4/4/2022

What Does Insure Bet Mean In Blackjack

In blackjack, insurance is a side bet which is separate to your original stake. Offered only when the dealer's upcard is an ace, it acts as a safety net against an opposing blackjack. An insurance bet is usually half your original wager and pays 2 to 1. The side bet is completed when the dealer's second card is revealed. The insurance bet only becomes available to you after you have been dealt your first two cards, and if the dealer’s exposed card is an ace. You must choose whether or not you want to place it before deciding how to play your hand.

Although blackjack is one of the simpler card games to learn as a gambler, there are some high-level techniques that can make you money. One of the not-so-high-level techniques is one that we can all easily apply to our game: just stop taking insurance bets.

Insurance is a sucker’s side bet that is offered when the dealer upcards an ace. You can only take this bet up until the dealer checks the hole card. If insurance is taken and the player is not holding blackjack, they must wager half of their original wager. If blackjack is then drawn by the dealer, with a card valued at 10, insurance is paid out as double (2:1) the insurance wager.

Insurance bets go even deeper, though, extending to players who hold a natural blackjack in hand. These players can take what is called “maximum insurance” to forfeit the winning 3:2 payout for an even-money (1:1) payout.

To understand why the insurance bet is an attractive option for some gamblers, you need some basic card knowledge. When a dealer upcards an ace, the chance for them to draw a card valued at 10 is less than one in three. Placing an insurance bet is protection against this common outcome.

Side bets and bet hedging are tactics that make inexperienced gamblers feel safer, but biting on an insurance bet is almost always going to cost you. Let’s talk about why.

The Math Behind Insurance Bets

Poker

The “insurance” side bet in blackjack is given this name so that players feel like their hand is being protected. We often attribute insurance to being a positive and reassuring thing. However, that’s not the case in blackjack. Rather than a true form of insurance, you’re just committing to an additional bet that the dealer holds a natural blackjack.

The odds against the dealer having a natural blackjack when their upcard is an ace is 9:4. This alone should be enough to tell any savvy player that the bet simply isn’t worth it. Theoretically, the 2:1 payout odds on an insurance bet puts this at 8:9—still disadvantageous for the player. So, if you were to make 100 insurance bets of $10, you’d win around 31 of them for $620. This means you would lose 69 of those bets for $690.

This same logic applies when you’re holding blackjack. If you take the insurance bet, you’re either going to win the $10 on your bet and push or lose the $5 insurance bet while winning your $15 blackjack hand. What’s the point? You’re winning $10 one way or another. However, without taking the insurance bet, you’re going to average roughly $10.38 per blackjack.

Insurance bets are a ruse that sounds great until you break it down into numbers. This holds true with betting systems like Martingale, too. These are parts of blackjack that prey on the uninformed.

Should You Ever Take Insurance in Blackjack?

Yes and no. There are rare instances where the odds are so in favor of the dealer drawing a card valued at 10 after upcarding an ace that you technically should take the insurance bet. However, it requires an expert grasp of card counting. Some gamblers even form a card-counting team to do this.

What Does Insure Bet Mean In Blackjack Poker

Amateur and hobby gamblers aren’t going to be well-versed in card counting until they get down the basics, but after you have learned this valuable skill, finding opportunities to take insurance could be the last squeeze of optimization you can get out of your blackjack game.

Because of this, it’s not fair to say that you should absolutely never place a bet on insurance—though it’s a safe rule to play by. For those of you who are skilled in card counting, let’s talk more about this option.

The Exception: When to Bet on Insurance

Like most rules of gambling, there is an exception. If you are a high-level player that is talented at card counting, you can place an insurance bet where the odds favor you—when the deck is over one in three cards valued at 10.

What Does Insure The Bet Mean In Blackjack

What does insure the bet mean in blackjack

Card counting to make an inference on if the remainder of the deck is heavy on 10s requires intense concentration and sharp thinking. Many of the experts who practice this specific blackjack skill have the percentages memorized and mapped out in their heads.

Card counting is a completely separate animal from insurance, though, so I suggest you only take up this option when you find time to master that skill. Also worth considering is that many casinos will flat-out give you the boot if you’re caught counting cards. Surprising that they aren’t interested in playing with educated gamblers who take their money, right? Luckily, that’s not an issue you have to worry about at the best online blackjack sites.

That being said, a strict diet of insurance avoidance is a healthy way to play. If you follow this rule and manage your bankroll properly, you’re already doing better than many blackjack players out there. Learning to count cards and play into side bets is just the cherry on top.

