insurance and "even money"

In Blackjack, I already have an idea about what insurance is. It is when the dealer has an Ace as his/her up card and he/she offers the players insurance. If the players take insurance and loss they only have to give up half their bet. Now what if the a player ties with the dealer or they both have a 21. I have hear that this has to do with a topic called "even money". Could you please explain that topic to me and explain a little on insurance. Thank you.

what your question is..."even money" is basically a shortcut for taking insurance when the player has a blackjack. If instead of taking even money you just insure your hand as though it wasn't a blackjack the result would be the same as even money.

Get a sheet of paper and work out every possibility and you will see that even money and insurance are exactly the same thing when blackjack pays 3:2. If blackjack pays even money (like in super fun 21, then even money becomes a very very good bet) If blackjack pays 2:1 then even money is an exceptionally bad bet...but you can, in that case, just buy insurance separately which will preserve much of the bonus payoff.

"Could you please explain that topic [even money] to me and explain a little on insurance."

Insurance is a side bet offered when the dealer has an ace up. You are allowed to bet up to half of your original bet that the dealer has a 10 valued card in the hole. If the dealer has a ten value card in the hole, you are paid 2-1 on the winning insurance side bet, but of course you lose the original bet which means you breakeven overall on the hand (unless you have a blackjack too, which takes us to the even money offer outlined below). If the dealer doesn't have a 10 valued card in the hole, the player loses the insurance side bet and the hand is played out to determine the outcome of the original bet.

An even money offer on a player blackjack vs a dealer ace up is the same as taking insurance in the full 1/2 of the original bet amount allowed. If you were to take insurance and the dealer has blackjack, you push the original bet and win 2-1 on the insurance side bet, winning a net amount equal to your original bet. In the same senario but the dealer doesn't have blackjack, you lose the insurance side bet of 1/2 the original bet, but win 1 1/2 times the original bet for the blackjack, again winning a net amount on the hand equal to the original bet.

"Thank you."

You're welcome.

Just too fast for me bp... same result as when I tried to stick you with the dinner check... ;)

It obviously is the same, mathematically.

But I suspect the insurance play at a higher count would draw more attention than the even money play.

Frankly, while the insurance play is a biggie, I sometimes feel very uncomfortable making it as it would seem to be an obvious tell for a card counter. You go along not taking insurance then suddenly the count skyrockets and you're all about taking insurance. The even money play would, I think, be much less noticable.

I never hear any discussion of the insurance play and what a dead giveaway it is; perhaps it is just my perception...