Whether to surrender depends on whether the dealer hits or stands on soft 17. In online casinos, you must press a button to indicate surrender. When you are at a table at a casino playing a live game of blackjack, the proper procedure to indicate surrender is to swipe a finger behind the bet to indicate your intention and recoup half of your wager. In blackjack, there are several ways to indicate to the dealer that you would like to surrender. When a player chooses to surrender, he gets to keep half of the original bet, and the other half is forfeited to the dealer. Before you do this you should make sure you have little chance of winning the hand. When you surrender, you give up your hand after the dealer’s initial deal. Minimizing the House EdgeĪs we know, at the table, the house edge is present at all times, and anything that can be done to minimize the house edge is advantageous to a player. Nonetheless, there are differences in opinion as to whether it should be used in blackjack, as some players think it turns players into quitters and others love it as a strategy. The surrender option may sound like a dire choice in a game where winning is the goal, but there are several scenarios where it is actually the right choice. Downsides and Upsides of Blackjack Surrender.