Blackjack Strategies – When to Surrender
While playing blackjack you will have many opportunities to play for a bonus, but you will not find surrender as one of these bonus options. Why not? Take a look at the reasons below.
Blackjack surrender is actually an option that has already been included in the standard game of blackjack. Surrender lets you lose only half of your wager instead of the full amount; it also lets you double your bet and gets half of your hand paid out. The surrender option is a side benefit of blackjack and unlike some other bonuses found in Las Vegas and Atlantic City where you get double your bet after Splitting and During Surrender, in blackjack you get only one opportunity to surrender.
The early surrender is probably one of the least used surrender options. It is not that easy to find a dealer that will surrender for you as there are now about 40 other players at the table which, when taken into consideration, makes it uncommon. According to this article about blackjack surrender, casinos offer surrender more frequently to create even playing action.
The middle and late surrender offers a dealer with second chance to beat you after he sees your cards. In short, there should be some kind of a reason that the dealer will not charge you double for a chance to beat you. One reason that the dealer may not charge you double is that he believes there is no more favorable cards on the table.
The late surrender option increases the house advantage by 0.22%. This is actually the best thing that can happen to the player while the dealer gets nothing. According to the article about blackjack surrender, a common playing area for a dealer is that there is a combination of ten or eleven. If the dealer has less than 11, he should not surrender because the casino is getting a 3 1 / 2 percent edge on the bet.
When should a player choose to surrender in blackjack? There are two considered cases, the first when the player is taking a risk for a double down where the risk is not recoverable. The example would be when the dealer has 9 showing and the player has a less than 20% chance of winning the hand and the dealer has 7 showing. The player will essentially have the same odds of winning as the dealer. In this case, the player will not surrender because it is only a 50%/50% chance.
In the second case, the player surrenders because he thinks the odds are against him. In this case, a player should surrender when he knows from past playing experience that the odds are against him. For example, a player has been card counting with his eyes closed for 4 hours. During that time his “estimated odds” are 4:1 or 4+1. If the casino is using 6 decks, the “estimated odds” are 5:1 or 5+1, and if the dealer is only using 3 decks, the “estimated odds” are 3:1 or 3+1. Therefore, if the banker opens 4 decks of cards, the player has reason to surrender.
In either case, the surrender should not be entered often because a player will lose his money if he plays surrender frequently. Instead of surrendering, a player should wait for the next opportunity when he can surrender. Wait for a good hand! If you are in a hurry, use the quick surrender trick. Whenever a third pack of cards is opened, immediately ask the dealer if any player wants to surrender. At this point, you cannot lose by surrendering even if the dealer has an Ace, so it is worth the time to look for a chance to surrender.
There are many hands in MPO500 in which surrendering is the best option, but if you have only two cards, surrendering against a dealer’s up card of six is usually not a wise decision.
After you have chosen your seat at the table, find the buying window and buy a card from the deck of cards. These cards should be face down. Do not touch them. Put the cards in the cup holder or in a slot if you are using one. Follow the dealer’s advice and name in the betting box. If you are uncertain about the specific rules of blackjack, obey the verbal directions of the dealer.
The game is now considered complete when the player who has placed the second or last bet shows his cards. If there are no previous bets and the player has checked his cards, then the dealer will treat the hand as if it were one of his own. However, if the dealer has an Ace as the up card, the player still has not won. Consequently, the dealer will “hit” (take another card) until his hand beats the player’s hand. The arrangement of cards after a “hit” is the same as what would happen if the dealer won, except that the last card will not be dealt face up.