Insurance Bet - Considered as One of the Worst Casino Bets

When considering which wagers can be considered as the worst casino bets that we can find, a lot advice goes against the blackjack insurance bet. The practical answer why it should be avoided is nothing more than the high house edge that comes with this wager.

In blackjack, the name of the game would certainly be to beat the dealer. Some will have the mistaken idea that the objective of blackjack is to come as close to 21 as they can, but unfortunately that only falls short of the actual objective of the game. You don't have to score a 21 or as close to it to actually win a hand in this game. If you can beat the dealer using a lesser hand then do so, you don't have to try and score the perfect 21 each and every time.

To attain the said objective, players have the following options when making their moves. First option that players have is to hit (this basically means to take another card). The next option is to stand, wherein a player may stay on a certain value and pit that against the dealer's. Another option is to double down, where the player only takes one more card and doubles the wager. Last option is to split the player's hand to form two separate hands.

Whenever someone gets lucky, they never have to make any decision at all and would just win automatically when they get a blackjack (an Ace plus any ten-value card from the deck). Anybody can get a blackjack, even the dealer has the chance of getting one and win automatically. The only thing that can counter that hand is another blackjack.

Here's where the insurance wager would come in. If the dealer shows an up card (i.e. the dealer's card that is face up on the table) the dealer will offer the insurance bet. The name of the wager is quite deceiving if you understand what it really means. When players make the insurance bet, they are not actually insuring their hand.

What players are really betting on is that the dealer has a ten-value hole card. If the dealer has a ten-value hole card then you lose your initial wager and your insurance is paid two to one. Unfortunately, the dealers will have less ten-value cards in a game thus most likely you'll lose your insurance. It'll hurt you more if you lose your original bet as well. Other than this, the house edge on insurance is up to eight percent.

These are enough reasons to consider the blackjack insurance bet as one of the worst casino bets on the floor. Not only is the house edge that high, the bet loses more times than wins.