The difference between the two is that in late surrender, if the dealer has blackjack, the player cannot surrender and loses the entire bet. In early surrender the player surrenders immediately and the dealer consumates the transaction and takes half of the player's bet. This avoids losing to a dealer's blackjack.

The difference in advantage percent-wise is enormous. Early surrender adds .623 percent to the player's advantage, while late surrender is only worth .07 percent. Early surrender is so advantageous that the Basic Strategy player has a .25 percent advantage playing just Basic Strategy. There is no early surrender offered in any casinos in the United States, though it was offered initially in Atlantic City when the casinos first opened in 1978. The governer of New Jersey abolished it in 1981.

You may ask, why do you still advocate learning it, since it is no longer offered?  It is still offered in Panama, Santo Domingo, Korea and the Philippines, and since I have no way of knowing where the reader is going to play, I advise learning it so that you may have it at your disposal if the game arises. Atlantic City at one time had NO surrender and I still taught the option, and they eventually brought back late surrender, so my students did not have to re-learn the surrender option.

Basic Strategy for Four or More Decks