurance for the full amount, or $5.  Now, two things can happen:
   1)  The dealer has a Blackjack.  I tie with the $10, but collect 2:1 on the $5 insurance bet for a total profit of $10.
   2)  The dealer does not have Blackjack.  I lose the $5, but collect $15 for my BJ.  Total profit, again $10.
In either case, once I make the insurance bet, I'm guaranteed a profit of $10, or even money for my original bet.
So, casinos allow me to eliminate the insurance bet altogether, and simply declare that I want even money for my blackjack when the dealer has an Ace showing.

You're probably thinking that sounds like a pretty good deal.  You're guaranteed a profit even if the dealer does have Blackjack.  Just remember that the guaranteed profit comes at a price.  You'll win more money in the long run by holding out for the $15, even though you'll sometimes end up empty-handed.   Nonetheless, many players are adamant that they prefer to take even money when offered.  Just be aware that you're costing yourself money when you make that choice.

The basic strategy player should simply never take the insurance bet, even the "even money" variety.  Card counters on the other hand can often detect situations where more than one-third of the remaining cards are ten-valued, and the bet is then a profitable one.  So, unless you know the bet is favorable, just ignore it.