Blackjack Surrender

The surrender option allowed by certain blackjack variants introduces a new strategy element to the game. Surrender is basically about players being allowed to give up their hands when they feel they don’t stand a chance to win, getting half of their wagers back. While at first glance the deal isn’t exactly an attractive one, when one does indeed feel his hand is a sure loser, it’s not a bad setup at all. Fully aware that allowing unlimited surrenders would seriously tilt the balance in good players’ favor, most casinos have a limit on the option: they only allow surrender when the dealer has checked for blackjack. This sort of option is known as late surrender.

What are the exact characteristics of blackjack surrender though? Most often, blackjack surrender cards game is played with four decks, although that rule is not etched in stone. Players are allowed to split their hands and they can make a total of 3 hands that way. Aces cannot be re-split though and once one does split the first pair of rockets, he will only be dealt a single card to each one. Split aces which pick up a high card for the 21 won’t be classified as blackjack.
Doubling down is allowed as usual. Players can double down on any two cards, even on split hands.

In blackjack surrender, the dealer will generally hit on soft 17s. When playing online, players should know that before every hand, the entire deck is re-shuffled, which makes card counting quite impossible. Even though surrender is supposed to offer players an edge, it can actually hurt players’ odds too if abused. When one picks up a pair of 8s and the dealer has an A, the surrender is absolutely called for. When one has 5,6,7 or 8, hitting is always the right option, regardless of how tempted one might be to surrender his/her hand. The bottom line is, that just like with standard basic strategy, players should learn when surrendering is a good move and when it’s not.

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