Closing Remarks

Insurance is a trap that many blackjack players who think they’re being smart and savvy fall into. You have to think, “Why would the house even give me this option if it didn’t favor them?” Casinos are set up to beat you through schemes like this, and the only way you make it out on top it to fully understand and develop strategies to beat them.

Learn to discipline yourself against placing bets on insurance. The next step is to eventually learn card counting. After, you can optionally adjust your insurance strategy to take this bet whenever the remaining 10-value cards are in your favor.

As an amateur player, it’s important not to overcomplicate the game when you’re at the blackjack table. Luckily, eliminating the thought of ever taking insurance is a completely viable strategy that everyone can adopt today. It’s not hard to learn blackjack, and insurance just overcomplicates it.

C
Cage
Area of casino where cashier is based and chip buying and selling takes place. Usually surrounded by metal bars or other high security measures. In many ways, the cage resembles a bank.
Call Bet
A bet made without money or chips. Must be approved by a floor person or pit boss. Usually allowed only for customers with casino credit already approved, or with money on deposit in the casino cage. This procedure is highly irregular and may be illegal in some states.
Call for Insurance
To announce that the dealer has an Ace showing and pause to allow the players make an insurance bet, then the dealer will check the hole card and if it is a 10-value card the hand is over and the bets and side bets are settled, if it is not, the side bets are collected and the play of the hand continues.
Camouflage
An action which is intended to hide the fact that a player is counting cards.
Cap/Ing, Capping of Bets
To illegally add money / placing extra chips to a winning bet after you receive at least one card while the dealer is distracted (To cap a bet). Easy to detect with video surveillance.
Card Counter
A person who card counts by assigning numerical values to the cards ( see Card Counting )
Card Counting
A method of keeping track of the cards by assigning a value to certain cards in the deck to determine if the remaining cards in a deck or shoe favor the player or the dealer. For example, the hi-lo counting system assigns a value of plus one to cards 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 and minus one to tens, jacks, queens, kings and aces.
Card Down
An announcement to the floor person that a card has gone off the table. A dealer never reaches down to pick up a card, as that would expose their tray to stealing.
Card Eating
Using up cards quickly. A player may spread to more than one hand to accomplish this. For example, if the count is low, a player may spread to two or three hands at a minimum bet to hasten the shuffle.
Carpet Joint
A colloquialism for an upscale casino, derived from the days when many casinos did not have carpet. If a casino had carpeted floors, it was considered to be an indication that it was a fancier place than the usual.
Carpet Store
A higher class casino than a 'sawdust joint', because it has carpet on the floor.
Case Card
The last card of a denomination left in the deck. Usually used as a poker term.
Cashier
A person who works in the cage who handles monetary transactions with players. It is similar to what a bank teller would do in a bank.
Casing the Layout
Taking a brief look at the bets on the table prior to starting to deal the cards. Take particular note of the bets on first and third base because they are the most likely to be pinched or capped. If a player has been betting every hand and is still present at the table but doesn't have a bet in his circle, it is a dealer courtesy to bring his attention back to the table and confirm whether he desires to bet or not.
Casino
A building in which legalized gambling is the main source of income to the management. There are many euphemisms for casino such as: 'house,' 'store,' 'shop,' etc.
Casino Host
A casino employee who is responsible for dealing with casino patrons and answering queries about casino comps and other amenities. For example, if a rated player (professional) were to call a casino to make hotel reservations, he would ask to speak to a casino host in order to get a casino rate or a room comp.
Casino Manager
The person who manages all phases of the casino operations.
Catch (Heat / Card)
1. To catch 'heat' is to get reprimanded by a superior for an infraction of casino policy. 2. To catch a card is to get a hit card that is either good or bad. 'I split Aces and caught toe deuces.'
Cbjn
An abbreviation for Stanford Wong's Current BlackJack News, a periodical which is available through several different media which describes blackjack playing conditions throughout the United States and in some Canadian casinos.
Cc
1. The acronym for Card Counting. 2. The acronym for Circus Circus, a casino.
Cheating
Illegal gain of advantage, technically defined as 'altering selection criteria of a casino game.' Includes card marking, capping bets, loaded dice, various sleight of hand techniques and so forth. Does NOT include card counting or capitalizing on house errors.
