A side bet offered when the dealer shows an Ace, paying 2:1 if the dealer has blackjack.
Insurance is a side bet offered when the dealer's upcard is an Ace. It costs half your original bet and pays 2:1 if the dealer has a 10-value card in the hole (making blackjack). It's designed to "protect" your hand against the dealer having blackjack.
Despite the name, insurance is almost always a bad bet. The true probability of the dealer having a 10 in the hole is about 30.8% (in a standard shoe), but the 2:1 payout implies a break-even probability of 33.3%. This gives the house a significant edge on the insurance bet.
The only exception is for card counters: when the count indicates a high proportion of 10-value cards remaining, insurance can become a +EV bet.
The dealer at a Mandalay Bay blackjack table shows an Ace and offers insurance at 2:1. You hold 20 and are tempted to protect the hand with a $25 insurance wager. The math says decline: with 49 unknown cards, exactly 16 are tens, giving the dealer a blackjack only 32.7% of the time.
Insurance pays 2:1 but the true odds are closer to 2.06:1 — a house edge of roughly 5.9% on the side bet. Over 100 insurance bets of $25, you lose about $148 in expectation. The only exception is a card counter with a true count of +3 or higher, when excess tens in the deck flip insurance into a +EV bet. For everyone else, always wave it off, even with a 20 or a blackjack.
<p>The dealer at a Mandalay Bay blackjack table shows an <strong>Ace</strong> and offers insurance at 2:1. You hold <strong>20</strong> and are tempted to protect the hand with a $25 insurance wager. The math says decline: with 49 unknown cards, exactly 16 are tens, giving the dealer a blackjack only <strong>32.7%</strong> of the time.</p><p>Insurance pays 2:1 but the true odds are closer to 2.06:1 — a house edge of roughly <strong>5.9%</strong> on the side bet. Over 100 insurance bets of $25, you lose about <strong>$148</strong> in expectation. The only exception is a card counter with a true count of +3 or higher, when excess tens in the deck flip insurance into a +EV bet. For everyone else, always wave it off, even with a 20 or a blackjack.</p>
The mathematically optimal play for every possible hand in blackjack.
A strategy for tracking the ratio of high to low cards remaining in the deck to gain an edge.
The mathematical advantage the casino has over players, expressed as a percentage of each bet.
A side bet offered when the dealer shows an Ace, paying 2:1 if the dealer has blackjack.
<p>The dealer at a Mandalay Bay blackjack table shows an <strong>Ace</strong> and offers insurance at 2:1. You hold <strong>20</strong> and are tempted to protect the hand with a $25 insurance wager. The math says decline: with 49 unknown cards, exactly 16 are tens, giving the dealer a blackjack only <strong>32.7%</strong> of the time.</p><p>Insurance pays 2:1 but the true odds are closer to 2.06:1 — a house edge of roughly <strong>5.9%</strong> on the side bet. Over 100 insurance bets of $25, you lose about <strong>$148</strong> in expectation. The only exception is a card counter with a true count of +3 or higher, when excess tens in the deck flip insurance into a +EV bet. For everyone else, always wave it off, even with a 20 or a blackjack.</p>
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