History of Blackjack

The game of blackjack has had a somewhat rollercoaster history. There are several schools of thought relating to the origins of the game, but popular consensus dictates that blackjack originated in France in the seventeenth century as a game called Vingt Et Un (Twenty One) - then quite popular in French casinos.

The rules may have evolved ever so slightly over the last few centuries, but at its core the game of blackjack is what we know today. The aim of the game was to get as close to 21 as possible.
An interesting aspect to the original game is that a Jack and Ace of spades together bore a bonus payment - thus the origins of the name "blackjack".

With the end of the French Revolution, many parts of French culture found their way to mainland America. The game of blackjack was quickly adopted into American society, especially since at the time there were no laws that banned gambling of any sorts.

However, by the start of the nineteenth century, the US government had banned all types of gambling - but the game of blackjack had already captured the imagination of the gambling society. Even though tough penalties were set in place for anyone who broke the new gambling laws, this just fuelled the intrigue around the game.

As the gambling laws became stricter, blackjack became more popular until a breaking point came in the game's history when the State of Nevada legalized gambling once again in 1931. People flocked from all over the US to play blackjack - and other casino games - legally for the first time and this gave rise to Las Vegas, arguably the most famous gambling strip in the world today.

Many critics believed that interest in blackjack would wane due to its legalization, but the game continued to grow in popularity and even caught the imagination of the academic world.

The first statistical look at the game came in 1953 by Roger Baldwin and his team who three years later published their findings in the American Statistical Guide. These findings were somewhat limiting and not much else was done until 1962 when Prof. Edward Thorp took blackjack play to a new level with his book entitled Beat The Dealer.

This started a landslide in controversy for the game and casinos alike as many people flocked to beat the system. This went as far as casinos having to adapt the rules of blackjack in an attempt to neutralize Thorp's statistical findings.

Since then, many other parties have attempted to unlock the key to blackjack success, including the infamous MIT squad. There are some systems in place which allow for blackjack to be more of a strategic game, but at the end of the day the game remains one of the most controversial and enthralling card games to have graced our online and land based casinos.