Blackjack Surrender Strategy
- Blackjack Basic Strategy Surrender
- Blackjack Surrender Strategy Chart
- Blackjack Early Surrender Strategy
- Blackjack Basic Strategy No Surrender
While the Illustrious 18 are variations to the basic strategy for any blackjack game, the Fab Four are variations to help a player increase his/her profit in a game where the surrender option is offered. Don Schlesinger came up with the ”Fab Four” term, which refers to the top-four late-surrender plays based on the Hi-Lo system. BASIC PLAYING STRATEGY FOR SURRENDER The blackjack basic playing strategy for surrender in a six-deck game with the dealer standing on soft 17 is: Surrender hard 16 (but not 8-8) against a dealer 9, 10, or Ace upcard Surrender hard 15 against a dealer 10 upcard. Late surrender is quite an unusual type to stumble upon, but when it is indeed used at the table, it won’t be possible to give up your hand whenever the dealer has been dealt a blackjack. If the dealer’s first card has a value of 10 or is showing an ace, the dealer will have a look at the second card.
Does the concept of the surrender rule in blackjack confuse
you?
You’re not alone.
We think this is the least-understood rule in blackjack. The
difference between early surrender and late surrender is
important. Improving your understanding of blackjack surrender
rules means improving your overall game strategy.
Some blackjack games allow players the option of giving up
(or “surrendering”) their hands right after the initial deal is
complete, for the cost of half of their ante bet. The idea is to
quit while you’re ahead if you feel like you don’t have a shot
at winning the hand. Surrender rules are an advantage for the
player, in that she can choose to keep half of her original bet
rather than play out her hand and lose the entire thing.
Blackjack surrenders come in two flavors: early and late.
To use the surrender rule to your advantage, it’s important
to understand the differences between the two types of
surrender.
What Is Early Surrender?
An early surrender is when the player chooses to give up on
their hand immediately after the cards are dealt but before the
dealer checks for a natural blackjack. The early surrender
requires that players forfeit half their original wager.
Blackjack Basic Strategy Surrender
The early surrender rule is the most desirable type of
surrender because it’s available regardless of whether or not
the dealer was dealt a natural. As is often the case with rules
that favor the player, the early surrender rule is rare these
days.
Why has the early surrender disappeared?
According to the Wizard of Odds, the addition of an early
surrender rules cuts into the casino’s built-in edge by 0.63%.
To put that in perspective, changing a game’s shoe from eight
decks to one affects the house edge less (+0.59%) than the
addition of an early surrender rule.
This doesn’t means that casinos won’t offer early surrender –
some do–especially online casinos.
But they compensate with other rule changes that chisel away
at the advantage you gain from the early surrender rule.
What Is Late Surrender?
The late surrender rule allows a player to give up on their
hand for the cost of half their ante, just like an early
surrender.
But unlike an early surrender, this rule requires that you
wait to see if the dealer has been dealt a natural blackjack
first. If the dealer did catch a natural, you can’t surrender,
and you’ll lose your whole wager just like if you never chose
the surrender option in the first place.
Blackjack Surrender Strategy Chart
Late surrender rules don’t lower the casino’s edge anywhere
near the amount that early surrender rules do.
According to the same source at Wizard of Odds, a late
surrender rule cuts into the casino’s edge by about 0.1%–about
as much as a Doubling rule. As a consequence of its smaller
negative impact on the casino’s bottom line, you’re more likely
to see this form of the surrender rule than the early version.
Even though the reduction in the house edge is small, it’s an
advantage that’s worth seeking out.
A note on blackjack etiquette and surrender rules – it’s
common for land-based casinos to offer a late surrender without
advertising it. You should always ask your dealer if there’s a
late surrender option. Even though the player advantage is
small, the casino isn’t in the business of giving any amount of
money away.
The Difference Between Early & Late Surrender
The difference between the two is simple – early surrender
rules allow you to give up your hand for half your wager even if
the dealer holds a natural blackjack, while late surrender rules
allow you to give up half your wager only if the dealer doesn’t
hold a natural.
Surrender Strategy
The strategy for games with early surrender and games with
late surrender rules is different enough that even the ideal
playing styles are different. Here’s a basic guide to the proper
ways to play for both early and late surrender blackjack games.
When You Should Take an Early Surrender
Though the early surrender is a tempting move when you find a
table that offers it, we only recommend you consider abandoning
your wager in the following three situations:
- When the dealer shows Ace and you hold a hard total of 5 – 7 or 12 – 17.
- When the dealer shows Ace and you hold 33, 66, 77, or 88.
