Welcome to learn to play blackjack stage 3. Hopefully you have read the information in getting started 1 and 2 but if you haven’t then we suggest you do, as you will be missing something.
What is going to be explained now is the most difficult part of the whole blackjack game; it is also a part that is not very well understood by many players and the reason that it is not understood is the fact that players do not have enough knowledge about the game to be able to crunch the numbers and get the right statistics but do not worry; just keep on reading and by the end you will know exactly how it all works.

- Insurance: In a blackjack game you are sometimes allowed to insure your bet against the bank having a blackjack. This means that if the bank does get a blackjack that you will not lose a penny.

Insurance can only be placed when the dealer is showing an ace as his first card. If this is the case then the dealer will ask the players if they wish to insure and of course you have the choice of insuring or not. If you would like to place an insurance bet then you must count the total amount of your bet and place half of this on the insurance pay line, which can be found on the table. The blackjack dealer will then in turn look at the bets and check to see if they are correct. After everybody has had the chance to insure, the dealer will have a look at his second card and see if it has a value of ten, which would make blackjack. If the dealer has blackjack then you will lose your original bet and your insurance will be paid 2:1. This means that you will get paid your original bet back, leaving you with no loss and no gain. This sounds very attractive but as soon as you start to think about it you will see that it is not such a good deal after all.

Let’s start with an example, you place a 10 euro bet and the dealer has an ace as his first card. If you were to insure you would have to place 5 euro on the insurance line. By making this bet you would expect 1 in 3 chance of winning, as they are paying you 3 for 1. This is unfortunately far from true. There are 52 cards in a stock and from these 52 there are 16 with a value of 10. This means that your chance is not exactly 1 in 3 but actually 1 in 3.137 (16/51). The reason that it is 16/51 and not 16/52 is the fact that you know that one of the cards is an ace. You also have a couple of cards in your own hand and if one or more of those is a ten value card the odds are increased even more.

- Even Money: this is something that is offered to you when you have blackjack and the dealer is showing an ace as his first card. The dealer will offer even money and by saying this he is offering you a regular payout for your blackjack and not the special blackjack rate which is 3:2. Many players like the sound of that and take the even money option without once again thinking about the statistics.

Lets show you again with the 10 euro example. You have blackjack and the dealer is showing an ace as his first card. The dealer offers you even money and you decide to take it, you are now up 10 euro.

This time you have the same blackjack and the dealer is showing an ace again. You ask the dealer for insurance (not allowed but for the sake of this example) and you place 5 euro on the insurance pay line. If the dealer has blackjack your initial bet stands and you receive 10 euro for your insurance, leaving you up 10 euro. If the dealer does not have blackjack, you lose your insurance and get paid 15 euro for your blackjack, which leaves you up 10 euro again. As you can now see the whole insurance rule does not make any difference when you have blackjack so that is why they do not allow it. It does make a difference if you take even money because by taking even money you are doing yourself short. You already have blackjack and the dealer doesn’t. Look at the statistics once again and see what the chance is of the dealer getting a card with a value of ten, 15/49 or 3.061. The reason that it is 15 and 49 is because there are three cards on the table where one of them has a value of ten.

To bring it all back to basics, if you play blackjack statistically you are better of not insuring or taking even money. There can only be one reason for taking these options and that is when you are able to count cards and you know that the chance of a card with a value of ten is coming is greater than normal.