Insurance is a word that most people are familiar with. You buy insurance just in case you get in a car accident with an uninsured driver, just in case you die and just in case you break your arm after falling off your ladder while hanging Christmas lights. You pay a premium up front and if or when the inevitable happens, the insurance companies takes care of (most of) the cost.

• Does Insurance Work In Blackjack
• How Does Blackjack Insurance Work
• Should You Take Insurance Blackjack

In the online blackjack game, you will see the “insurance” icon, giving you an opportunity to exercise a side bet, allowing you to ensure your hand against instantly losing to the dealer’s two-card 21. You will then have to decide whether you’re going to do this or not.

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• The insurance bet is a separate bet that the dealer has a blackjack. You put up half the amount of money of your regular bet and if you win you are paid 2-to-1. So you win your insurance bet but you also lose.

With traditional insurance in mind, I think a lot of players confuse what insurance is as a side-bet in blackjack. Insurance (in blackjack) is not as good as it appears. My goal for this article is to explain exactly what blackjack insurance is, and why you should avoid it like the plague.

Insurance is a side-bet that dealers offer to players whenever they have an ace showing. The idea behind insurance is to protect your bet just in case the dealer has a blackjack.

How Does Insurance in Blackjack Work?

When a dealer has an ace showing they’ll ask you if you want insurance. This is before they check for a (natural) 21. If you take the insurance you can wager as much as half of your original bet. For example, if your original bet was $10 you can pay as much as $5 for insurance.

Once the insurance bet has been placed the dealer will then check for a blackjack. If the dealer has a blackjack you’ll be paid 2-1 on your money (insurance bet). If you wagered $5 you’d receive $10. However, unless you have a blackjack, too, you will still lose your original bet, breaking even overall. If the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, you’ll lose your insurance bet and will still have the opportunity to play your hand like normal.

Another insurance-like situation you may find yourself in is if you have a natural blackjack and the dealer has an ace showing. The dealer will offer you even money on your bet. In other words, if you bet the maximum of $5 insurance on a $10 bet and the dealer has a 21, you’ll push on the blackjack, but win 2-1 on your insurance. So you’d be up $10. However, if you take the insurance and the dealer doesn’t have a blackjack, you’ll lose your $5 bet and win 2-1 on your blackjack ($15) for a total of $10. Either way, you walk away with an even money win.

So… Should You Take Insurance or Even Money Side-Bets?

No. Experts recommend that you pass on insurance bets.

The reason why passing on insurance in blackjack is recommended is because the dealer will only show up with a blackjack 30.87% of the time. However, to breakeven on the insurance bet you need a 10-point card to show up 1 out of 3 times (33%). So every time you take this bet you’re taking a minor loss over the long run, assuming you max your insurance bet (half the original).

There are exceptions, of course. For example, if you’re a card counter than you would know how many 10-point cards are left in the deck. So if the deck is rich with 10-point cards it would make sense to take the insurance bet. If the deck is poor with 10-point cards you’d pass on insurance.

You could even make the argument that you don’t have to be a card counter. In fact, if you simply pay attention to the cards dealt and notice that there are more 10-point cards then you could pass on insurance, or vice versa. The difference here (from counting cards) is that you’re not as accurate, and would likely be making a breakeven play, or at best a slight win/loss.

At the end of the day, though, taking insurance is going to be a -EV bet for the majority of players. To give you a better idea of how insurance affects the house edge, just look at these numbers:

• 1 Deck – 5.88%
• 2 Decks – 6.8%
• 4 Decks – 7.25%
• 6 Decks – 7.4%
• 8 Decks – 7.47%

Not very appealing, right? So unless you know how to count cards you should avoid taking the insurance bet in blackjack like the plague. Unless you like losing, of course.

Table Of Contents

Are you looking for the best blackjack strategy to maximise your winning odds when you play online? You'll love these tips.

Finding a way to get higher chances to win at blackjack shouldn't be so hard.

The basic strategy is the best way to play blackjack — and when you combine it with some strategy tips on bankroll management and what to do after you win, you have really reached the maximum you can.

In other words, if you are looking for the best blackjack betting strategy to increase your chances to win, you'll love this guide.

In the parts that follow you will find:

• And lots more

We also put together a collection of the best bonuses to play online. This way, you can use those freebies to test the blackjack basic strategy and all the tips in this article.

Register a FREE account and claim your bonus to play online blackjack!

What this guide is NOT

• A collection of tips to win at blackjack
• A list of systems that promise to make blackjack profitable
• The illusion that you can beat the game

Blackjack is a gambling game where the casino has an advantage. It doesn't matter what approach you take or what blackjack strategy you follow. In the long run, the casino always wins.

Why Follow a Blackjack Betting Strategy?

