Sometimes your might be out of luck and you with not to bet using the hand you've just been dealt. In the blackjack game you have an option called surrender, which basically gives you the option to forfeit the round if you decide that your cards are not good and you rather fold.
Surrender can be used only after the dealers dealt your initial two cards and can not be made if you continued
on and decided to either hit or stand. It offers you as a player the possibility to fold your hand at half of your original bet.
The surrender is divided into two:
Early Surrender - You must choose to surrender before the dealer takes a look at his cards, even if he has the opportunity to achieve a blackjack. this option is almost never offered at the land based blackjack tables.
Late Surrender - The dealer has the opportunity to check whether he has a blackjack before you are allowed to surrender your hand. For such option you should check the online blackjack tables as they support late surrender most of the time.
Article contributed by Sam Marshall 30th of november '05