This could be a really short feature and I won’t mess around, the short and deliciously simple answer is… no. You should never, ever take insurance when playing blackjack, be that online, in Vegas or anywhere else.
The logic and reasoning is down to very simple math and the fact is that by taking insurance you give the house a huge edge of around 6% depending on what variant of the game you are playing.
With the dealer needing a card worth 10 to make blackjack there are just four cards that can hurt you, a 10, jack, queen or king, while there are nine cards that will leave the dealer still playing. Given insurance pays out at 2/1 it is plain and simple a bad bet based on the probabilities of the cards.
Unless you are a professional card counter and know the deck is stacked with 10s you should never take insurance if you want to win at online blackjack. This applies to the same degree whether you are holding 17, 12 or 20. In fact, ironically, taking insurance on a hand with one or (especially) two 10-value cards is the worst value bet of all. Without the need for card counting, you know that there are one or two 10s the dealer has no chance of hitting – the ones in front of you!
Another thing you should never do is take even money if you are already holding blackjack. Many players favour the certainty of an even money payout but over time this will cost you money. Again, it’s simple math and will lose you around 4% of the value of your hand (bet) in the long-term.
These are very simple things to remember and if you can’t be bothered to learn perfect basic strategy or – easy if you are playing online blackjack, keep a blackjack strategy chart handy – then just remembering these things will help you out.
Another very simple strategy to follow is always hit on less than 17 if the dealer is showing a seven or above. That is probably the simplest basic principle of blackjack but it’s amazing how often you see players standing on 16.
Blackjack is a great game to play at an online casino and with amazing free bets, bonuses and promotions, if you’re prepared to learn a few basic rules you have a great chance of profiting as well as having fun.
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