It’s a widely accepted rule that you pass on taking insurance against the dealer ace in most instances.

Statistically, it’s a bad bet since it pays 2 to 1 and the dealer will have blackjack only about 31 percent of the time. Players of casino blackjack would only take insurance if they were counting cards and knew the odds were in their favor.

Tournament blackjack players, however, will be forced to take insurance for other reasons.

Let’s look at a few of these:

Shadowing or Covering
Or more simply matching an opponent’s bet. Consider, for example, that you lead a foe by $5 on the final hand and act last. You both have bet the same amount and he takes insurance against the dealer ace. Now you should do the same to ensure your opponent doesn’t beat you if the dealer turns over blackjack. You will now win on the dealer blackjack and even if the dealer doesn’t turn over a 10, your opponent will need a swing to win the tournament.

Going for a Half Swing
If you are pretty far behind late in the blackjack tournament and most players have big bets out on the table, you could try to catch up by losing – that is, breaking even on the hand while the others lose their bets. The way to do that is by taking insurance on the ace if your big bet has been matched around the betting circles. You are probably better off in most instances trying to win insurance than splitting or doubling here (and hoping you are not shadowed by other players. This play works best if you are one of the last to act).

Hedging Risk
You may want to take insurance to keep a solid footing against the field in the latter stages of a blackjack tournament. In this example, you have $25,000 and decide to make a $5,000 bet. There are three players in the field who have between $26,000 and $30,000. You are dealt a 20 and the dealer shows an ace. Taking insurance here is not a bad play for three reasons: 1) you protect your large bet against blackjack, 2) you are still likely to win $2,500 with your made hand if the dealer doesn’t have blackjack, and 3) the dealer stands a good chance of drawing to a made hand if he doesn’t already have one, beating the other players who are ahead of you.

By Johnny Kampis
Online Blackjack Expert