Check (Money) Down
An expression used by a dealer to inform the floor person that a chip has fallen on the floor, a situation, which requires his immediate attention.
Checks
Round, flat objects used by casinos to represent money. Several reasons casino's insist on using chips are: 1. they are faster and easier to handle than cash, 2. they help the management keep track of the drop, and 3. customers may lose more money because they don't 'think' of the chips as cash and therefore are looser with chips than with cash.
Checks Play
A term often used by dealers to notify the pit boss that a player has made a significantly large bet. The amount of a bet that will trigger such a response varies wildly from casino to casino. It could be a bet as small as five red chips ($25) in some casinos or a bet with several black chips in other casinos.
Chip Runner
A person who carries chips from the cage to the table.
Chips
These are tokens that the Casino uses, in place of cash, to represent a certain monetary value for making bets. You buy chips at the table. You cash chips in at the Cashier's Cage. Chips may bought in various denominations, $2, $5, etc. Players exchange cash for chips at the tables and then cash-in their chips at the cashier's cage. Also 'Checks'.
Chunking
When the dealer wins the bets of several or all of the players and collects the bets by just stacking them together in one hand, rather than collecting each bet separately, before returning the chips to the tray.
Circle
The place on the layout where the player must place his or bet for it to be valid. Also, 'betting circle' or 'square.'
Clean Money
Checks which the dealer hands out of the tray to pay a bet. 'Dirty' money is checks from a losing players bet used to pay the bet of a winning player.
Clerk
Slang term used for a dealer. (Like a clerk in a store.) Usually a competent and efficient dealer. Opposite of a 'Lumpy dealer.'
Clock-in (Out)
To start or end your shift by reporting to the time clock to record your hours of work. 'I forgot to clock out last night and I got a pink slip.'
Clump
1. Cards of the same value, massed together in the shoe 2. cards in a sequence that favors heavily the house or the player.
Clumper / Clumping
Cards sticking together, which is what clumpers think cards do. Card Clumpers look at what cards have come out of the current shoe and, based on this information, predict (read guess) the denomination of the next card(s) to be dealt from the current shoe. Clumping is not a way to get an edge over the casino. Clumping is not the same as shuffle tracking.
Cm
The acronym for Chinese Mafia, an expression used by Atlantic City locals to describe slot fleas.
Cocktail Waitress
Casino employees who distribute free mind-altering beverages to blackjack players.
Cold
Term used to describe a losing cycle of hands.
Cold Twenty (Turkey)
Two 10-value cards as a starting hand. 'I would never split cold twenty against a nine showing.'
Color
Each denomination of chip has a distinctive color. The standard colors are: $1 -> blue or white; $5 -> red; $25 -> green; $100 -> black.
Color for Color
The proper pay-out procedure for a dealer to pay a stack of multi-colored chips. It is faster, has less chance of a mistake, and is easier to verify by the floor person or eye-in-the-sky.
Color Up
To exchange many smaller denomination chips for a few large denomination chips. This is done as a player is preparing to leave and he may have too many chips to handle easily. 'May I color up those reds for green before you leave, sir.' Then, inform the floor man. 'Color up, red for green.' (It also allows the floor man to see how well or poorly the player did financially.)
Comdex
A huge computer convention that uses up all the hotel rooms in Las Vegas, sending room rates sky-high. Avoid Las Vegas during Comdex.
Comp
'Comps' refers to complimentary services and goods that are offered by the casino, a complimentary gift given by a casino to encourage and reward play. Comps can range from the most common, free drinks while playing, to meals, rooms, trips to resort locations and tickets to the Super Bowl.
Composition Dependent Strategy
Similar to basic strategy, but the proper play is based upon the exact cards dealt to the player rather than just the total of the player's hand. It is most commonly used for single deck games. One example of a composition dependent strategy would be doubling down on a player's hand of 5,3 or 4,4 versus a dealer's 5 or 6 in a single deck game but not doubling on a 6,2, even though all three of the player's hands would total 8.
Convert
To break down the bet and then pay using higher denomination checks. (i.e. for a $45 dollar bet pay with two $25 checks and take one $5 check for change or for a $20 blackjack pay with two $25 checks and take the $20 dollar bet for change)
Cooler
Colloquial expression for the pack of pre-arranged cards (usually in 6- or 8-deck games) with which a cheating team, through collusion with pit crew members and especially the dealer, replaces the original casino cards, just before their insertion in the shoe. Extremely profitable for the cheaters if they can pull it off and a most serious felony for everyone involved.
Cop
