Dog Hand: Question on BJA3 Table C1

[Dog Hand]

Table C1 covers the effect of rules variations on BS EV. I can understand most of the entries, but I'm baffled by the "INS" entry: for all situations, the entries are negative. I would expect that, since Ins is an optional bet, its effect would either be positive or zero. Is it negative because Ins is -EV for a BS player, or am I missing some subtle point?

To clarify: say I want to calculate the house edge for 6D, S17, DA2, DAS/SPL3. This gives:

-0.546 (6D, S17) +0.000 (DA2) +0.142 (DAS/SPL3) = -0.404%

Now if the casino offers INS, does this increase the house edge to -0.404 -0.284 = -0.688?

Thanks in advance!

Dog Hand

[Cacarulo]

> Now if the casino offers INS, does this
> increase the house edge to -0.404 -0.284 =
> -0.688?

It means that if you take insurance every time the house edge will increase to 0.688. Obviously, the best choice is not to buy it.

Sincerely,
Cac

[Dog Hand]

Cacarulo,

Thanks for the clarification, but it brings up another point...

Why is INS treated differently than, say, DOA? I assume the DOA numbers reflect the player's advantage by doubling only when indicated, rather than literally "on any two cards".

Just curious!

Dog Hand

[Don Schlesinger]

> Cacarulo,

> Thanks for the clarification, but it brings
> up another point...

> Why is INS treated differently than, say,
> DOA? I assume the DOA numbers reflect the
> player's advantage by doubling only when
> indicated, rather than literally "on
> any two cards".

"DOA" means that there are no restrictions on doubling, such as no soft doubling or doubling on 10 or 11 only.

"INS" is there to show you how costly it might be, as camouflage, to insure all the time. Those values are broken down into their component parts on pp. 97 and 98, in Tables 7.2 and 7.3.

Don