Insuring a bet in blackjack is a way to ensure that you will win your hand if you are playing against the dealer. When you insure a bet, you are essentially placing a bet with the house that you are going to win your hand.
The house always wins the hand if no one insures their bet, so by insuring your bet, you are guaranteeing yourself a payout.
There are two types of insuring bets in blackjack: fixed-odds and percentage-of-loss. Fixed-odds insuring bets are made with a pre-determined price, while percentage-of-loss insuring bets allow for more flexibility in terms of how much you want to risk.
Fixed-odds insuring bets work like this: if you place a $10 bet with the house, and your hand total is 21, the house will give you back $10 plus any additional winnings from that particular hand. If your hand total is 22, the house will give you back $11 plus any additional winnings from that particular hand. If your hand total is anything other than 21 or 22, the house will not give you back anything.
Percentage-of-loss insuring bets work just like fixed-odds insuring bets, but instead of getting back only what your hand total equals, percentage-of-loss insuring bets also add on any losses from that particular hand. So if you place a $10 bet with the house and have a 10 point hand (total of 20), the house would give you back $10 plus any winnings from that particular hand, and also add on $1 for every point over 20 (so if your total was 21 points, they would give you $11 plus any additional winnings from that particular hand).
Both types of insuring bets come with some important caveats: first and foremost, if you hit on any Blackjack hands where Insurance is available (in other words all hands except Royal Flush), then regardless of whether or not you insure your bet, the house will always pay off your original wager (this includes hands where Blackjack is played as an Ace high or low). Secondly, it’s important to remember that even though both types of insuring bets guarantee payout in certain cases, they don’t always guarantee payout – for instance if you have a Hand which qualifies for both Fixed Odds and Percentage Of Loss Insurance but loses regardless of whether or not you insure it (i.e., 2 through 10), then even though Percentage Of Loss Insurance would have given back at least money on this Hand had it been played as an Odd Hand [since 2 through 10 qualifies as “Odds”], there would be no payout as this Hand was classified as losing regardless of whether or not insurance was placed on it!
This being said though – odds are usually better than even when it comes to Blackjack payouts so by playing smart and taking advantage of insurance when applicable – odds can still be overwhelmingly in your favor!.
