Blackjack History

Unfortunately the nature of blackjack makes its history somewhat hard to determine. This now wildly popular card game was once believed to be first enjoyed by the French sometime in the 1700’s. There it was called “vingt-et-un” which translates to twenty and one. From France it soon traveled to the US, since around the 1800’s.

Blackjack History in the US

While Blackjack originated in France, Blackjack has had some interesting history in the States as well. Between the 1850s and 1910, gambling was completely legal in the US until Nevada declared it a felony if anyone gambled. In 1931, however, casino gambling was legalized in Nevada and Blackjack was more than welcome. It soon became one of the main games offered to gamblers in Nevada.

The name Blackjack came from the cards themselves: if a player had a Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades as the first 2 cards received, then the player was automatically paid out an extra amount. This is great when it happens, so the name blackjack stuck since the Spades are black and you also needed the Jack in order to get the extra winnings.

Blackjack Math

People have always been obsessed with Blackjack and its mathematical nature. So much so that in the late 1950s some math information was released that helped savvy gamblers how they could play with even odds against the house, and sometimes even have an edge over the house. This book naturally become popular in the US, so popular that it even made it on the NY Times best sellers list. This newly released statistical information sparked a renewed interest in Blackjack that quickly made it the most popular table game then played in the US. This popularity has been stable over the years, and the game is still enjoyed by gamblers everywhere.

Casinos Offer Blackjack

Naturally, the casinos were quite displeased with this new information released which helped the publics odds in the game of blackjack. Some casinos tried to change the rules of blackjack in a futile attempt to make it more difficult for players to actually win. This fortunately didn’t last very long, as most people simply refused to play these supposed new rules in blackjack. Since blackjack accounts for a lot of casino profits, this loss in money caused casinos to come back to the old rules of blackjack.

Casinos did, however, find different ways to subtly increase their odds in the game to keep the good players and card counters at bay. Some casinos started to introduce multiple decks, mechanical shuffling machines, as well as frequent and/or early shuffling in the game. These kinds of changes stifle card counting and other methods that you will find in blackjack skill books.

Since the introduction of internet casinos, the internet has played a big part in the new era for Blackjack. Now blackjack players can enjoy the game from the comfort of their own home, without having to worry about getting to a casino in real life. Online casinos have also included different variations of blackjack, such as blackjack switch as well as the ability to be the dealer. Many of the new variants in the game of blackjack offer better odds for the player, because of the low operating costs that an online casino has.