Surrender in Blackjack
Surrendering can also be a powerful tool for players. Unfortunately,
most casinos don't offer this option. If you do find a casino that
offers it, you have a better advantage than if you were playing at a
casino that doesn't offer it.
If you don't like your two cards, simply tell the dealer "surrender" and
turn in your hand, forfeiting half of your bet. In other words, you're
dropping out and keeping half your bet, rather than risk losing all of
it. The reason for surrendering is that you don't think you have much
chance of beating the dealer, This can help the smart player save a lot
of money when Lady Luck is turned the other way.
The proper strategy for "late surrender" in multiple-deck games is as follows:
- Surrender 16 (but not a pair of 8s) against a dealer's upcard of 9, 10 or ace.
- Surrender 15 against a dealer's upcard of 10.
For single-deck games the rules are the same with one exception-don't surrender your 16 against a 9.
What's the reasoning for when to surrender? It's rather simple. Since
you're giving up half your bet, you should surrender only in situations
where your expectation is less than 50%. As the limited strategy shows,
this doesn't happen as often as you think. In fact, surrender can be
very detrimental to fatalistic players who use it every time they have a
possibility of busting.
Even a pair of 8s against a 10 isn't enough of a loser to warrant
surrender. It's close-you'll lose about $49 on average-but it's still
better than throwing in the towel. Here's another way to look at
surrender: It applies only to hands that you win 25% of the time or
less. This is just a different way of looking at the expectation. If you
win 25% of the hands, the dealer wins 75%. Therefore, your net loss
would be 50%, which is equal to the forfeit you make when surrendering.
It's highly unlikely that you'll find a casino that offers "early
surrender," but if you manage to find a casino running a promotion
offering this golden rule, add these moves to your basic strategy:
- Surrender any hard hand and pair totaling 5 to 7 or 12 to 17, against an ace.
- Surrender hard hands and pairs totaling 14 to 16 against a 10.
- Surrender hard 16 against a 9.
Next... Insurance
