Blackjack – When to Surrender
Many online and live casinos offer a surrender option on at least some of their Blackjack tables. In this article we will look at the meaning of surrendering and examine the times when it might be advisable to do so.
If you receive a hand that you really would rather not play then, if there is a surrender option, surrender your hand. This means that you do not continue to play it, but you also forfeit half your bet.
Surrender is an option that should not be overused. We always advocate playing basic strategy at all times as it is the only way to win in the long term, and indeed surrendering is a basic strategy option, but if you study the basic strategy charts for any variation of the game, you will see that the advice to surrender is used very sparingly.
You will notice from the basic strategy charts that the only time to surrender is when the dealer shows a 9, 10 or Ace and your count is 16; when the dealer shows a 10 or an Ace and your count is 15, or when the dealer shows an Ace and you have 17. The only other time to consider surrendering is if you have a pair of eights and the dealer is showing an Ace.
Surrendering on the correct occasion can reduce the house edge, but to surrender at the wrong time tilts the edge strongly in favour of the casino. A strong Blackjack player will profit from the surrender option whilst the casino will profit from it if used by a weak player. Although he strong player will profit, it will not be by a large amount as with a four deck game surrendering will reduce the house edge by 0.07% and for an eight deck game it will reduce it by 0.08%. Surrendering at the wrong time will increase the house edge by considerably more than this.
Our advice is to stick to basic strategy, but if you do divert, only surrender in the above circumstances or forget the surrender option all together. Visit onlinecasino for more on this!
August 17th, 2010 by admin | No Comments »