History of Blackjack

The true origins of the popular card game blackjack is simply unknown and even though many historians believe that it was being played well before the 17th century, there is no concrete evidence to prove it. It is agreed that the games roots are in France and was played in French casinos. The base game Vingt et Un – which means 21 in French – is nothing like the game we know today, but there is no denying that blackjack came from it.

In Vingt et Un, the game play was very similar to blackjack, but only the dealer was allowed to double and bets were made after every round. The idea behind this game was to get a natural 21 using the hands ranking system of the day. The name ‘blackjack’ came from the fact that Vingt en Un had a special payout if players drew a Jack and the Ace of spades.

Shortly after the French Revolution, the game was introduced in North America where there no laws surrounding card games at the time. This is the when the current rules of blackjack were born with professional gamblers developing their own personal strategy. By the beginning of the 19th century, however, playing blackjack and other gambling card variation were outlawed. The government felt that gambling corrupted society and encouraged organized crime. It became an underground pastime, more and more popular no matter how tight the government tried to control it. In 1931 when Las Vegas was an infant, blackjack was one of the games that helped the city through its infancy.

Studies have been made on the game and both statistical mathematical theory and calculation methods have been used to help reduce the house edge. One of the strategy guides at the time is known as the ‘Optimum Strategy in Blackjack’, the first of many of its kind to be produced. By 1962, more information had been released about the game, including the first known card counting system. The book ‘Beat the Dealer’ took the United States by storm because it outlined step by step how to make card counting useful.

Of course the casinos did not like the idea of players being able to count cards, and the rules of the game have changed numerous times over the years in an effort to combat it. Counting cards and getting caught doing it is grounds for being banned from a casino. Counting cards and not getting caught is sometimes the difference between a winner and a loser either you play at real casinos or online casinos.