What is Insurance in Blackjack?

Insurance simply is a form of side bet that a player gets to take when a dealer has revealed a blackjack. Proper timing is the secret to getting your insurance bet right. Knowing when to play and when to fold is highly important in any blackjack game. If you get your insurance bet right in online casinos, it can serve as a nice reward for any loss on your main wager.

How Much You Get to Win?

The pay for a correct bet on insurance in blackjack is 2 to 1. This amount will conveniently compensate for any loss you had incurred on your main bet. Now let us consider the odds you will be up against when you take this bet.

How it Works

You will be opportuned to stake an insurance wager if the top card with the dealer is an ace. After you have placed the wager, the dealer will peek into his cards that are still faced down to check if they make up a blackjack. Even though you might have lost on your main wager, there is still a good chance that you will win on your insurance wager.

Below are the six possible outcomes when you place an insurance bet. Assuming you had staked 100$  for the main game and 50$ for the insurance wager.

Possible Outcomes

• If it turns out that the player and dealer do not have a blackjack, and the dealer's hand is bigger, the player loses both the main wager and the insurance wager.
• Presuming the player and dealer do not have a blackjack, and the player hand is bigger, the player wins half of the main wager but loses on the insurance wager.
• If it turns out that the player and dealer do not have a blackjack, but both of their hand is a push, the initial stake is refunded to the player, but he loses the investment wager.

• Presuming both player and dealer have a blackjack, the player wins  the main bet and insurance bet(2x the insurance wager).
• If it turns out that the player has a blackjack, and the dealer doesn't, the player will receive 3:2 of his main wager but lose the insurance wager.
• Presuming the player doesn't have a blackjack and the dealer does, the player loses on the main wager and wins the insurance wager.

Is it Worth it?

Taking it from the mathematical point of view, you can only win an insurance wager when a dealer gets a blackjack, and the odds for this happening is 9:4. The chance is very slim, and the odds are against the player. Only sheer luck can make this happen; therefore, we wouldn't advise that you bank on this strategy.