The most valuable option of the two, early surrender allows the player to salvage half of their wager immediately after the initial deal, even if the dealer is showing an Ace or a ten card. To understand the difference between early and late surrender in blackjack, it’s probably easiest just to explain each one in turn, and in that way the difference will become apparent. Early surrender is the most advantageous for the player when used correctly, and only one version of the rule will ever be available in each variation of the game. To make matters worse, there are actually two different types of surrender option early and late. It’s still fairly rare though, and that scarcity leads to the surrender rule being misunderstood and used sub optimally. It’s not a rule that is too common in real life casinos, but you will find it more readily available online. This is because if you played the hand out you would be more likely to lose than win, in which case you would lose 100% of your stake. Surrendering your hand will cost you half of your stake, but if you only take the surrender option when the odds are not in your favour then, statistically, you will be saving yourself 50% more often than not.
The ability to surrender in blackjack can be very useful in certain situations, where you are mathematically less likely to win the hand based on the cards that have been dealt so far.