Dealer 10 vs player blackjack

To provide my father-in-law some entertainment during this shelter-in-place, I’ve been dealing him blackjack over FaceTime. I encountered a situation that I’m not sure about.

I dealt him a blackjack, and I had a 10 showing. Do I offer him the even money option here? Based on two online articles, it sounds like that offer happens only if I have an ace showing.

I believe only in Spanish 21 does blackjack get paid immediately, and I had blackjack as the dealer, so that meant his blackjack should have pushed? Is that correct?

(And after 4 days, he is ahead $85! We ended today’s session with him re-splitting aces to four hands—and he won them all! I might have to rethink these liberal rules!)

In traditional BJ, if the dealer has a BJ, the best a player can hope for is a push.

Quote: smoothgrh

(snip) I dealt him a blackjack, and I had a 10 showing. Do I offer him the even money option here? Based on two online articles, it sounds like that offer happens only if I have an ace showing. (snip)

If you are playing like they would in a traditional/standard casino, then even money would not be offered for a Player BJ vs dealer 10.

Note: You could offer him somewhere between 1.30 and 1.38 to 1, if your father-in-law really wanted to settle the bet early, but this is not standard (in fact I personally don't know any "brick and mortar" *** casino that does this).

*** (update, about 720 pm): there is at least one online game that lets you do this.

Thanks for the responses!

My in-laws don’t play for fun—they need stakes. I’ll have to implement no DAS to help the HE!

I haven't personally seen it, but I've heard other people report that, somewhere outside the US, there was a place that offered insurance against a T. Like, regular 2:1 insurance. I'd say you can ask if they'd like you to offer it, and see how often they bite.

I saw it at a charity game but I think it paid 10-1.

Keep the rules, but switch dealers so you both have the same advantages. I used to play one on one with a friend and we'd switch whenever a red Ace was in a blackjack, roughly every half hour when playing one on one

No. When a dealer is showing a ten, you do not offer insurance. Or offer even money to someone who has a blackjack.

What may be confusing you is that the dealer will still check his hole card, but that's just to speed things up, since there's nothing a player can do to change the outcome if he does have it.

Consider the math, but simplify things by ignoring the effect of card removal. When a dealer is showing an ace, his hole card can be a 10, J, Q or K to give him a blackjack. When he is showing a 10 value card, he can have a blackjack only if his hole card is an ace.

Quote: billryan

I saw it at a charity game but I think it paid 10-1.

Since it's a charity game, I'd shrug it off. Otherwise, even at 10:1, it's a horrible bet, worse than regular insurance.