Side bets
Why blackjack insurance is usually a losing bet
Insurance sounds protective, but without card counting it has a negative expected value against a normal shoe.
Key idea
Insurance pays 2:1, but the dealer does not have blackjack often enough.
3 min
Insurance is a separate bet
When the dealer shows an Ace, insurance is offered as a side bet. It pays if the dealer's hidden card is worth 10 and the dealer has blackjack.
It can feel like protection, especially when you have a good hand, but mathematically it is not tied to the strength of your hand. It is simply a bet on the hole card.
The payout is not enough
Insurance pays 2:1, so it would need to win at least one time in three to break even.
In a fresh multi-deck game, the dealer completes blackjack with an Ace up about 31% of the time. That is below the break-even point, so the bet loses money in the long run.
The simple rule
If you are not tracking the composition of the remaining cards, decline insurance. This trainer does not teach card counting, so the correct recommendation is simple: no insurance.
That remains true even when your main hand looks strong. A good main hand does not make the side bet better.