- When the dealer shows any 10 and you hold a hard total of 14-16.
You should hit on hard totals between 8 and 11, but up
against an Ace the early surrender rule gives you the best
possible return on pretty much every other hard hand.
These are all acceptable split hands in other situations but
against a soft dealer hand, an early surrender is the acceptable
play here.
If you draw is anything about 5-7, you’re bust. Unless you’re
keeping a stellar count, you’re in dangerous territory, and the
early surrender will help you cut your losses.
When You Should Take a Late Surrender
Once again, the late surrender option may be appealing in
plenty of game situations, but we only think it is
strategically-feasible in the following three:
- When the dealer shows Ace and you hold any total of 15.
- When the dealer shows Ace or any 10 and you hold any total of 16.
- When the dealer shows Ace and you hold any total of 17.
The only exception here is that you don’t surrender if the
game’s rules indicate that the dealer must hit a soft 17.
This rule is true regardless of the game’s rules regarding
how the dealer behaves on a total of 17.
If you’re playing in a game in which the dealer is forced to
hit a soft 17, ignore this rule.
When You Should Refuse a Late Surrender
Here are a couple of common mistakes blackjack players make
with the late surrender rule:
- You should NOT take a late surrender when the dealer stands
on soft 17 while showing a 9, 10, or Ace while you hold any
total of 15 or 17. - You should NOT take a late surrender when the dealer shows a
9 and you hold any total of 16.
This is one of those rules you just have to memorize at first
until it starts to make sense to you at the table.
This is simple mathematics. The dealer is more likely to come
in underneath your point total than you are to bust out by
taking a hit.
Anyone who’s played a round or two of blackjack in the casino
appreciates the appeal of the surrender rule. Sometimes it’s
best to accept the loss of half your ante and hope for a better
deal.
The most obvious example is 16, the worst garbage hand in the
game.
Holding a 16 looks even worse when the dealer is showing a
10.
This is just one example of a time when you’re obviously
better off giving up half the ante and moving past the terrible
deal. If you think of this move as getting back half of a bet
you would have lost, you see the beauty of the blackjack
surrender rule.
Blackjack Surrender is a game variant which is highly popular with beginners due to an option players can use to quit the game and keep a half of their wager. If you are on a losing streak and you have been dealt another bad hand, this option can help you save yourself. Since the concept of surrender in Blackjack seems to be confusing for many players, in this article we will present you the basic rules, odds and situations in which you should go for this option.
Blackjack Surrender Rules and Gameplay
When it comes to the rules and gameplay, Blackjack Surrender does not differ much from the standard version of the game. There may be certain modifications such as in a number of decks in play, but typically the game uses six card decks. After the bets are placed, both the dealer and player are dealt two cards. At this point of the game, the player can place an Insurance side bet if the dealer has an Ace. It pays 2:1 in case the dealer has a blackjack.
Other moves the player can make are standard – hit, stand, split and double. In case their cards are bad, the player can make use of the surrender rule and lose the game while keeping a half of their initial bet. As for other rules, they include the dealer standing on soft 17 and the player doubling on the first two cards and after splitting. In some games, the player can split only once.
When the game uses six decks and the dealer stands on soft 17 while the player is allowed to resplit for four hands and to resplit Aces, the house edge is 0.25%. If the player is not allowed to resplit, the house edge is higher, 0.39%.
Early vs. Late Surrender
The surrender rule comes in two forms: early and late. In both cases, the player loses a half of their original bet. Yet, there are certain differences. Early surrender is the most favourable for the player as it allows them to use it right after the cards are dealt. That practically means that with early surrender the player can quit before the dealer checks whether they have a natural.
Blackjack Early Surrender Strategy
Unlike early surrender, with the late surrender rule, you have to wait for the dealer to check if they have a natural blackjack. Here is the biggest difference between these two: if the dealer has a natural, you cannot use surrender and you use the whole bet. You can easily tell that early surrender is more favourable to the player and it reduces the house edge by 0.63%.
When You Should Use Surrender
Blackjack Basic Strategy No Surrender
You should use surrender when you think that you don’t have a hand good enough to beat the dealer. One of the situations in which you can go for this option is when you have a hard 16 while the dealer has 9, 10 or Ace. When you have a hard 15 and the dealer has 10, surrendering is a reasonable move as you can easily go bust and lose a whole bet.
If you have an opportunity to use early surrender, it is always a better option than late surrender as with the latter you risk to lose an entire bet amount when the dealer hits a natural blackjack. The surrender rule should not be mixed up with an Insurance bet. The difference is obvious: it doesn’t require an additional bet to make use of it.