Blackjack is all about strategy and decision-making, with hitting, standing, splitting, and doubling being the four main moves players can choose from when acting on a hand. A fifth move, known as surrender, is possible, although most beginner players are unfamiliar with it because it is rarely available.
There are two versions of this move, late and early surrender, and while both benefit the player in certain situations, the latter yields far greater gains than the former. As you will see shortly, early surrender is highly advantageous to players, so much so that it has become nearly obsolete.
Early surrender is so uncommon that most strategy charts altogether omit it as a viable option. Blackjack fans will be hard-pressed to find it at online casinos, but early surrender has not entirely disappeared yet. Online blackjack variants with this rule are hard to come by, but they do exist nonetheless.
The Surrender Move in Brief
When surrendering, a blackjack player folds their hand and gets half of the original wager back, while the dealer collects the other half. Players should make this move only with very poor starting totals that offer little to no chance of improvement. Surrender is not available at all blackjack tables, and many beginners are unaware of its existence.
Surrender Rules in Blackjack
We already mentioned that there are two versions of this rule: early surrender and late surrender. Late surrender is far more common than early surrender, and you will find it in many online blackjack releases from major software studios such as Playtech. But what, exactly, is the difference between the two? It comes down to what happens when the dealer’s exposed card is a ten or an ace.
Early Surrender
Late SurrenderSituations That Call for Early Surrender
Early surrender is so rare that many players have never even heard of it. Others know about the move but mistakenly believe it is a poor play. A third group understands that surrender has value yet still avoids using it even when it is available.
That said, you should never overdo this play. Surrender is viable only when your starting hand leaves you at a severe disadvantage against particularly strong dealer upcards. Some inexperienced players surrender more often than basic strategy recommends and end up losing a lot of money as a result.
It is worth mentioning that some of the basic strategy plays for early surrender differ from those for late surrender. Most of the differences involve weak hard totals against solid dealer upcards such as aces and tens.
Early Surrender in Multi-Deck Blackjack Games
Early Surrender in Single-Deck Blackjack GamesEarly Surrender’s Impact on Players’ Expected Value
Early surrender is as rare as hen’s teeth where online blackjack is concerned, but this is unsurprising considering how sharply it reduces the house edge. The opportunity to surrender early against a dealer’s ten takes away approximately 0.24% from the casino’s advantage.
The house loses another 0.39% of its edge if early surrender is available when the dealer shows an ace. This makes for an overall house edge reduction of more than 0.60%, which enormously improves players’ expected value in the long run.
By comparison, reducing the number of decks in play from eight to one has a lesser impact on the house edge than early surrender. Late surrender also offers some value to blackjack players, albeit to a much lesser degree. It decreases the house edge by approximately 0.07%.
This figure may seem negligible, but it still has a positive effect on players’ long-term profitability. If you consistently bet in increments of $10, for example, the late surrender rule can save you approximately 50¢ per hour over the long haul.
| Early and Late Surrender Effect on Expected Value | |
|---|---|
| Early Surrender vs. the Dealer’s 10 | 0.24% |
| Early Surrender vs. the Dealer’s Ace | 0.39% |
| Late Surrender vs. the Dealer’s 10 | 0.07% |
| Late Surrender vs. the Dealer’s Ace | 0.00% |
Early Surrender in Online Blackjack Games
Online blackjack games with early surrender are a rare find, but they do exist. One of the very few variations to implement this rule is Big 5 Blackjack Gold by Microgaming. Do not be too quick to get excited, though. The software developers have incorporated several unfavorable rules into the game to offset the impact of early surrender and restore the house advantage.
The variation derives its name from the fact it uses five full decks of cards. Additionally, this is a no-peek game in which the dealer does not take a hole card. Instead, they receive a single face-up card at the initial deal and draw a second one only after players have made their decisions.
To add insult to injury, early surrender is only permitted against the dealer’s 10, which cuts the house edge by 0.24%. Other than that, the rest of the rules are rather decent, as you can see below. The variation is available in multi-hand format, allowing you to play up to five betting spots simultaneously.
All these playing conditions combined result in a long-term theoretical return of 99.55% for a house advantage of 0.45%. However, these percentages are accurate only on the condition that players consistently implement the correct basic strategy for this game.
The correct plays for early surrender against the dealer’s 10 under this ruleset are to fold when you have hard 14, 15, or 16. Early surrender against the dealer’s ten-value card is also recommended with pairs of 7s and 8s.