Q. Should I take "even money" insurance?

Even Money

No, you should not take even money insurance. Just like any insurance, you should not take it unless you are card counting and know something about the cards that have not been dealt. The odds in any insurance bet are well stacked in the casino's favor. Even money is the same as any other insurance bet.

See below for an explanation of insurance and even money.

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Even Money is an insurance side bet whenever the player has blackjack showing . The player is paid 1 times the original bet instead of 1.5 times (the normal BJ payout). Most casinos will pay the player right away without actually placing the extra bet.

Insurance:
Whenever the dealer's face up card is an ace, insurance is offered to all players.  The player who purchases insurance places an extra bet of up to one half of his original bet.  If the dealer has a blackjack (a ten underneath), the players that bought insurance are paid twice the amount of their insurance bet (2 to 1).  In most cases, where the player takes insurance for exactly half his original bet, the result of a blackjack is that no money changes hand.  On the other hand, if the dealer does not have blackjack, the insurance bet is collected and the regular blackjack hand is played.

The concept of insurance in blackjack was one of casino's greatest marketing ploys.  Many players feel lucky that they can insure a good hand, thus avoiding a loss if the dealer has a blackjack.  Like life or car insurance, companies would not offer it if there was not a profit to be made.  The same applies for blackjack.  The casino offers it because it has a huge edge over the player.  Not counting the dealer's ace which becomes less relevant in a multiple deck game, there is a ratio of 4 tens to every 9 non-tens.  As a result, you have approximately 4 chances in 13 of collecting on your bet.  If you had 4 chances in 12, you would be looking at an even bet.

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