One seemingly good bet to beginning blackjack players is taking insurance. And a major reason why beginning players are fooled into thinking insurance is a good idea is because dealers ask players beforehand if they want insurance when the opportunity arises. However, this is a very poor wager, and we’ll get into the specifics of why after explaining more about this bet.

How Insurance Bets Work

The opportunity for insurance wagers arise when the dealer draws a face-up ace; at this point, the dealer will go around the table and ask everybody if they want to take insurance. The insurance is in case the dealer receives a blackjack, and you put out half of your original bet as the insurance. Assuming the dealer does have a blackjack, you win 2-1 on your insurance wager.

To illustrate how this works, let’s say that you make a $10 bet, and the dealer shows an ace. You then take the offered insurance bet by laying another $5 out on the table. The dealer turns over his second card, which is a king, thus giving him a blackjack. In this event, you receive win $5 on your insurance bet ($10 total), but lose $10 since the dealer had a blackjack. So basically, your overall bet was a push, and this doesn’t seem like such a bad deal so far.

Insurance can be bought for less than half of your bet, so, if you have a $50 bet, You can pay $10 for insurance, if the dealer does in fact have blackjack, you'd win 20 and lose your $50 bet. How Blackjack Insurance Works Essentially, Blackjack insurance allows the player the option to lessen their wager after the dealer exposes their cards and reveals an Ace card. In this scenario, if the rule is in play, then if the dealer has an Ace then he or she will go around the table asking each player whether or not they want insurance. Knowing when to buy insurance greatly increases your odds of winning blackjack. Hey guys, I want to just go into the insurance bet in blackjack and when to buy it. Basically, here on the layout, you see insurance pays two to one. What it is, it is a side bet that the dealer has blackjack. How Blackjack Insurance Works. Blackjack players are offered insurance whenever the dealer’s exposed card is an Ace. This is an optional proposition wager which is treated separately from your original bet. When you buy insurance, you are practically betting your dealer has a ten-value card in the hole next to their Ace for a blackjack.

Now, let us assume that the dealer didn’t have a natural blackjack; in this instance, you automatically lose the $5 insurance wager; however, you still have a chance to win the original $10 wager if your hand beats the dealer’s.

Why the Insurance Bet is Bad

Consult any source of blackjack strategy and they’ll tell you that insurance is bad. And the first thing you have to understand with this concept is exactly what insurance entails. Most players mistakenly assume that insurance is meant to protect their hand in the event that the dealer has a blackjack. But the reality is that insurance is merely a wager on the dealer having a natural blackjack.

The main number you want to concentrate on here is 9:4 odds – or rather, the odds against the dealer having a blackjack when they’re showing an ace is 9:4. To break this down further, let’s say you make $5 insurance bets 130 times; based on the 9:4 odds, you’d win your bet 40 times for $400 in total winnings ($10 total earnings X 40 bets). On the other hand, you’d lose 90 of these bets for $450 in total losses ($5 total losses X 90 bets). As you can see, this leaves you $50 in the hole, thus making it a bad bet overall.

You may have heard of blackjack insurance before. This option, which is offered when the dealer is showing either an ace or 10, allows you to insure against a croupier’s natural blackjack.

Blackjack is seemingly the only casino game that features insurance. After all, it’s the lone game that gets any publicity for this rule.

However, you may be surprised to know that poker also features insurance. Furthermore, poker insurance is now being offered in the online game.

If you’re interested in finding out more about how poker insurance works, you can keep reading. I’ll cover more on this concept along with whether you should consider using it.

Guarantee Winnings With All-In Hands

If you’ve played poker online for any measurable amount of time, you’re going to suffer a bad beat. Your good hands produce nothing in these cases just because of bad luck.

Buying Insurance In Blackjack Tournaments

Insurance is a way to guarantee that you get something out of a strong poker hand. This option is available during an all-in hand.

Unfortunately, the vast majority of cash games and poker tournaments don’t give you an opportunity to make this choice. Instead, it’s only available in certain circumstances.

But you can always propose insurance if you’re in a private cash game. You do need to know how it works before doing so.

The basic concept is that you can insure an all-in hand for your given equity.

• You and another player are all in pre-flop. The pot is worth $100.
• You’re a 70% favorite (70% equity) to win a hand. You ask for insurance.
• If you win the pot, you take $70 and pay the other player $30 for their equity.
• If you lose, the other player collects $30 and pays you $70 in insurance.

You receive the same amount regardless of whether you win or lose. The only difference is if you receive $70 from the pot or through insurance.

Insurance doesn’t change your odds of winning. All it does is ensure that you’re paid an amount equal to your long-term expected value (EV).

