Meaning Of Insurance Blackjack

Insurance is a side-bet that dealers offer to players whenever they have an ace showing. The idea behind insurance is to protect your bet just in case the dealer has a blackjack. How Does Insurance in Blackjack Work? When a dealer has an ace showing they’ll ask you if you want insurance.

Insurance is a side-bet that dealers offer to players whenever they have an ace showing. The idea behind insurance is to protect your bet just in case the dealer has a blackjack. How Does Insurance in Blackjack Work? When a dealer has an ace showing they’ll ask you if you want insurance. To clarify, insurance is a side bet and this wager is independent of your main bet in a hand of blackjack. The main role of placing insurance is to prevent losses and to minimize the damage if the dealer has a strong hand. Also, it is important to note that the time window for placing insurance is limited. The Advantages of Blackjack’s insurance betting. Well, after walking through Blackjack’s insurance betting definition and how it works, it is time to know the good this bet brings. Let’s have a look: Insurance bet becomes an excellent choice if you’re playing games with lots of decks.

On This Page

Meaning Of Insurance Blackjack Definition

Introduction

I have been hearing more and more about casinos in Asia offering insurance bets in baccarat after four or five cards have been dealt. These are generally made to protect a stronger hand against losing, or in the case of a 9, a tie.

To avoid confusion, I capitalize Player when referring to the bet, and use lower case when referring to the person playing the game.

Except as noted, insurance on the Banker hand wins when the Player hand ends up winning, and vise versa.

Exceptions:

  • Insurance on a 9-point hand will win in the event of a tie and lose otherwise.
  • Insurance on the Banker hand on a 0-0 score after five cards will win in the event of a tie and otherwise lose.

All figures in this page are based on an eight-deck game.

Marina Bay Sands — Singapore

Information can be found in my page on Baccarat Insurance at Marina Bay Sands.

Asia Gaming

Information can be found in my page on Baccarat Insurance at Asia Gaming.

Star Cruises

Star Cruises is a cruise line that visits the east Asian countries. Their ships offer baccarat insurance in their casinos. The following is my best interpretation of their rules, based on a company document explaining the rules and procedures of the game. The insurance bet is limited to the amount of the original wager. It is unclear to me when the cards are exposed, but it seems the players have free will in this regard.

Insuring a Natural

If either Player or Banker has a natural 8 or 9, then he may insure it against a tie in the case of a 9 or a loss in the case of an 8.

Blackjack

Natural Insurance

PointsPaysProb. WinProb. LossProb. DrawExpected Value
990.9054750.0000000.094525-0.054754
870.8109110.0949380.094151-0.146347
Meaning

Insuring a 3-Card Player Hand Against Unknown Banker Hand

The next table covers the situation where the Player has drawn a third card and the Banker has not turned over any cards yet. Insurance is taken on the Player hand and wins in the case of a tie with a Player 9. A Banker win occurs with all other player totals.

3-Card Player Insurance Against Unknown Banker Hand

Player PointsPaysPlayer WinBanker WinTie WinExpected Value
990.9232330.0000000.076767-0.232331
870.8464040.0769040.076693-0.308079
740.7692740.1538820.076844-0.153748
630.6836250.2309650.0854100.009271
51.50.6035270.3080010.088471-0.141525
410.5139840.3925620.093454-0.121423

Banker Insurance After Four Cards are Exposed

The next table covers the situation where the Player has exposed three cards and the Banker has exposed two. Insurance is offered only on four situations where the totals are equal on the Banker hand. In the 0-0 case, the insurance bet wins in the event of a tie, and all others pay on a Player win.

Insurance after Four Cards Exposed

Player PointsBanker PointsPaysPlayer WinBanker WinTie WinExpected Value
0410.3680650.5786630.053272-0.210599
1410.3438120.6028200.053368-0.259008
2410.3199060.6270040.053090-0.307099
3410.2959200.5915770.112503-0.295658
051.50.3199500.6387150.041335-0.158790
151.50.2838140.6746550.041531-0.248934
251.50.2483560.6509060.100738-0.278371
351.50.2711820.6281510.100667-0.221377
451.50.2949930.6044120.100595-0.161923
0630.2487490.7218600.0293910.024389
1630.2007980.7103690.088833-0.107975
2630.2126310.6985390.088830-0.060646
3630.2244580.6876090.087932-0.014235
4620.2361600.6750020.088838-0.202682
5620.2489090.6623320.088759-0.164513

Banker Insurance After Five Cards are Exposed

The next table covers the situation where the Player has exposed three cards and the Banker has exposed two. Insurance is offered only on four situations where the totals are equal on the Banker hand. In the 0-0 case the insurance bet wins in the event of a tie, all others pay on a Player win.

Insurance after Five Cards Exposed

Player PointsBanker PointsPaysPlayer WinBanker WinTie WinExpected Value
0020.0000000.6952360.304764-0.085707
1170.0770130.6153040.307683-0.076214
2230.1540180.5383020.307680-0.076249
3320.2315170.4609530.3075300.002080

Resorts World Sentosa

These rules also came to me in the form of an internal company document, which may be outdated. It states that insuring a Banker 2-card 6 against a Player 2-card 5 pays 3 to 1, which would have a player advantage of 8.44%. I don't know if they still allow this.

