Using 'Surrender' in Blackjack

Think for a moment that you're sitting in an online blackjack game, and you have put a significant bet out. You are dealt an eight and a seven for a two-card total of 15, which is something that doesn't get you excited in the least, and to make matters worse, the dealer has a ten showing. At this point you know that in all likelihood you are going to have a losing hand, and you are telling yourself that you wouldn't mind having that hand back.

Actually, there isn't bad news along those lines. If we were to tell you that there might be a way to get a "Mulligan" of sorts; not to get the whole bet back, but to at least get HALF of it back, would that be something that would please you?

You bet it would. Yes, you can do it, and this is done through an option called SURRENDER.

What surrender does is give you a chance to essentially give up on what you think is a hand that is all but lost and throw in your cards without even playing the hand out, in exchange for giving up half your bet and saving the rest.

Let's illustrate this. We will assume that you are aware of what the "stiff" hands are, but in case you don't, they are the 14, 15 or 16 that up against a "pat" (standing) hand that the dealer possesses (i.e., those with a 9, 10 or 11 as the upcard). When you look at these hands, you would think that you have very little chance, and you would be absolutely right.

Let's say you had $50 wagered before this hand was dealt. In all likelihood, you are going to lose the hand, but what surrender offers you is the opportunity to take back $25 of that bet and survive to play the next hand. All you have to do is tell the dealer you're surrendering (in a physical casino environment) or click the "surrender" button that is available on the interface on the online blackjack game. Even though the term is "surrender," always think of it in terms of SAVING half your bet, rather than LOSING it. There's no B.S. there, because you are going to use it only in situations where it makes sense for you.

With this blackjack strategy, here are two distinct types of surrender, and they offer different opportunities to exercise it:

In EARLY SURRENDER, you've got the chance to surrender your hand BEFORE the dealer has checked the hole card, and that certainly comes in handy when the dealer has an Ace showing, because you have a chance to invoke the rule and save half your bet before the dealer has the chance to turn over a blackjack, which has a strong possibility of happening when an Ace is present as the upcard.

In LATE SURRENDER, which might also be known as "conventional" surrender, you are required to wait until the dealer checks the hole card before using the option. This means that if the dealer does indeed have a blackjack, you're not going to be able to surrender the hand in time. You'll find that early surrender is very rarely offered, for obvious reasons.

It's no slam dunk that late surrender will be available either. If you're in a brick and mortar casino, you've got to ask for it, and while it can be accessed in certain online casinos, it is by no means standard. However, Playtech is one casino software provider that features a really good game of Blackjack Surrender; an online blackjack game that allows you to take advantage of this attractive blackjack strategy.