Blackjack History

Although unclear, blackjack history is usually traced back as an evolution of other French games such as "chemin de fer" and "French Ferme". Around the 1700's in French casinos it was called first "vingt - et - un" (twenty - and - one) and gradually developed into blackjack. It has been in United States since the 1800's.

An early bet, which awarded the holder of the cards with a payment of 10 to 1, was getting a jack of spades and an ace of spades, both black, as the first two cards. This bet gave the game called 21, its currently more known name - blackjack. However, the name outlived its source and this bet (probably the best part of blackjack history) no longer exists.

Blackjack leaped into public awareness in the late 1950's and the 1960's when mathematical information was published that showed sophisticated gamblers how they could play nearly even with the casino and perhaps gain a slight edge. One of these books became so popular that it made the New York Times bestseller list. Blackjacks then become number one table game in the U.S. as it has remained right to these days. The newly gained popularity and all of the media attention it generated helped the casinos to make a fortune.

However, the casinos joy over a success of a book that told the public how to beat the house did not last long, and serious steps were taken in order to secure their profit. They tried to change the rules of blackjack to make it more difficult to win. This didn't last long because people protested by not playing the new "rules version of blackjack and the resulting loss of revenue quickly forced the casinos to go back to the original rules.

Although the last move didn't succeed, others did. In search of ways to increase their odds, casinos introduced multiple decks, shuffling machines, and frequent and early shuffling among other changes. Together with the fact that the methods described in the books were difficult to master even by those who were patient and clever enough to understand them, the casinos increased their edge back to odds they considered acceptable. All the rest, as we say, is blackjack history.