Blackjack History

Blackjack, blackjack – the quintessential game! Blackjack originated circa 1700 in French casinos as blackjack, and blackjack was then called “vingt-et-un” (that is, 21). Blackjack traveled to North America with French colonists and soon, blackjack began spreading throughout America. Blackjack was still named Twenty-One when Nevada legalized gambling in 1931. Blackjack’s name was changed to Blackjack because if a blackjack player received an Ace of Spades and a Jack of Spades, both black cards, as the first two cards, then that blackjack player was additionally reimbursed.
In 1978 casino gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, and blackjack became a household name. Since 1989, some 20 additional states began operating casinos, with blackjack still topping the bill as the most popular game – blackjack ruled.
In addition to the United States, casinos featuring blackjack can be found in England, France, Monaco, and Caribbean islands.

In the 1960's, blackjack became the number one table game in the United States, due to the publication of a book by Professor Edward O. Thorp, featuring mathematical information that instructed gamblers on how to reduce the house advantage. This new information about the already popular blackjack game reignited the public’s interest in blackjack. Casinos nationwide made a fortune from blackjack’s newly gained popularity and the media attention it generated. However, the threat of the potential “formula” to winning at blackjack was looming.
As a result, casinos tried to change blackjack rules to make blackjack much more difficult to win. However, many blackjack players protested by not playing blackjack by the new rules, and the resulting loss of blackjack revenue quickly forced casinos to revert back to the old rules of blackjack.

The casinos introduced changes to increase their odds at blackjack: double down, blackjack side bets, no-bust blackjack, multiple decks, and much more, which restored the casinos’ blackjack advantage to odds they themselves considered acceptable.
Thorp was not the only one who tried to calculate the odds of winning the blackjack game. Another major contributor to the history of blackjack winning ploys is Julian Braun, an IBM employee, who used a computer to refine his predecessors’ slightly complicated card-counting technique.
In 1977, Ken Uston used a team of blackjack players who had computers built into their shoes; the team went on to win over 100,000 dollars in blackjack, before the FBI confiscated one of the computers. However, the agents concluded that since the computer was using public information on blackjack, it could not be considered a blackjack cheating device.

Blackjack is still considered one of the most popular table games at casinos around the world. In addition, online blackjack is the web’s top game, blackjack fans. For a chance to make it big at blackjack, go to online casino and try our free blackjack game.