Blackjack History - Make a Trip to Discover It!

Blackjack history is a must-know for every gambler who considers him/herself being a real blackjack admirer: when you know the origins of the game and the way how it developed during a long period of time it becomes easier for you to understand its main principles and feel the spirit of the game better.

Blackjack casino game is among the most popular games in the modern gambling world: thanks to French colonists, blackjack came to the USA in the 18th century where it started its journey through years in order to become the noblest casino game ever.

France or Italy?

Two countries aspire to be called the motherland of blackjack game: France and Italy; the matter is that both these countries had games in the 17th century which could be easily considered as the blackjack's predecessor: it was French Vingt Et Un and Italian Seven and Half.

Vingt Et Un

This card game was very popular among the French aristocracy in the 17th century and it had a lot in common with the modern blackjack: the objective was to get 21 points and beat a dealer (Vingt Et Un means Twenty One in French); certainly, some differences were present but they were not significant. For example, only a dealer had a right to double; moreover, if a dealer got a Natural, gamblers should pay him triple. An Ace was counted as 1 or 11, as well as we see it at blackjack today.

Vingt Et Un is considered to be the true blackjack's predecessor because of all these similarities.

Seven and a Half

This Italian game of the 17th century also had some common features with modern blackjack though the objective of the game and card values were completely different: 8's, 9's and 10's were absent in a deck, an Aces were counted as 1 and face cards were counted as 0,5; the objective was to get 7,5 without busting. The interesting fact concerning Seven and a Half was that a dealer had a right to hit or stand when s/he wanted.

America

Blackjack game had come to America after the French Revolution of 1789; it became popular at once and found a lot of admirers among American gamblers of that time. They had quickly understood that blackjack could be a great source of big money thanks to the fact there were no government regulations for gambling; as a result, corruption and crime were developed in gambling sphere, and this fact forced the government to prohibit gambling. Blackjack had become the illegal game.

The modern history of blackjack started in 1931 in Nevada where gambling was legalized in casinos: gamblers from all over the world came to Las Vegas in order to play their favorite casino game; moreover, the attempts to explain blackjack game from the mathematical point of view began to appear.

The game got a new wave of popularity in 1962 when the book of Edward Thorp Beat the Dealer was published: the author explained how it was possible to beat blackjack with the help of card counting strategy.

Today a lot of various blackjack games exist; online blackjack becomes more and more popular among players: some of them also prefer taking part in various blackjack tournaments (both land-based and online) in order to improve skills and prove the fact of being the best blackjack gambler ever.