Banker Insurance After Four Cards Exposed

The following table shows the odds for insuring a Banker bet when the Player has a lower total after four cards. Insurance bets win if the Player ends up winning.

Banker Insurance after Four Cards Exposed

Player PointsBanker PointsPaysPlayer WinBanker WinTie WinExpected Value
0520.3199500.6387150.0413350.001185
1520.2838140.6746550.041531-0.107027
2520.2483560.6509060.100738-0.154193
3520.2711820.6281510.100667-0.085786
4520.2949930.6044120.100595-0.014426
0630.2487490.7218600.0293910.024389
1630.2007980.7103690.088833-0.107975
2630.2126310.6985390.088830-0.060646
3630.2244580.6876090.087932-0.014235
4630.2361600.6750020.0888380.033478
5630.2489090.6623320.0887590.084397
0740.1543400.7693930.076268-0.152035
1740.1532160.7697180.077066-0.156852
2740.1532240.7697080.077068-0.156814
3740.1541280.7688060.077066-0.152294
4740.1532110.7697250.077065-0.156882
5740.1541240.7688100.077066-0.152312
What is a blackjack

Player Insurance After Four Cards Exposed

The following table shows the odds for insuring a Player bet when the Banker has a lower total after four cards. Insurance bets win if the Banker ends up winning.

Player Insurance after Four Cards Exposed

Player PointsBanker PointsPaysPlayer WinBanker WinTie WinExpected Value
5420.5977820.2897150.112503-0.018352
6020.6922220.2315150.076263-0.229191
6120.6926510.2302810.077068-0.232089
6220.6926560.2302810.077063-0.232094
6320.6935620.2302720.076166-0.233019
6430.6926500.2302770.077073-0.001817
6530.6917430.2311930.0770650.001835
7030.7693930.1543400.076268-0.306374
7130.7697180.1532160.077066-0.310068
7230.7697080.1532240.077068-0.310037
7330.7688060.1541280.077066-0.306422
7440.7697250.1532110.077065-0.156882
7540.7688100.1541240.077066-0.152312

Banker Insurance After Five Cards Exposed

The following table shows the odds for insuring a Banker bet when the Player has a lower total after five cards. Insurance bets win if the Player ends up winning.

Banker Insurance after Five Cards Exposed

Blackjack Insurance Rule

Player PointsBanker PointsPaysPlayer WinBanker WinTie WinExpected Value
1160.0770130.6153040.307683-0.153227
1270.0770110.8459730.077016-0.306895
1370.0769890.8457420.077269-0.306818
1470.0760320.8479020.076065-0.315676
1570.0758820.8480800.076039-0.316907
1670.0767830.8464280.076789-0.308945
2340.1542520.7687630.076986-0.151755
2440.1536940.7689860.077320-0.154208
2540.1526750.7724940.074831-0.161793
2640.1535790.7700930.076329-0.155778
341.50.2319530.6907310.077316-0.342802

Player Insurance After Five Cards Exposed

Blackjack Insurance Odds

When to take insurance blackjack

The following table shows the odds for insuring a Player bet when the Banker has a lower total after five cards. Insurance bets win if the Banker ends up winning.

Player Insurance after Five Cards Exposed

Player PointsBanker PointsPaysPlayer WinBanker WinTie WinExpected Value
5020.6138900.3094970.0766130.005104
5120.6147880.3082930.0769190.001799
5220.6151340.3079460.0769200.000758
5320.6163920.3066870.076921-0.003018
5420.6174920.3054170.077090-0.006658
6030.6910420.2321470.0768110.005400
6130.6919830.2312490.0767680.001764
6230.6924900.2307430.076767-0.000261
6330.6939040.2302250.075870-0.003228
6430.6940150.2292930.076692-0.006137
6530.6920080.2309480.0770440.000838
7040.7684230.1547640.076812-0.149365
7140.7691150.1539770.076908-0.153207
7240.7696160.1536130.076771-0.155163
7340.7695620.1536730.076766-0.154871
7440.7706100.1526210.076769-0.160127
7540.7690770.1538380.077085-0.153726
7640.7684080.1546350.076956-0.149867
8070.8458110.0773810.076809-0.304147
8170.8463930.0767000.076907-0.309496
8270.8461780.0769050.076918-0.307846
8370.8466550.0767660.076579-0.309293
8470.8477380.0765730.075688-0.311724
8570.8465550.0764270.077018-0.311569
8670.8459580.0772530.076789-0.305184
9080.9231900.0000000.076810-0.308709
9180.9230940.0000000.076906-0.307850
9280.9230900.0000000.076910-0.307808
9380.9231530.0000000.076847-0.308380
9480.9235830.0000000.076417-0.312246
9580.9235860.0000000.076414-0.312278
9680.9232000.0000000.076800-0.308800

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Written by:Michael Shackleford