Play Blackjack Insurance: to Hedge or not to Hedge

Playing Blackjack with Insurance or none? This is a question that does trouble players. The matter of insuring or not insuring is the greatest dispute in blackjack where all the gamblers are involved. No wonder, because everyone wants to get the completely correct answer: what is better to hedge or to go on playing as if there were no option of the kind?

Opinions differ. A great many pros say that insurance is just a waste of money. And there is no use to hedge a bet that will be lost anyways. Yet there are players with great experience who are sure that insurance should be bought so that to protect a hand. To understand the point of the argument you need to get absorbed in the matter.

Playing blackjack with insurance is offered when the up card of a dealer's hand is an ace. No matter what hand a player has, she will be asked by a dealer whether she wants to get insurance. Any answer is required. The fact is that without it the game can't continue. To accept insurance means to pay the half of the initial bet. Yeah, you can agree on the offer, but what will you get in the end? Is it reasonable? Or maybe it is better to reject?   

A lot of gamblers are ready to buy insurance when they have a superb hand. For example, one that equals 21 or 20 points. If the former is true, you have nothing to be afraid of. Even if a dealer keeps a blackjack, it is a push, anyways. And you will get your full bet back.

The player has something to lose and wants to make sure that she will at least get some payout at the end of a round. In such cases it is most likely that bettors will add the half of a bet to secure receiving a guaranteed share. OK, if your bet is $10, you need to add $5 more, and if a dealer really has a blackjack, you will get your $10 back and lose $5.

Everyone knows from learn to play blackjack that a deck holds 52 cards. Now let's count. Each deck  has 16 cards worth 10 points, and 47 cards that have different values. So if the up card of a dealer is an ace, the probability that the other card has ten points is 16:47, that is round one third. But should a dealer has less than you even with the up card ace, your insurance is lost, and an initial bet is doubled.

Risk when it is worthy, reject hedging when it is nonsense. This is the idea I back. Play blackjack to form your opinion!