Blackjack Surrender Online - How to Play, Where to Play & Top Strategies

• Adds a possibility for players to take back some of their initial bet
• Boasts a lower house edge than traditional blackjack
• Offers an opportunity for players to ditch poor hands
• Basic early or late surrender strategy doesn’t differ too much from standard blackjack
• Results in more stable bankroll growth, instead of peaks and troughs

Already an option on some other blackjack variant tables, Blackjack Surrender rules see the opportunity to Surrender take center stage. In essence, Blackjack Surrender is a twist on the classic game that allows players to limit their losses by getting out of poor hands with half of their stake intact. Below, we’ll be covering how that works as well as the top places to play and what sort of payouts you can expect.

STEP 1

Join a Suitable Table

As always, the goal with this variant is to reach 21 without going over it. When you’ve joined a table at a Blackjack Surrender online casino, and placed your bets, the dealer will deal two cards for you and two for them. In some situations, e.g. the dealer showing a face-up Ace, they’ll check for blackjack before the hand continues.

STEP 2

Hit? Stand? Surrender?

Looking at your hand, now is the time to decide whether you want to hit (take another card), stand (leave your hand as it is), split (split your hand in two) or double your bet. Of course, you also have the option to surrender a weak hand. Consult a basic strategy guide before doing so, as some “poor” hands can actually be worth playing. At land casinos, you can use the surrender hand signal, tracing a horizontal line between yourself and the dealer on the table, to indicate you'd like to surrender.

STEP 3

Finish Things Off

When your hand is as good as it can possibly be, as long as it remains under 21, it’s time to hit Stand and see whether you’ve won or not. If you decided to Surrender instead of playing the hand, half of your stake will be returned to you instead.

STEP 4

The Dealer Plays

Once the dealer has turned over their facedown card, they will, where appropriate, hit the hand to improve it but must stop when they hit any combination that makes 17. Whoever has the highest hand under 21 wins the round.

• Late Surrender lets players surrender after the dealer has peeked for blackjack
• Early Surrender, which is available “pre-peek”, is rare and not on offer at many tables
• Insurance is still available, and pays 2 to 1 as usual
• Dealer must draw to 16 and stands on all 17s
• Players can double down after splitting

There’s a joke in the industry that Blackjack Surrender is a great choice for players who are often struck by bad luck: rather than slogging away trying to turn bad hand after bad hand into something profitable, Blackjack Surrender allows players to simply discard those hands and get half their money back. That’s a pretty powerful proposition for many online and offline gamblers.

Folks looking for a variation of blackjack to enjoy on the go could do a lot worse than Blackjack Surrender. Online casino mobile sites and apps allow players to enjoy the game on smartphones and tablets, and there’s a very good reason you might want to take advantage of that.

It might seem counterintuitive, since the game adds another button to the interface that some mobile blackjack players could already find cramped, but Blackjack Surrender is actually great for these users because it favors speedy play.

Whatever your device of choice – iPhone/iPad, Android etc. – we think you’ll enjoy mobile versions of Blackjack Surrender. In 2023, mobile games from reputable providers are only getting better and that’s certainly true in this case. If it’s not offered at your venue of choice, you can always check out one of the other blackjack variations available.