Of course, insurance deals don’t have to involve perfect equity. As the favorite, you may ask for more money.

• You and an opponent are all in pre-flop. The pot is worth $100.
• You’re an 80% favorite to win the hand. You want insurance.
• However, you also want 85% of the pot. The other player accepts this deal.
• If you win, you’ll receive $85 and pay the opponent $15.
• If you lose, the other player collects $15 and pays you $85.

The idea here is that you’re more likely to win the hand anyway. So, the other player may agree to a lesser deal just to get something from the pot even if there’s a negative expectation (-EV) for them in the long run.

Insurance Goes Mainstream Through TV Poker

Insurance is far from a new concept. In fact, it was first popularized during an episode of Poker After Dark.

Phil Hellmuth and David Williams were both all in. Hellmuth had the advantage with pocket kings, while Williams was the dog with A-K.

What proceeded was a complicated scene, where other players jumped in on Hellmuth’s insurance proposal. Williams, who didn’t participate, got annoyed that the game was being held up.

This example doesn’t coincide with typical insurance scenarios. But it shows how players sometimes engage in this practice to get guaranteed chips from a strong hand.

Entering the Online Poker World

For years, some have wondered why online poker sites don’t implement insurance. After all, these sites have the software to easily do the calculations for this option.

PokerStars is taking the initiative here. The world’s largest poker site is now offering All-in Cash Out, which is essentially insurance.

The unique thing about All-in Cash Out is that it’s not a deal between two or more players. Instead, it’s an arrangement between the player and house, just like with blackjack.

If somebody requests this option, then PokerStars acts as the insurer. They charge 1% of the player’s equity for providing this service.

Assuming the other player doesn’t also choose All-in Cash Out, then they’ll be paid based on how the hand plays out.

• You and another player are all in. The pot contains $200.
• You have 75% equity in the hand. You select All-in Cash Out to protect yourself.
• 200 x 0.75 = $150
• 150 – (150 x 0.01) = $148.50
• You receive $148.50.
• Your opponent doesn’t choose All-in Cash Out. They can still win the $200 pot.
• But they lose the hand. PokerStars collects $200 + $1.50 insurance fee.

How Far Will Poker Insurance Go?

In being the online industry’s largest operator, PokerStars has always been an innovator. That said, it’s no surprise they’ve taken the reins by offering insurance before their competitors.

The big question is if other internet poker rooms will follow suit. After all, All-in Cash Out could prove to be a popular option.

I believe that, yes, other online poker sites will eventually adopt poker insurance. It’s a cool concept that should spark interest among players.

I’m actually hoping that other sites do roll out insurance for a couple of reasons. First off, PokerStars isn’t available to many unregulated markets (e.g. most American states).

Second, 1% in equity feels like a fairly high fee. Assuming some competitors also adopt insurance, they might take a smaller amount, such as 0.5%. If the latter happens, PokerStars might lower how much they take for providing poker insurance.

The internet poker industry could expand on this idea by also giving players an option to take insurance between themselves. Such a choice would allow gamblers to enjoy poker insurance without having to pay fees to the house.

Is Insurance a Good Deal?

The key advantage of poker insurance is that it reduces variance. You don’t have to worry about suffering a bad beat if your hand is insured.

Meanwhile, an opponent with a lesser hand can guarantee themselves winnings from the pot. They’ll especially welcome this idea if a smaller payout guarantees them a profit when accounting for blinds and other players’ bets.

This amount may sound small in the short run. But it adds up for anybody who logs major volume.

Most serious players won’t be thrilled with giving up 1% of their EV to a poker site. Those who play thousands of hands every day aren’t as affected by bad beats and would rather maximize their EV.

Therefore, All-in Cash Out mostly seems like a good deal for recreational players. This crowd fears losing big hands as the favorite and is more likely to accept guaranteed money.

Conclusion

Poker insurance isn’t a new concept. However, it could definitely grow now that it’s available in the online game.

PokerStars has become the first site to feature insurance. Their All-in Cash Out option is a deal between the player and house, whereby the latter takes 1% equity for insuring hands.

This situation works a little differently than insurance in private cash games. In home games, players work out a deal between themselves.

The 1% fee could rub many grinders the wrong way. Successful players who aren’t as worried about bad beats will likely ignore All-in Cash Out, rather than surrender 1% of their equity.

One hope is that more online poker sites adopt this feature. More competition might lower fees for poker insurance as a whole.

At the moment, though, it’s just nice to see that poker insurance is available. Some forum users have pondered why this option hasn’t been available in online poker sooner.

The key is that it’s available now. Many players will appreciate being able to guarantee winnings in the event that they do suffer a bad beat with good cards.

Buying Insurance In Blackjack Winnings