Palming a chip off the top of a stack of chips (to cop a chip).
Count
1. To put a value on each card other than face value and to keep a running total of that value as an aid in betting and playing the cards. 2. An inventory of the chips in a dealer's tray usually at the end of the shift or when the drop boxes are changed.
Count Down
To put the chips in your tray into regulation size stacks (20 chips is a stack) so the floor person can count them without interfering with the play of the game.
Count Down the Deck
Systematically remembering what cards have been played so that you know what is left in the deck.
Counter
A player who uses a counting system to keep track of the cards played in order to determine whether the deck is favorable or unfavorable to the player.
Counting System
First Level: A counting system in which the cards are given point counts of +1, -1, or 0 as they are dealt. Multi-Parameter: A counting system which assigns values to the cards which a greater than or less than +1 or -1.
Coupon
Promotional material given for free by a casino in order to attract customers. Coupons entitle the player to certain amenities like free dinner for 2 or special (and favorable) rules at games like getting 2-1 payoff in case of a natural. Coupons are given to the player in order to entice him to the casino, while comps are given after he plays there.
Couponomy
The wise and most advantageous use of coupons, so that the player extracts maximum value from them. A term coined by Peter Griffin but which came of age through its use by Las Vegas Advisor publisher Anthony Curtis.
Cover
The use of various camouflage techniques to disguise the act of counting. It could include anything from the use of the wrong playing strategy or apparently improper bet sizing to very sophisticated maneuvers designed to fool casino personnel who may be attempting to discover whether or not a player is counting cards. Used by counters to disguise the fact that they are counters from casino personnel, such as 'cover bet' and 'cover plays'.
Cover Bet
A bet made by a 'counter' in an attempt to mislead the floor person into believing the player is a novice.
Cover Play
To play a hand in such a way that you will mislead the floor person into believing you are not a counter when you are, in fact, counting.
Cover the Bet
To accept a bet for play. 'Book the action'.
Credit Line
An amount of credit established for a player at a given casino. A player with a credit line can take a marker for any amount of money up to the amount established in his credit line and use it to purchase chips at the tables. The player is normally expected to repay the marker before the end of his visit to that casino. A credit line can be established in advance of a casino visit in much the same fashion that a loan from a bank would be obtained.
Crimp
To put a bend in the cards in order to mark them for the purpose of cheating.
Cross Roader
Term for a professional card cheat. Also 'cheat', 'hustler', 'con man' or 'scam artist'.
Csm
The acronym for Continuous Shuffling Machine. A machine that mixes used cards back into the pack continuously instead of keeping them aside round after round to be shuffled all at once.
Cts
The acronym for Casino Tournament Strategy, book by Stanford Wong.
Cut
To divide a deck into two parts after the dealer shuffles the cards. Generally, this is done by a player. The dealer then takes the two parts and reverses them, front to back. In most casinos, the cut is made by inserting a plastic card known as the cut card into the deck or the pack.
Cut Card
A solid colored card typically a piece of plastic which is given to a player by the dealer for the purpose of cutting the deck(s) after a shuffle and then is used by the dealer to mark the last hand to be dealt from the deck by placing it near the end of the deck in the shoe. When it comes out of the shoe, the dealer announces, 'Last hand out of this shoe.'
Cut Checks
The process of using one hand to hold a stack of chips and break the stack into a series of equal smaller stacks by using the index finger, or thumb. There is also the drop cut method as used mostly in dealing Craps.
Cut into
To put a stack of chips next to a smaller stack and take the excess off so that both stacks are equal. Also 'bump into' or 'size into'.
Cut the Deck
After a dealer has shuffled a deck, it must be cut in two by a player and the first card(s) must be burned before a hand may be dealt to insure the integrity of the game. The dealer will usually rotate the player to cut from left to right.
Cut Tokes
To divide the tokes made by the dealers in an equitable manner.
Cut-Off(s) Cards
The cards behind the cut card in the shoe that are remaining when the dealer starts the shuffle sequence. When the cut card is out, the dealer will deal out of the cutoffs as many cards are necessary to finish the round and then he'll shuffle.
Cv
An abbreviation used for a software blackjack program designed by Norm Wattenberger known as Casino Verite.
Cvsim
An abbreviation for a refinement of the Casino Verite software program that allows a person to simulate the play of blackjack on a computer at high speed, thus enabling one to obtain the results of millions or even billions of hands of play.