On the surface, blackjack looks like a very straightforward game. The player receives two cards, then either draws more or sticks with what they have, in an attempt to make a hand as close as possible to twenty one. Go over that number and the hand is bust. Simple, right? Of course, in reality the game of blackjack is far more complicated than that. It is a game of both luck and skill, and books have been written on blackjack strategy. In this article we will be focusing on just one playing strategy, that of blackjack surrender.
Practice Blackjack Surrender Here
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Blackjack Surrender Explained
The blackjack surrender strategy is just one of many ways to improve your game. Used judiciously, it can reduce the house edge and boost your gains over time. In this guide you will learn all about this option, and help you understand when it’s a good idea to use it.
- Before looking in detail at the blackjack surrender rules, we need to understand exactly what it means and why you might want to use it. First of all, surrender is only available after you have been dealt your first two cards. As the player, you can choose surrender based on your two cards and the up card of the dealer.
- If at this point you choose to surrender, you will get back fifty percent of your bet and the hand is now finished. The house takes the other half of the money. But, you may ask, what is the point of this move? Why not just play the hand and see where it goes?
When Blackjack Surrender Makes Sense
Quite simply, there are some scenarios where the blackjack surrender option makes more sense. Mathematically speaking, certain combinations mean that your chances of winning that hand are very slim, and it would be smarter to surrender. Better to lose half your bet than all of it. Where it starts to get more complicated is when multiple decks of cards are in play. We will look at the two blackjack surrender types and discover how they work, as well as looking at when it is wise to take the surrender option.
Early Surrender
Now that we know all about the blackjack surrender meaning, we turn our attention to the first type – early surrender. If you find a blackjack game that allows this rule, then count yourself very lucky. It is not commonly applied, because it was found to reduce the house edge significantly. During the 1970s, when early surrender was permitted at blackjack tables in Atlantic City, it was the source of appreciable losses for the casino operators.
How to Early Surrender
With early surrender blackjack, the player can fold the hand before the dealer checks the hole card. What this means is that even if the dealer has blackjack, the player can still keep half the bet. By using early surrender correctly, players can decrease the house edge by 0.62%. Practically no land casinos permit this option today, although it is available at certain online gambling sites. Here are the situations where you should choose early surrender, if you find a casino that supports it. In each case, the odds are against you eventually winning the hand, should you choose to play on. Check our guide to blackjack odds to find out how to reduce the House Edge.
When to Early Surrender
When the dealer’s up card is an ace, surrender when you have:
- Hard 5-7, or 12-16
- 3+3, 6+6, 7+7, 8+8
When the dealer’s up card is a ten, surrender when you have:
- Hard 14-16
- 7+7 or 8+8
These rules apply to multi-deck games, but if there is just one deck in play some adjustments are needed. With a single deck, you must also observe the following:
- When the dealer has ten, don’t surrender if you have exactly 5+9 or 4+10
- If the game allows you to split on a double, don’t surrender 8+8 as you would in a multi-deck game. Instead split the hand and play on.
Late Surrender
Now let’s move on to late surrender in blackjack, which is the rule that you are most likely to find available to you. The difference here is that the dealer first checks the hole card, and only if there is no blackjack can the player then choose to surrender. If the dealer gets blackjack, the player automatically loses the hand and surrender is not an option.
If you play optimal blackjack late surrender strategy, the house edge comes down by around 0.1%. While this is much less significant than the reduction possible with early surrender blackjack, it can still make quite a difference over time.
This is where it starts to get a little more complicated. If you want to play the perfect blackjack strategy with surrender, there are quite a lot of rules to remember. The key numbers to remember are 14-17, and the majority of surrender rules apply when the cards you are dealt have one of these values.
When to Late Surrender
Let’s look at some examples of when to choose late surrender. When your hand is 14, with a single deck:
- Surrender to ten
- Surrender to ace with 7+7 (only if the house rules stipulate that the dealer hits on a soft 17)
When your hand is 15:
- Single/double deck – surrender to ace with 6+9 or 5+10 (when dealer hits soft 17)
- All games – surrender to ten with the above numbers regardless
- 4-8 decks – surrender to ten or ace (when dealer hits soft 17)
When your hand is 16:
- Single/double deck – surrender to ace or ten
- Games with 4+ decks – surrender to nine, ten or ace
- All games – surrender to ace with 8+8 unless split is allowed
When your hand is 17:
- Single deck – surrender to ace with 7+10 (when dealer hits soft 17)
- All games – surrender to ace (when dealer hits soft 17)
In the scenarios outlined above, probability dictates that you will lose the hand more than 75% of the time. When you line this up mathematically against losing half your bet by surrendering, it turns out that the surrender is the better option.
Total or composition dependent
If you are really serious about developing your blackjack late surrender strategy, then you may want to take things a step further. The rules that we looked at above largely consider the total value of the cards the player was dealt, but the composition of the cards can also have an influence on the probabilities.
So, for example, if you are playing with a single deck, you should surrender with 6+9, but play with 7+8. Even though the total is fifteen in both cases, there is an advantage to surrendering with the first set of cards.
With so many exceptions like the one described above, using composition dependent surrender strategy may be a bit too much for less experienced players. The extra advantage that you can gain is very small, so it may not be worth the added complication.
Conclusion
Blackjack surrender is a great tactic when used wisely. It can dramatically reduce your losses and cut the house edge. Follow our advice to learn when to surrender, and incorporate the option into your overall blackjack strategy – you will notice that your game improves. Search our listings for casino sites that allow early surrender, and you’ll gain a noticeable advantage.
Blackjack Surrender – FAQs
How do I surrender in blackjack?
If you are in a land casino, the signal to surrender can vary. A common way to do it is to say out loud that you surrender, while at the same time using your finger to draw a line on the table behind your bet. If in doubt, ask the dealer for the correct protocol. At online casinos, there will be a button that you can click to surrender.
Will I win money if I surrender in blackjack?
No, not at that moment. The surrender move is there to cut your losses when you have a bad hand. You get half of your bet back, which is better than the alternative of losing it all.
Can I apply blackjack surrender when playing online?
Yes, there are plenty of online blackjack games – both live and virtual – that incorporate the surrender move. Most of these will only give you the option of late surrender, but we have located some sites that have early surrender blackjack games too.
Should I surrender with 17 in blackjack?
Ordinarily having a seventeen from your first two cards is a strong start, but there is an exception. If the dealer’s up card is an ace, and if the house rules dictate that the dealer hits on a soft seventeen, then the odds are against you and you should surrender. In all other cases, you should play when you have seventeen.
Is it a good idea to surrender in blackjack?
Obviously if you surrender too often, then you will be wasting some potential winning hands. However, if you can be sure that you stand a less than 25% chance of winning with the cards you can see, then it is definitely better to surrender.
