When to Surrender in Blackjack

On 10.24.11, In Blackjack Strategy, Blackjack Tips, Online Blackjack, By Vivi

No one ever wants to surrender, but sometimes it is imperative when trying not to lose too much money. Surrender is possibly the most important aspect to talk about because it is the first choice you must make when playing your hand in blackjack. You must be careful though, because many blackjack games, such as one deck blackjack don’t offer the surrender option. If the blackjack game you are playing does offer surrender, it comes in two forms: either early or late.

You may only surrender after two cards, and before you have done any other action, such as splitting, doubling down, or drawing a third card.

When you surrender, you are folding at the expense of half of your bet. An early surrender is rarely offered because it allows for the player to have a quite large advantage over the house. The player can choose to surrender before the dealer checks their cards. In late surrender, the player can only surrender if the dealer does not have blackjack, after he has checked his card.

Surrender is a great tool for a player that is why it isn’t offered at a lot of casinos; if a casino does offer it, make sure you check all of the rules because there might be tricky details embedded to up the advantage of the house.

Knowing when to surrender is basic blackjack strategy, and it shouldn’t be done too often. To lose less with surrender the player must only be 25% likely to win. So, if you lose 75% of the time, and win 25% of the time, you net loss is 50% equal to the amount you are guaranteed to lose by surrendering.

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Surrender as a Part of Your Blackjack Strategy

On 09.03.10, In Blackjack Strategy, By Vivi

Eventually novice blackjack players will come upon surrender. This is a play that is not always available in blackjack games, although it is available more often in blackjack games in brick and mortar casinos than it is in online blackjack.

Surrender is a blackjack play that should be a part of your blackjack strategy, ready in the wings should you find yourself in a blackjack game that allows for it. In a basic definition, surrender is when a player gives up half of their wager to give up playing out the round. It is similar to folding in poker, only your entire wager is not lost.

There are two types of surrender in blackjack: late and early.

Late surrender is only possible after the dealer has checked to see if he has a natural blackjack. If he does not, then players can surrender if they would like. But if the dealer does have a natural blackjack surrender then there is no surrender, and chances are you are going to lose the round. When made at advantageous moments, late surrender can hit the house’s edge for 0.08%.

On the other hand there is early surrender. This type of surrender differs from late surrender in that players can choose to surrender before the dealer checks to see if he has a natural blackjack. Even if he is showing an Ace and your hand is one that basic strategy says to surrender, you can still surrender and keep half of your wager. And you have the satisfaction of hitting the house edge for 0.6% as well.

And speaking of basic strategy and knowing when to surrender, those times are as follows:

Hard 15 versus a dealer 10
Hard 16 versus a dealer 9, 10 or Ace

The important thing to understand about surrender and your blackjack strategy is that you should only surrender when it is advantageous to do so. Surrendering just because you do not like the cards you have been dealt is not a reason to do so. Keep it in your blackjack strategy to only surrender when those four hands and dealer up card combinations are on the table.

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Differences Between Blackjack and Online Blackjack

On 07.30.10, In Blackjack Strategy, Online Blackjack, Online Casino, By Vivi

As players learn blackjack they like to try out what they learn. You could call it practicing, which is necessary in a game of skill. Some novice blackjack players will practice in the free play modes offered by online casinos. Others will play in low stakes games at brick and mortar casinos. But there are a few differences between the two that players should be aware of so they are ready if they switch back and forth between the two.

We will start at the beginning. In a casino blackjack is played at a table with up to six other players, for a total of seven players. When playing blackjack online, you would be playing one-on-one with the dealer. This difference affects your rate of play.

Online blackjack tends to be played at a faster rate because it is just you and the dealer. In order to not let this impact your blackjack odds, slow down your rate of play—play slower and take breaks. It will have the same impact of playing with other players because in a casino, the more players there are at the blackjack table the longer a round takes and your rate of play drops.

Another difference: at some tables surrender is allowed. This is advantageous to players as they can bow out of a round losing only half of their wager rather than all of it. Surrender is not offered in online blackjack.

Because this is a house rule there really is not a way for online blackjack players to compensate for it, other than playing according to basic strategy every time.

All this sounds like there is no advantage to playing online blackjack, but it does have some. For one thing you can play for free, which you will never find in a brick and mortar casino. There is also the aspect of convenience that comes from playing on a computer; as long as you have internet access, you can play blackjack online.

Knowing the differences between playing blackjack at an online casino and a brick and mortar casino helps to avoid mistakes made from being unfamiliar with one or the other. It never hurts to keep yourself informed.

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Surrender is Not a Bad Play

On 04.02.10, In Blackjack Strategy, By Vivi

A lot of the time surrender is a play greeted with negative feelings. Many blackjack players feel that it is taking an easy way out or chickening out. But the truth is that it is a smart play to make, if available, in some instances.

Surrender is blackjack’s version of folding. It allows the player to bow out of the round. But unlike in poker, a player does not lose all of their bet for surrendering. In blackjack the player only loses half of their wager.

There are two types of surrender: early and late. In the early version the player can surrender before the dealer checks for blackjack. In the late version the dealer checks for blackjack first; only if he does not have a natural blackjack are players allowed to surrender. Early surrender favors players because it allows them out of the round even if the dealer has a blackjack.

According to basic strategy, the best times to surrender in blackjack are when you have a hard 15 against a dealer’s 10 and when you have a hard 16 against a dealer’s 9, 10 or Ace.

The reason these are the best times to surrender is because you have a difficult hand to do anything with and, the dealer has a strong starting point to either have a strong hand with his hole card or hit to build a strong hand. Your chances of winning with one of those hands against those dealer up cards is very small.

So given the ability to exit the round without losing all your wager—to surrender—is a better option that the more likely outcome, which is to lose and lose your entire wager too.

If you find a blackjack game, either an online blackjack game or one in a casino, that offers surrender play there. If you can find a blackjack game with early surrender do not walk away from that game.

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