When to Surrender in Blackjack
Blackjack Early Surrender
The Early surrender rule in Blackjack is sadly dying and very few online casinos or land based casinos offer this rule. It simply allows a player to give up half of his wager and stop playing in that particular hand of Blackjack, and this decision is made before the Dealer checks for Black jack (21).
If you find a table that offers Early Surrender then below is the Strategy you should use to get the maximum value out of the rule.
If the Dealer is showing an Ace and you have a hard 5, 6, 7, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, or 17 then you should take Early Surrender.
A Dealer showing an Ace with your hand being either a Pair of three’s, sixes, seven’s or eight’s then again you should accept Early Surrender.
If the Dealer has a Ten and you have a hard 14, 15, 16 or a Pair of sevens or eights then again you should take the Early Surrender option.
There are also some occasions when you should never take Early Surrender and these are: If you are playing in a single deck Blackjack game then never surrender Ten when up against a four and a ten or a 5 and a nine.
In a 2 deck game never Surrender a Ten when up against a Four and a Ten. If you have a Pair of Two’s and the Dealer gets soft 17 then Surrender that hand.
Blackjack Late Surrender
The Late Surrender Blackjack rule can be found at plenty of online and land based casinos and what it allows you to do is to surrender a hand but at a cost of half your stake, and you can do this only after the Dealer has checked his hand for a blackjack.
As with every additional rule in a Blackjack game there is a strategy that comes into play to make sure you get the lowest house edge by taking this option at the correct time.
With this in mind we have put together the following information which will help you make the correct move when playing any Blackjack game offering the Late Surrender option.
In a single deck game if you have fifteen in total then you should not take Late Surrender if the Dealer has a 9, 10, or (in a game where the Dealer stands a soft 17) an Ace. You should take it when he is showing an Ace and you have fifteen in game where the Dealer hits a soft 17.
If you have sixteen in a single hand game and the dealer is showing a nine then don’t take Late Surrender. If however you have a sixteen and the Dealer has a ten or an Ace then you should always take Late Surrender.
When playing in a single deck game should you have seventeen in total then you should not take Late Surrender if the Dealer has a 9, 10, or (in a game where the Dealer stands a soft 17) an Ace. You should take it when he is showing an Ace and you have seventeen in game where the Dealer hits a soft 17.
Learn everything you need to know about Surrender in Blackjack in this guide by Casino.org.