Insurance and Even Money in Blackjack

Question:  I never take insurance when I play blackjack and the dealer is showing an ace.  But when I have blackjack and the dealer has an ace showing, I always take even money.  I see many people doing the same thing as me, but sometimes people say that even money is just like taking insurance.  Who is right?

The short answer:  Taking even money is the same as taking insurance.

The long answer:  
Imagine that your initial bet was $10.  You get dealt blackjack, but the dealer's up-card is an ace.  Forgetting about "even money" for the moment, let's say that you decide to take full insurance of $5 (the maximum bet for insurance is half of your original blackjack wager).  If the dealer does indeed have blackjack, your original $10 wager will push, and your insurance bet gets paid 2 to 1, for a win of $10.  This is obviously a net win of $10.

If after taking insurance, the dealer does not have blackjack, you will lose your $5 insurance bet, but then get paid 3 to 2 (or 1.5x) your original wager... in this case a win of $15.  After you subtract your losses from the insurance bet, your net win here is also $10.

So no matter what happens, once you take full insurance, your net winnings will equal the amount of your original wager.  This is how the casino can offer you what's known as "even money".  So yes, if you take even money, you are essentially taking insurance.

Do you have a topic or question related to casino gaming that you'd like to see discussed on this blog?  Send me an email at FogOfGambling@gmail.com and let me know!

Blackjack's Basic Strategy Chart and Other Players

Setting any discussions of card counting, cheating, or ESP aside, many players should agree that playing according to basic strategy is the best way to approach the game of Blackjack.  We have all seen the basic strategy charts, and some of us may have even read about them in books.  So what happens in the casino?

In the casino, many basic strategy players follow the chart religiously.  Some of these people interpret the chart as a road map to figuring out what's coming out next... as if all of the cards have somehow been shuffled in such a manner that allows the game to be beat if everybody plays according to basic strategy.  In reality, nothing can tell you what the next card will be.  Nevertheless, you always manage to see some guy yelling at the player on third base for either standing or drawing a card when he's "not supposed to". 

The truth is, the actions of other players on the table have nothing to do with the reasons why you made the decisions you did on your hand/s.  Note that I didn't say that other players don't affect your hand... this is discussed in the last paragraph.  Basic strategy charts are created by finding the best play with the information you know (your current total and the dealer's up card) and considering all possible combinations of the information you don't know (the dealer's hole card, the card/s you may or may not draw, and the card/s the dealer will draw, if any).  It has nothing to do with what other people do with their hands.

"I saw a guy take the dealer's bust card when he should have stayed.  The guy had 12 and the dealer was showing a 6.  The guy hit a 10, bust, and the dealer had 16 and hit a 5 for 21."

Yeah, that happens.  Other people's actions sometimes have an effect on the final outcome of the hand.  But nobody knows what kind of effect that will be.  It could help, hurt, or not make any difference at all.  The 10 and 5 in that situation could have just as easily been in the reverse order, and that play would have "saved the table".  So why does it seem like these kinds of plays usually make it worse for the players?  It's the product of what I like to call, "gambler's selective memory".  They tend to remember when the "wrong play" hurts them, but completely forget when the same type of decision helps or makes no difference.  In the end, it all evens out.

Do you have a topic or question related to casino gaming that you'd like to see discussed on this blog?  Send me an email at FogOfGambling@gmail.com and let me know!