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.

There's No Such Thing as a Sure Thing

By Carl Van Eton

Image courtesy of Flickr.com

Casino players the world over are always looking for "The Sure Thing."  That is, a wager or betting system that will guarantee that they and not the house come out ahead of the game.  The problem is that while there are ways to gain the upper hand over the house in blackjack by counting cards, most players don't seem to want to bother taking the time to master the art.  

Who can blame them.  Card counting takes weeks or months of dedicated practice, practice, practice, just to be able to sit down at a table without getting blown away by the dealer.  Any of you who have tried to count cards in the distraction-rich environment of a casino, know that this is no simple task.  Not only are you required to count up to 8 decks of cards, you are required to make strategy and wagering decisions all in the time it takes the dealer to put 'em down and pick 'em up.