Blackjack Surrender is an online blackjack variant by Playtech. As the name suggests, the opportunity to surrender sets this apart from most versions of blackjack. 

If you’re completing casino offers, blackjack is often the best choice, due to its very high Return To Player (RTP). Knowing how to play every hand correctly will maximise your long-term profits from offers.

The RTP of Blackjack Surrender is higher than many other blackjack variants, so it’s a great choice whether you’re doing offers or playing recreationally. 

In this article, you’ll discover how to play Blackjack Surrender, its rules, optimum strategy, and where to play it. 

If you want to know when it’s best to accept defeat in a Blackjack Surrender and raise the white flag, read on. 

What Is Blackjack Surrender?

Blackjack Surrender is a popular online version of the classic casino game of blackjack by the game provider Playtech.

Unlike most online versions of blackjack, in Blackjack Surrender you can choose to surrender your hand. This adds a new layer of strategy, and knowing when to surrender is vital to make the house edge as low as possible.

When you surrender in blackjack, you forfeit your hand immediately and get half your stake back. 

Although surrendering in blackjack is rarely the best strategy, sometimes the situation is so dire that it’s your best option. 

The table layout of Blackjack Surrender is very similar to other versions of the game:

Blackjack Surrender Rules

The core rules of blackjack are the same across most variants of the game, and Blackjack Surrender is no different. 

• The game uses 6 decks shuffled together. 
• The surrender option is available after the dealer has peeked for blackjack and before drawing another card. This allows you to fold your hand and receive half your stake back. 
• Cards are returned to the deck and shuffled into it after each round. 
• Split hands may not be re-split. 
• Doubling after splitting is allowed. 
• Only one card is drawn to split Aces. 
• If the dealer’s face up card is an Ace or ten-value card, they will check (peek) for blackjack. If the face up card is an Ace, Insurance is offered before checking for blackjack.
• The dealer will draw an additional card if their hand total is 16 or under. 
• The dealer stands if their hand total is 17 or greater, including soft 17s. 
  

How to Play Blackjack Surrender?

Blackjack Surrender plays very similarly to most other blackjack versions. Here’s a breakdown of how to play the game.

Select Your Stake

You first need to select your stake by clicking on the chip with the value you want to use: 

Next, click on one of the playing positions (boxes) on the table to add your stake:

You can add as many chips as you want, up to the table limit. If you wanted to add a stake of £17, for example, you’d add one £10 chip, one £5 chip and two £1 chips. 

You can play at up to five playing positions. 

Deal Cards

Once you’ve settled on your stakes, click ‘Deal’ to have your hand dealt:

• X2 Double - Clicking this doubles your stake. This is useful for players using certain betting patterns like the Martingale Strategy. For a detailed look at why you shouldn’t use this strategy, click here.
• Deal - Deal the cards using your chosen stakes.
• Clear Bets - This removes all your stakes from the table, which is useful if you change your mind or have made a mistake.
• Undo - If you’ve placed more than one chip on the table, you’ll see this option. Clicking it undoes your actions in the reverse order that you made them. It doesn’t undo your original stake being placed on the table, so you need to click ‘Clear Bets’ to remove that.
  

If you’ve already played at least one hand, you’ll have slightly different options:

• Double & Deal - Doubles your stake and deals a new hand. This doubles the stake for all your hands.
• Rebet & Deal - Bets the same stake you used for the last hand and deals a new hand.
• Rebet - Bets the same stake you used for the last hand but does not deal a new hand yet. 

This is what the table looks like after the initial deal if you’re using one playing position: 

Decide If You Want to Surrender

After the initial deal, and once the dealer has checked for blackjack, you have the option to surrender: 

If you click ‘Surrender’, you fold (forfeit) your hand and get half your stake back for that hand. Here’s a screenshot showing the player surrendering and having half their stake returned: 

Most of the time, you shouldn’t surrender, but there are a few occasions when your hand is so much weaker than the dealer’s that it’s the best choice. 

There are two types of surrender in blackjack: 

• Early surrender is rarely found in blackjack games. With this rule, you can surrender your hand before the dealer checks for blackjack.
• Late surrender means you can surrender your hand after the dealer has checked for blackjack, and before receiving additional cards.

Blackjack Surrender follows the late surrender rule. 

You’ll see exactly when you should surrender in Blackjack Surrender in the strategy section later. 

Play Your Hand

If you haven’t surrendered, the next step is to choose one of the following plays:

• Stand - take no more cards to the hand.
• Hit - get another card dealt to the hand.
• Double - double your stake for that hand. 
• Split - if you’re dealt a pair, you can split the hand into two hands. This doubles the stake for the hand. For splitting purposes, two ten-value cards are classed as a pair, even if they’re not the same rank (for example, a Jack and Ten are a pair).

Insurance

If the dealer’s first card is an ace, you can choose to insure your bet against the dealer having a blackjack. Insurance costs half your original bet, with the new bet placed separately from your main bet. 

