Should You Take Insurance?

Biy Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Big Game Blackjack

Having played and taught blackjack for many years, it never ceases to amaze me how much money is
lost by players due to casino misinformation.  Whether we're talking about the ever popular fallacy concerning luck (which does not exist), or the equally influential dream of hitting the big jackpot that keeps suckers coming back to lose more money, casino fairy tales are nothing if not persistent. Having said that, there is one piece of misinformation concerning blackjack that is so pervasive that even the dealers don't understand wjat's what.  I'm talking about the Insurance Wager.

Any time the dealer shows an ace, he or she will ask the players if they want to take insurance.  The wager permits the player to wager up to half their bet. The highest paying of all wagers on the table at 2 to 1, it pays off to equal the amount of the original wager.  It is also the least understood of all blackjack bets.

The Real Deal

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Big Game Blackjack

Sadly, most people's opinion of card counting comes from watching Hollywood blockbusters.  In
these dramatized acconts, the wily card counters, who are either portrayed as MIT grad students or autistic savants, are out to walk away with millions of dollars in profits.  Along the way, they are forced to contend with pit bosses who are only too happy to drag these threats to the casino's bottom line into the back room where they can be taught a painful lesson.  The movies, while entertaining, have taken so many liberties with card counting that I thought I would devote a blog to busting some myths.

Back to the Scene of the Crime

By Carl Van Eton

Courtesy of  Public Domain Pictires

Having played blackjack for a living for more than 20 years, it never ceases to amaze me when I meet a player who upon learning that I both use and teach card counting asks me, "Isn't card counting illegal?"  My response is usually one of, "I have yet to see a casino post a sign that reads, "Please Check Your Brain at the Door."

Since when is learning how to master a game a crime?  While professional poker players are treated like rock stars nowadays, card counters are given all the respect of cockroaches.  Granted, the casinos don't like it when the public tries to do to them what they do to everyone else, which is exploit a mathematical advantage.  But to treat any player like dirt just because they exhibit skill...in my opinion, that should be considered a criminal act.