Tuesday 12 November 2013

Insurance: The Least Understood Rule for Blackjack

Just like any other card-based casino games, Blackjack is a comparing card game between a player and a dealer. That is, players are never against each other, and the dealer is their only competition. For the players to beat the dealer, they have to score 21 points from their first two cards (referred to as a blackjack), reach a final score higher than the dealer without exceeding 21, or let the dealer draw additional cards until his hand exceeds 21. These are the basic rules in blackjack.

But what happens when the dealer offers insurance?

In an online casino like CasinoJR, the insurance rule in blackjack stays the same; it happens only when the dealer’s upcard is an ace. It means players have the option to make a side bet of up to half of their original bet to the dealers hand that might have a blackjack. If the player takes the offer and wins, the dealer pays two to one. It also means that the player just won his or her initial bet back for a net of zero dollars. But if the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, the player loses the insurance bet and may be confined to continuing the game.

The term “insurance” in blackjack can be misleading. Perhaps, it is the least understood of all the commonly applied rules for blackjack. But this does not necessarily mean that taking advantage of the insurance is a bad thing; it is just a house bet, after all. And if it appears bothersome, then not taking this casino add-on would be the best way to shun it. Testing its efficiency, however, can be educational. This is one of the many things that make online blackjack exciting and interesting.