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Insurance is a special side bet that can be made in online and real life blackjack. It is offered by the dealer when the dealer’s face-up card is an ace; and it is bet on the dealer getting blackjack (which pays out at 2 to 1).

The reason that you might wish to bet on the dealer getting blackjack is to protect your own bet. If the dealer gets blackjack then unless you also have blackjack the dealer will win, and with the dealer’s ace exposed the chances of him or her getting a blackjack are relatively high. Your insurance bet will be for half as much money as your initial bet, so if the dealer achieves a blackjack them the insurance will cover your loss and you will end up even.

Approximately 30.8% of the cards in the deck are able to give the dealer blackjack, which means that if enough rounds are played the dealer will get a blackjack nearly one out of three times he exposes an ace; it might seem worthwhile to take insurance.

The problem with taking insurance is that statistically it does not make a great deal of sense. An insurance bet pays out at 2 to 1 yet there is only a 30.8% chance that it will occur. This means that there is a 69.2% chance that the dealer will not get blackjack.

Thus by taking an insurance bet you are actually reducing your chances of winning and increasing the house edge.

It is even worse in situations when the player themselves has a blackjack. Blackjacks are paid out at 3 to 2, and they are crucial in maintaining the players’ opportunity of making money at the game. Taking insurance in these circumstances means that the player risks reducing his potential payout. Say the original bet was £10 and the dealer failed to get blackjack. The player would usually win £15 if he had not taken insurance, but if he did take it then this would be reduced to £5. As there is a 69.2% chance that the dealer will not make blackjack, insurance against a dealer blackjack when the player has one is clearly absurd.

There are no circumstances in blackjack when taking insurance is wise, so our advice is to ignore it completely. Just don’t even think about it.