Let's face it - we have all been there. We have all looked for the best and the most effective strategy to win at blackjack after we lost our first hands online.

With the right blackjack strategy it's possible to increase your winning chances, and that's because blackjack isn't a gambling game like roulette, video poker, or slots.

If you follow the basic betting strategy and you learn how to use the information you have at your disposal, you can reach optimal play giving yourself the best chances to win include in the game.

Professional players have worked hard to 'solve' the game of blackjack and find how to play each hand to get the best winning odds.

They analysed how the number of decks in play affects your chances to win and how you can make the best decision based on the cards you see on the table.

• That's what they call the 'blackjack basic strategy. A list of dos and don'ts where you find exactly how you are supposed to play each and every hand you are dealt.

This is the best strategy for blackjack.

The goal of the blackjack basic strategy isn't to help you win at blackjack every time you play. That's impossible. Instead, it is to help you maximize your winning chances and to minimize your losses.

That's also the goal of this guide. We don't list all the strategies for blackjack out there. Instead, we focus only on the best blackjack strategies that are known to work and should help you get better results when you play.

Starting from the tips and tricks included in our cheat-sheet.

READ ALSO: How to play online blackjack with friends.

What Is the Blackjack Basic Strategy?

Knowing how to manage your money is as important in blackjack as it is in all gambling games. A correct 'bankroll management' is essential when you play — regardless of the blackjack strategies you apply to your games.

Knowing how to bet (and how much) and how to select the right game when you play online blackjack for real money is extremely important.

Once you have those basics covered, you can move into the basic blackjack strategy and learn how you are supposed to invest your money once the dealer gives you the initial two cards.

As soon as the cards reach you and the dealer opens one of their cards, you have to make your first choice. In a game of blackjack, that means you need to pick one of these options:

• Stand
• Hit
• Double
• Split
• Surrender

Do you know why the basic blackjack strategy is also considered to be the best way to discover how to win at blackjack? Because it uses basic logic.

Would you hit if your first two cards gave you 20 points? Of course not.

Would you stand if your starting hand was worth five points? Not a chance.

While these choices are very simple on hands like the ones I use in my example, things get (a lot) more complicated with different cards on the table.

Let me give you a few examples.

Does Insurance Work In Blackjack

• How do you play soft 17 in blackjack?
• When do you hit on a 16?
• What to do with 15 in blackjack?

This is where the basic blackjack strategy comes in to help you get the best chances to win.

This collection of tips shows you the optimal play for every blackjack hands, calculating your winning odds in combination with the dealer's open card.

The basic strategy to win at blackjack has nothing to do with concepts like card counting or any of those tricks some 'clever' players adopt to beat the house.

This is a simple-to-use guideline that shows you exactly how you are supposed to play every possible hand of blackjack. Use it to know when it is recommended to hit, to stand, or to do something else.

Key:
S = Stand
H = Hit
Dh = Double (if not allowed, then hit)
Ds = Double (if not allowed, then stand)
SP = Split
SU = Surrender (if not allowed, then hit)

A Blackjack Cheat Sheet

To make things even easier for you and help you follow the best betting strategy whenever you play blackjack, we created a quick cheat-sheet with the basic strategy explained in full.

Download the blackjack cheat-sheet (it's free) and print it or save it on your mobile phone to keep it always with you when you play.

The blackjack basic strategy cheat-sheet is 100% legal and you can use it both when you play online and at a brick-and-mortar casino.

A Conservative Blackjack Strategy

Don't play high-stakes games unless you feel ready for them and you have enough money to spend on online games.

If you are reading this blackjack strategy guide and you are a beginner, you should be afraid of high-stakes games.

When you spend too much money on your games, you risk getting the opposite of what you want. You play to have fun and to find out how to get more chances to win at blackjack - and you end broke and frustrated.

The best way to play blackjack is to start with what I call a conservative approach. Because finding the right way top handle betting in blackjack is key to long-term fun.

Like many blackjack strategies suggest, you should increase the stakes only when things go well and any potential losses are compensated by the money you have already won, not the one you might win if you get lucky.

In other words, raise your bet every time you win.

Many players believe wins and losses come in streaks. They think you might lose five or six times in a row — but when you win…you are not going to do it just once.

Obviously, that's not true.

Blackjack is a gambling game and there are no patterns for you to exploit or streaks that you can use to win more money every time you play.

There are, however, smart betting strategies like the basic blackjack strategy that can help you increase the chances of a victory.

With that in mind, a conservative blackjack strategy works like this:

• Start from the lowest bet (e.g. $1)
• Increase your bet by 1 unit only after you win
• Go back to the original bet after you lose

When you use this blackjack strategy, you need to go back to the original bet as soon as you lose one hand. This is the best way to be in control of your money and end a gaming session in the black.