If the dealer has blackjack, you’re paid 2 to 1 on your insurance bet. The effect of this is that you break even overall on your bet since you lose your original bet but make a profit of two times half your original bet with your winning insurance bet.

You lose your insurance bet if the dealer doesn’t have blackjack. 

As with regular blackjack, taking insurance in Blackjack Surrender will reduce your Return To Player (RTP), so should be avoided.

Blackjack Hand Expected Value

If you just want to find the easiest way to play the best possible game of Blackjack Surrender, skip to the ‘Blackjack Calculator’ section below.

In this section, you’ll see how surrendering has a favourable impact on your expected value (EV) for a few select cases. 

The Blackjack Hand Calculator created by the Wizard of Odds, Mike Shackleford, will be used for this analysis. 

There are only four situations where surrendering is the best way to play, all of which will be covered here. 

Hard 15 Against Dealer’s 10 

If the dealer’s face card is a ten-value card and you’re dealt a hard 15, you should surrender. 

You can see this if you enter the hands into the Blackjack Hand Calculator: 

The numbers to the right of the different plays give the expected values. For example, in the long term, you’ll lose 54.2% of your stake on average if you stand. 

You can see that the EV for Surrender is higher (less negative) than every other option. If you surrender, you’ll lose half your stake (50%) every time. However, this narrowly beats the expected value of hitting, which loses 5045% of your stake on average. 

Hard 16 Against Dealer’s 9 

If the dealer’s face up card is a 9 and you’re dealt a hard 16 that isn’t a pair of 8s, you should surrender. The Blackjack Hand Calculator confirms this:

Like the previous example, there’s not much in it between surrendering and hitting, but for the best long-term value, you should surrender.

Hard 16 Against Dealer’s 10 

If you’re dealt a hard 16 that isn’t a pair of 8s against a dealer’s ten-value card, you should surrender:

Hard 16 Against Dealer’s Ace 

The dealer checks for blackjack if they’re dealt an ace. They’ll win the hand immediately if they have a blackjack, unless you have one too, which results in a push and your stake is returned for no profit or loss. 

If the dealer doesn’t have blackjack, and you have a hard 16 that doesn’t consist of a pair of 8s, you should surrender:

Pair of 8s Against Dealer’s Ace 

Although a pair of 8s is a hard 16, it’s a special case. In Blackjack Surrender, you should always split a pair of 8s, no matter what the dealer’s face up card is. 

You can see that splitting has a much better expected value than any other choice: 

N.B. It might look like taking Insurance is the best option. However, unlike all the other options on the list, Insurance is a side bet, placed in addition to the main bet. The EV for taking the insurance bet is -6.8%, but this is in addition to the EV of your main bet. 

These optimum ways to play are incorporated into the blackjack strategy you’ll see in the next section, along with all other possible combinations of player and dealer hands. 

Blackjack Surrender Strategy

By far the easiest way to play Blackjack Surrender online effectively is to use a tool like Outplayed’s Blackjack Calculator, which will be covered next. 

An alternative is to use the reference charts in this section. These show the optimum strategy for playing Blackjack Surrender, which is identical to Basic Blackjack Strategy for most blackjack variants where the dealer stands on soft 17. Outplayed's Blackjack Calculator uses this strategy.

The strategy is broken down into charts for hard hands, soft hands, and pairs. 

Hard Hands

Soft Hands

Pairs

Using a Blackjack Strategy Calculator

If you want the easiest way to play the best possible game of Blackjack Surrender, look no further than Outplayed’s Blackjack Calculator. The calculator is based on the optimum blackjack strategy, which minimises the casino’s house edge and maximises your Return To Player (RTP). 

The calculator is very easy to use and tells you exactly what you should do, no matter what cards you and the dealer are dealt. 

First, you need to set it up appropriately for Blackjack Surrender. The key rules are that surrender is allowed and the dealer stands on soft 17, so the toggle switches need to be set like this:

The Blackjack Calculator has a full guide on the calculator page, but we’ll look at a couple of examples of it in action below.

Example 1 - Hard 11 Against Dealer’s 9

Although the dealer’s 9 is a fairly strong card, you still have the advantage with your hard 11. To make the most of this, the correct play is to double.  

To enter the hand into the Blackjack Calculator, click on the 'Dealer' card to select the 9, then repeat the process for 'Card 1' and 'Card 2' to enter your cards. The Blackjack Calculator then tells you that the correct move is to Double: 

Example 2 - Hard 15 Against Dealer’s 10

This time, you’ve been dealt a hard 15, which is one of the worst starting hands. The dealer has a ten, which is a very strong face card.  

This is one of those fairly rare occasions when your situation is so bad, you’re best to surrender, forfeit your hand, and accept the loss of half your stake:

The Blackjack Calculator confirms this:

7-Card Charlie

In the fairly unlikely event that you draw 7 cards without going bust, your hand automatically wins, unless the dealer has blackjack. 

