History of Blackjack

Blackjack is a great game because due its combination of both luck and skill, it attracts millions of players. In blackjack, a player is pit against the dealer and his cards have to total as close to 21 as possible without going bust. The person who has the value nearest to 21 wins the hand and the skill of blackjack involves finding the balance of whether to request more cards or to stick with what one has. Blackjack is also extremely popular in the online form, with the remote gambling world having introduced blackjack to millions of players who previously had not had the privilege to play the game in a land casino.

Blackjack is believed to be made up of several early games, from various time periods and countries. Several games were originators of blackjack which required the player to reach a certain total in order to win. Baccarat emerged in Italy in the 1490s and players had to reach a total of 9 in order to win; Seven-and-a-half was another game played with 8s, 9s, 10s and face cards and players went bust if their cards totalled over 7 ½. In the late 1500s, another counting game appeared in Spain called One-and-thirty which included three cards being handed out and the rest being community cards. A number of French games also used reaching a certain total in order to win and these included Quinze, Trente-et-quarante and Vingt-et-un.

Vingt-et-un was considered to be the closest game to modern day blackjack and arrived on American shores in the late 1800s. The game’s first official mention was in the “American Hoyle” in 1875 and in “Forster’s Hoyle” in 1905. Blackjack began as a private leisure activity but by the 1910s was appearing in gambling parlors around the country. The game’s appearance did not create as much hype as the gaming proprietors had hoped so they began attracting players to the tables with bonus schemes and high payouts.

In the late 1800s and early 1900s there was no legislation on gambling, so games like blackjack spread like wildfire. In 1910, the government decided that gambling was a bad influence on society and made all forms of betting and gambling illegal. Organized criminal units took over the gambling world and the industry became corrupt. For about 20 years, the image of gambling in the United States suffered and finally, after the need for a financial boost in the 1930s, gambling was re-legalized in Nevada. Blackjack could once again be played in the open.

Blackjack was especially popular due to its flexibility and many professional gamblers began realizing the game’s manipulation ability. The infamous practice of card-counting was born which allowed players to attempt to track the ration of high cards to low cards in the pack. The logic behind card counting is that high cards are considered good for the player, while low cards are good for the dealer. In 1962, Edward Thorpe published his famous book “Beat the Dealer” which included techniques for optimal blackjack play and card counting theories.

As card counting became a real threat to casinos’ profits, technological developments helped the gambling establishments fight the practice. Tracking devices, cameras, advanced shuffling machines and covert gambling employees helped casinos clamp down on the annoying practice of card counting.

The online casino industry has taken blackjack to new heights. The same technological advancements which helped fight card counting also facilitated the boom of online gambling. Blackjack became one of the most popular online games due to the fact that it required both skill and luck, minimal human contact and was quick to play. There are hundreds of online casinos that focus solely on blackjack and a player has a wealth of sites to choose from.

The latest chapter in blackjack’s history is the very recent launch of multiplayer blackjack tournaments online. These tournaments have transformed blackjack from a game between only the player and the dealer into a fully-integrated tournament showdown between live players. As is customary in the poker world, blackjack players can now logon and find a blackjack game that suits their level and battle it out against other like-minded players. This new trend is an exciting development in blackjack’s dynamic history, but will certainly not be the last change this great game undergoes.