All you need to do is to make the right choices (use the basic strategy) and raise your stakes little by little - but only when you win.

READ ALSO: Bets sites to play live dealer blackjack online.

An Aggressive Approach to Blackjack: the Martingale Strategy

The Martingale betting strategy sits at the opposite side of the spectrum. This is the perfect blackjack strategy for those players who:

• Play blackjack to win a lot of money
• Can afford to lose a lot of money
• Don't fear the swing of big losses

In other words, this is the perfect blackjack strategy for big spenders but isn't one that you should try if you are still a beginner who is looking for ways to learn how to play blackjack.

The Martingale blackjack strategy is expensive. This is a blackjack system that will help you win often - but only when I have a lot of money to invest on your games.

How Does Blackjack Insurance Work

If you can't spend at least $500 on your games - the Martingale is not the best blackjack strategy for you.

But if you do — continue reading to discover how to use this betting strategy to increase your chances to win.

In short:

Should You Take Insurance Blackjack

The Martingale strategy is the exact opposite of the conservative approach to betting in blackjack we have just seen.

When you follow this strategy, you need to double your bet every time you lose. Which, in case of a losing streak, can become very expensive very quickly.

The rationale of this audacious blackjack betting strategy is that you will need only one win to go back to square one and recoup all your losses in one hand.

The caveat is: your bankroll needs to be deep enough for you to play and play until that one win comes.

Again, this isn't a betting strategy for beginners. If you decide to try it, make sure your bankroll covers at least 10 consecutive losses from the hand #1.

1-3-2-6 Blackjack Betting System

The 1-3-2-6 blackjack betting strategy is not as exciting as the Martingale strategy, and that's a good thing. This betting strategy doesn't require a huge bankroll and is a lot more suitable for players looking for a way to have better chances to win at blackjack without investing a fortune in the game.

The numbers in the strategy's name indicate the way you should bet after you win a hand of blackjack.

You first winning is the trigger that starts the sequence while your first losing hand is the one that ends everything.

This blackjack betting strategy is built to get the most value out of winning streaks. If you are lucky enough to use it at the beginning of a four-hand winning streak, you are in for a treat.

READ ALSO: How to play blackjack for beginners.

How to Win More Often at Blackjack: A Few Important Tips

We all want to win at blackjack every time we play, but we also know that's impossible.

What is possible, however, is to maximise your chances to win and get better winning odds when you play blackjack online. All it takes a few simple tips.

Follow them carefully, as these blackjack tips are as important as the best blackjack betting strategy.

• Don't spend money on the 'insurance'. The insurance bet is a money-draining option created to confuse beginners. All the best blackjack strategies fail to mention is for one simple reason: no real blackjack player will ever spend their money on it.

• Think about the house edge. Like we said when we went through some of the game's best betting strategies, you can't expect to win at blackjack every time you play.

  Like all other casino games, the house edge is what makes sure that the casino has an advantage over the players in the long run. With that in mind, the next of our blackjack tips is one that can make a great difference for you.

• Set a budget and abide to that. Experienced blackjack players know that you need to set a losing and a winning limit before the first hand is dealt.

  Stop playing as soon as you hit one of them. If you lose and hit your lower limit, take a break and end your session.

  If you win and you hit your highest limit, collects your winnings and leave the table. You can continue to play if you want, but you'll need to set a new bankroll and establish new limits first.

• Don't miss the rules sheet. Trust me, there are more blackjack variations that you will ever play. All of them are based on the same core gameplay — but adopt rules that could break you if you aren't ready for them

  One of the best parts of playing online is that the rules are always available at the table. If you are not sure you know everything about the game you want to play, click on the 'info' icon and read the rules.

• Choose 3:2 over 6:5 payout. Different casinos have different payout policies - and not all of them are great for you.

  Make sure you read the payout table before you begin to play a hand of real money blackjack and always choose the games with the 'regular' 3:2 payout. These are a much smarter choice compared to the 6:5 payout blackjack games you find at some online casino sites.

Use Bonuses to Find Your Favourite Blackjack Strategy

Now that you know what are the best blackjack strategies, there is only one thing left: play a few games online to find out which one works best for you.

Here's what you should fo to get the best results:

1. Base all your decisions on the basic blackjack strategy
2. Pick the betting strategy that suits your bankroll
3. Follow all the blackjack strategy tips above to maximise your chances to win

To help you find the right games and the right betting strategy, we created a list of the best blackjack bonuses on the market.

All the sites you find in the list are licensed, pay winnings fast, and offer lots of blackjack games. Pick the ones with the best offers, register an account (it's always free), and sit at the blackjack table to start an epic battle with the dealer!