7-Charlie also applies to a split hand.

Blackjack Surrender Side Bets

Three side bets are available in Blackjack Surrender, in addition to the Insurance side bet. These are:

• Player’s Pair
• Dealer’s Pair
• 21+3

To play these side bets, add your chosen chips to the relevant space on the table, at the same position as your main bet. 

Side bets can’t be placed without a main bet. 

You’ll see in the RTP section below that these side bets have a very low RTP compared to the main game, so are best avoided.

Player’s Pair Side Bet

To place a Player's Perfect Pair side bet, add one or more chips to the 'Player's Pair' betting area. 

You also need to add a stake for the main bet, as shown below:

The Player’s Perfect Pair side bet wins if you’re dealt a Perfect Pair, Coloured Pair, or a Red/Black Pair in your first two cards. 

Dealer’s Pair Side Bet

To place a Dealer's Perfect Pair side bet, add one or more chips to the 'Dealer's Pair' betting area. 

Here’s the Dealer’s Pair section with a stake filled in. You’ll also need to add a stake to at least one of the main playing positions on the table.  

The Dealer’s Perfect Pair side bet wins if the dealer’s first two cards are a Perfect Pair, Coloured Pair, or a Red/Black Pair. 

Winning Pairs

A pair means two cards with the same rank. Even though they both count 10 points in blackjack, a Queen and King are not a pair, since they’re not the same rank of card. 

There are three possible winning pairs with both Player’s Pair and Dealer’s Pair bets, as follows:

Perfect Pair

A Perfect Pair means your first two cards or the dealer’s first two cards are a pair in the same suit, for example, a pair of 3 of Spades.

Coloured Pair

A Coloured Pair means the first two cards dealt to you or the dealer form a pair of the same colour, but a different suit, for example, a 10 of Hearts and 10 of Diamonds. 

Red/Black Pair

A Red/Black Pair means the first two cards dealt to you or the dealer form a pair with suits of different colours, for example, a Queen of Diamonds and Queen of Clubs. 

21+3 Side Bet

To place a ‘21+3’ side bet, add one or more chips to the ‘21+3’ betting area. 

You also need to place a stake in the main box to place a 21+3 side bet:

The 21+3 side bet is a bet on the first two cards dealt to you, along with the dealer’s initial face up card, form one of the following three-card poker hands:

• Suited Three of a Kind - Three cards with the same suit and rank. 
• Straight Flush - Three cards of the same suit in sequence. 
• Three of a Kind - Three cards with the same rank. 
• Straight - Three cards in sequence but not all of the same suit. 
• Flush - Three cards of the same suit but not in sequence

Paytable

Here you can see the payouts for all different outcomes, including bets on the main game and the four side games. 

The payouts in the table show your profit from a winning bet. In addition to this, your return will include getting your original stake back. 

For example, if you stake £5 on Player’s Pair and are dealt a Coloured Pair, this returns 12 times your stake, plus your original stake. The return will be 12 x £5 + £5 = £65, and your profit will be £60.

Return To Player of Blackjack Surrender

The Return To Player (RTP) of Blackjack Surrender is 99.66%

This is slightly better than another Playtech blackjack game, Premium Blackjack, which has an RTP of 99.58%

The RTP of the 21+3 side bet is 95.38% and the RTP of the Player’s/Dealer’s pairs side bet is 93.89%, so these are best avoided. 

You can see the RTPs in Blackjack Surrender’s Help section, accessible from the game:

Where Can You Play Blackjack Surrender?

Here’s a list of bookmakers and casinos where you can play Blackjack Surrender:

• 10Bet
• Bet365
• Betfred
• Betfair
• Coral
• Fabulous Vegas
• Fitzdares Casino
• Kwiff
• Ladbrokes
• Paddy Power
• Party Poker
• Sky Casino
• The Sun Bingo
• The Sun Vegas

Summary

Blackjack Surrender is a great blackjack variant that adds a new layer of strategy by allowing you to surrender your hand. 

Although it’s rarely in your best interests to surrender, there are a handful of occasions when it’s beneficial. 

Knowing exactly when to surrender is key to reducing the house edge as much as possible and achieving Blackjack Surrender’s impressive 99.66% RTP. Using blackjack strategy charts like those in this article is one way to play optimally, but it’s much easier to use Outplayed’s superb Blackjack Calculator. 

Blackjack is often the best choice for casino offers, due to its very high Return To Player. Understanding how to maximise your RTP will give you the best long-term profits from your offers. 

To get a taste of what’s on offer at Outplayed, don’t miss out on their free trial. This gives you access to all of the worthwhile bookmaker sportsbook sign-up offers, as well as a selection of casino sign-up offers. 

After this, you can choose to upgrade to Diamond or Pro membership, which gives access to all of the casino sign-up and reload offers.