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Blackjack Surrender Explained

Blackjack surrender is a bit of a dark horse. Many players have heard of it, though equally many casinos do no offer this feature. So, because it's rare to find, and is rarely advertised by casinos that offer it, many gamblers are more than a little uncertain how surrender works. So, let's have a look at blackjack surrender in the casino.

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What is Surrender in Blackjack?

Simply put, it’s the option that allows you to fold your hand and receive half your bet back. So, instead of playing out a hand you don’t really fancy, you can simply surrender and let the casino take half of your bet. It goes without saying that this is an option only to be used if you receive a really rubbish starting hand.

Now blackjack surrender is not on offer at all casinos. Or even on all tables on the games floor. You’ll never see a sign for it either. This means that it’s up to you to ask the dealer if surrender is allowed. Another thing is that because many don’t realize such a thing can be played, you should prepare yourself for some funny looks from other players the moment you ask for this option. Not only are most players ignorant of this move, but those who do know of it, are equally ignorant in that they will automatically assume that it’s a bad move. Weirdly, some players appear to understand its purpose and yet, still shy away from using it. Like we said, just weird!

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How do I Surrender?

If you want to surrender, then it needs to be the very first action after the deal. If you’ve already hit or doubled or split, then you can’t ask and you wouldn’t be allowed to surrender. Now there are normally two different hands used for this action. The most common is that you draw a horizontal line with your finger behind your bet. Think of the motion of “cutting your bet”. The other way is to hold your hands, palm upwards as if saying “I give up”. Keep in mind that neither of these hand signals is universal…so you still have to tell the dealer that you want to surrender. Or at the online jackpot sites, you just simply press the surrender button.

What is the difference between Early Surrender and Late Surrender?

The basic blackjack strategy offers three types of surrender: No Surrender, Early Surrender, and Late Surrender. Late surrender is by far the most common, and early surrender is quite difficult to find at all. So, if you’re unsure which one to choose, we suggest that you stick with late surrender. So…what’s the difference? Well, it’s all about what happens when the dealer has an Ace or Ten up card. If you surrender BEFORE the dealer checks for blackjack, then that’s called early surrender. This has value in that it allows you to get out of a possible dealer blackjack whilst losing only half your bet. late surrender is after the dealer has checked his cards for blackjack and didn’t have it. That’s the rule!

Blackjack Surrender: What hands should I surrender?

So now you’re aware of what blackjack surrender is, we ask that you don’t overuse it. Remember that if you surrender a lot, you’ll be losing a lot of bankrolls as well. There’s also a mistaken belief that you should surrender any hand with a greater than 50% chance of losing. That’s a huge mistake. To make a correct surrender decision, your hand needs to be on a losing wicket more than 70% of the time. (Winning 25% of the time and losing 75% of the time means you’ll lose half you bet on average).

So, which initial hands should you surrender?

Here are the main ones:

Surrender hard 15 against a dealer Ten.
Surrender hard 16 against a dealer 9.
Surrender hard 16 against a dealer Ten.
Surrender hard 16 against a dealer Ace.
If you are playing a game where the dealer hits soft 17, add these surrenders as well:

Surrender hard 15 against a dealer Ace.
Surrender (8,8) against a dealer Ace.
Surrender hard 17 against a dealer Ace. (Yes, surrendering hard 17 against an Ace when the dealer hits soft 17s is the correct play.)
This particular advice is for six-deck games with late surrender. For specific advice tailored to your exact game, use the Strategy Engine, or purchase one of our Blackjack Basic Strategy Cards.

Blackjack Surrender: What’s it worth?

If you’re an effective player with basic strategy, then blackjack surrender can reduce the house edge by somewhere around 0.07% and 0.09%. This also depends on the other rules of the game. So if you’re a $10 better, you’d save around 50 cents per hour. OK, we are the first to admit this seems pretty piddly, but in blackjack, every little bit helps. Now for a card counter, surrender can be much more valuable, giving up to 0.7% or around 10 x larger. But you’ve first got to find a game that offers early surrender, which could take some time. We suggest that you talk with other players in order to find a casino with this action.

Remember that blackjack surrender is not a universal tool to dig yourself out of trouble. So, as we previously said, don’t go crazy with it. On the other hand, it is nice to know that you have the option should you ever want to take it.