If you go all-in on Tournament blackjack and get a blackjack against an Ace when blackjack pays 3 to 2 can you get even money? Or if you want to insure your blackjack do you have to have money behind you to insure in tournament blackjack?
Even money? In most of the tournaments I have played in blackjack paid 2:1. In some of those tournaments insurance was was not offered and even money was not offered either. I did play in one tournament where insurance was not offered but you could take even money - the insurance bet would require a half bet which could make things difficult if a minimum one chip was bet. In the other 2:1 tournaments insurance and even money was offered. I have ended up too many times as a spectator watching these "even money" players at the final table. If BJ pays 2:1 and you have a big bet out take "insurance" : 2/3 of the time you will win 50% more than taking "even money" the other 1/3 of the time you will win the same amount as taking "even money". In the world series of BJ the anouncers state that you must insure your 3:2 BJ. No even money there. ...........................BlueLight
"Even Money" is actually an insurance bet. In my limited career so far, most tournaments require you to put up the chips for an insurance bet. If you ain't got the chips, you ain't buying insurance. So if you're lucky enough to get a natural on your all-in bet, and the dealer turns up an Ace, all you can do is pray that there isn't a monkey under it.
House rules As Bluelight pointed out, there is several ways in which blackjacks are paid out. I have even seen naturals paid 5 to 1, which is crazy. As far as insurance and even money, both are house rules on how and if they are offered. The TBJPA rule for insurance is it must be put up (no even money). The reason behind this rule, why should any player be allowed to have a free bet, should this situation come up?
Eureka I've always struggled to understand why, in regular BJ, 'even money' is treated as a separate entity to the equivalent insurance bet, but I think this thread has helped me understand. The casino would like players to take insurance all the time, since it favours the house. A player who might otherwise be tempted to take insurance can't do so if he doesn't have the funds to cover the bet. However, if the player has a BJ then the house can 'kindly' offer to roll up the whole transaction into a single, even money proposition. Is that about the size of it?
Don't get me started on the even money rule. Let's examine what "even money" means. The casinos have this rule in place at the regular bj tables for two reasons. 1. It is a bad bet in most cases, and they will always accept bad bets. 2. It saves time: for the player to put up insurance, and the dealer to pay or take down the insurance loss. It also saves time if the player needs to dig into his pocket for more money/chips to place the insurance bet. Let's examine what insurance means with regards to having a blackjack. The player has two chips bet. He is dealt a bj, and the dealer has an ace showing. If he puts up one chip for insurance and the dealer has a bj, he wins two chips on his insurance bet and pushes his bj. If the dealer doesn't have it, he loses one chip on his insurance bet, but wins three chips on his bj, for a net gain of two chips. Either way, (dealer bj or not), he wins two chips/even money. The catch is of course, one must have the chips to make the bet. The player is not "insuring" his bj, he is simply betting whether or not the dealer has a bj. It is a totally separate bet from his own hand. But the casinos don't look at insurance and even money as being the same thing, when in reality they are the same. If and only if the player has the money to make the bet, which is what it is...a bet.
Back to Cardcounter's question, ignoring the odd-ball situations where blackjack pays more than 3:2: Can you take even money in a tournament? It depends. Some casinos allow it, some don't. I'd say it's close to a 50/50 split between casinos that require you to have the chips to insure vs those that don't care whether you're all-in or not and still allow you to call even money. You'll have to ask at your particular casino to see which rule is in effect.
You pretty much got the idea. By offering "even money" the casino makes it easy for a player to make a bad bet without the player even realizing he is making a bet. Many dealers are so incompetent that they encourage the player to take "even money". After all, it's a sure payoff - right? What strikes me as being a little odd is that the same player that takes "even money" usually knows that "insurance" is a bad bet and usually does not take it. What are they thinking???
Except! When a casino, for example Ceasar's Indiana tournament pays two to one on BJ. But the dealer's don't know the difference between even money and insurance. My experience was the dealers wanted to just offer even money and not take insurance on the bet. But, a knowledgeable floor man made the correct call in allowing "insurance."
