• Blackjack Surrender Rules
• Blackjack Surrender House Edge

The best strategy for playing Blackjack Surrender with a house edge of 0.38%, 6 decks and a dealer who stands at soft 17 is to know all of your possibilities and know when to surrender. Surrendering is advisable only when you hold a hard 16 and the dealer has 9, 10 or Ace.

Surrender is one of the most misunderstood rules in blackjack. On the surface, it sounds like a weak move; where one is allowed to give up one’s hand early in the game and in exchange for forfeiting half of one’s bet. The hand is never played out. Most players think it’s a sucker bet that favors the casino.

In reality, it is one of the most powerful and, if played correctly, advantageous rules in blackjack, similar to the “fold” move in poker. It’s actually a great deal, when chances are, you would lose your entire hand by either standing or hitting (such is the case with a player 15 or 16 vs a dealer 10 in games where the dealer stands on soft 17).

• Early surrender is a seldom found rule in which the player may forfeit his hand and half his bet before the dealer checks for blackjack. The strategy is different from late surrender only when the dealer has a ten or ace showing.
• Insurance bets pay 2:1 if the dealer gets BlackJack. If the dealer does not get BlackJack, the player loses the insurance bet. There are no surrender options in this version of BlackJack. BlackJack Terms. Twenty one (21) - a hand that is not a BlackJack, but totals 21. BlackJack - a hand containing an Ace and a 10 valued card.
• Surrender is rarely offered in single or double deck blackjack, more commonly being available in multi-deck games using a shoe of six decks. Games that offer surrender will often (but not always) have the word in the title of the variant, the simple but descriptive “Blackjack Surrender” being the most common example.

These days, the most common version of surrender is “late surrender”, where the dealer checks for a blackjack, and you may only surrender if he doesn’t have it. If he does have it, you lose your entire bet without being given the surrender option. “Early surrender” games, where you are allowed to surrender before the dealer checks his hole card, are very rare in land casinos (not offered in Las Vegas), and we have yet to find this option anywhere online.

Blackjack Surrender Rules

When should you use it? If the expectation is to lose more than 50%, you should surrender instead. If you are playing simple basic strategy (not counting cards), SURRENDER in the following games and conditions:

How to use surrender: After the first two cards are dealt and the dealer checks his/her hole card (in late surrender), on your turn, simply drag your pointer finger across the table in front of your cards. You can also say “surrender” to be extra clear. The dealer will take your cards and return half of your bet to you. This concludes your round.

If you use the surrender option correctly in basic strategy, your edge will increase .1%. To determine how other rule options change the casino’s advantage see our Blackjack House Edge Calculator. With counting cards, the edge goes up as the count goes up. Card counters also use surrender to camouflage their play, since most casino officials see it as scared play by amateurs. To find out which casinos are currently offering surrender, visit out Casino Rules & Conditions page. Under the ‘Surrender’ column look for the words ‘LATE’ or ‘EARLY’ which specify the type of surrender of offered.

Blackjack Surrender House Edge

The greatest advantage of surrender is found when using basic strategy to catch streaks in the game, as in the Easy Money Blackjack System™.