Insurance

Now it's time for insurance. Insurance is a side bet that players can take if they think the dealer has a blackjack. When the dealer has an ace up, they'll ask for insurance while running their hand alongside the insurance line.

The dealer will have one card face up, one card face down. Now the card that is face up is called the Up Card, and the card that's face down is the Hole Card.

If the dealer has a ten or ace up card, they are going to check for a blackjack. The dealer will check for a blackjack before the players make their decisions. The dealer has to be sure they do not have a blackjack before they continue on with the player's hands.

At a real casino, you will probably have a mirror or a checker on your table that you can slide the cards in, to see if you have a blackjack. Most casino party companies will not have this mirror and the dealer will have to check their cards the old-fashioned way. If the dealer has a 10 up card, the dealer is going to cover both sides of the card with their hand and use their thumb to quickly flip up the bottom part of the card to check in they have a blackjack. If the dealer has a blackjack, they will turn over their cards, show the table they have a blackjack, and then take all of the players bets. If the player has a blackjack as well, their hand will push.

So, we just went through what to do if you have a ten-up card. But what do you do if you have an ace up card? If you have an ace showing, the dealer will turn the ace sideways and ask for insurance. The dealer would run their hand over the insurance line and ask if their players want insurance. And once the players have made their decision, the dealer will turn the ace back to the way it was and look and see if they have a blackjack.

Now, when you're checking the cards, try not to lift the cards up too high that the player behind you can see. You want to keep it high enough that you could see it, but not high enough that anyone else could see it. You also want to cover the sides as well. So that way players can't see what you have on the side.

The dealer will wave their hand and announce “Insurance is closed”. Make sure you wait long enough to give the players time to decide if they want to take insurance or not.

If the player wants to take Insurance, they may bet only half of their original bet. If they bet any extra, the dealer will give them the difference back.

If the dealer does not have a blackjack, the insurance bet will be taken, and the player will play their hand as normal.

If the dealer does have a blackjack, then the player will keep their bet and their insurance bet.

Now, an insurance bet typically pays 2 to 1 odds. So, if the player bet half of their original bet, then that insurance bet gets paid 2 to 1, this is the original bet, plus the insurance bet. So, if I push the insurance but back to the player, that's exactly the same as if I took their original bet and played 2 to 1 on the insurance line.

Now, if the player has a blackjack but doesn't take insurance and the dealer also has a blackjack, then the two hands would push, and no money would be exchanged. If a player has a blackjack and does want to take insurance, this is known as even money.