Blackjack History

Blackjack history is not something that most players know anything about, so knowing just a little history will put you a few steps in front of the rest of the pack. In this article we provide an overview of how the game originated and how the game got its name.

Blackjack probably originated from other French card games such as “chemin de fer” and “French Ferme”. It first appeared in French casinos around 1700 where it was called “vingt-et-un” (“21”) and has been played in the U.S. since the 1800’s. The name came from one of the original rules in which a player would be additionally remunerated if he or she received a Jack of Spades and Ace of Spades (both black cards).

This rule remained almost untouched until the 1950’s when Roger Baldwin wrote a paper in the Journal of the American Statistical Association titled “The Optimum Strategy in BlackJack” . The upshot of the article, and a subsequent paper by Prof. Edward Thorp in 1962, which refined the ideas into the ‘card counting' techniques he is famous for, was a change in rules by the casinos in order to increase their margins.

Each casino brought in its own set of rules, and for a short while it looked like blackjack history was changed forever. Because the new rules were less advantageous to the players, lots of them protested and stopped playing altogether. This put a great deal of pressure on the casino and they were forced to revert to the original (beatable) rules in order to stay in business. Fortunately for the casinos, card counting is quite difficult to master, so most players have not pursued Ed Thorp’s ideas.

Mark Pilarski adds his take on American Blackjack History...

When Blackjack was first introduced in America, it wasn’t very popular, so in order to attract players, gambling houses of ill repute tried gimmick bonuses and payouts. One such reward was a 10-to-1 payoff if the player held the Ace of spades and any black Jack, hence the name Blackjack, American style. The name “Blackjack” stuck, even though the bonus payoffs were eventually eliminated.

Blackjack was still not as popular as either Craps or Roulette, so to stimulate interest, casino operators offered a 3 to 2 payoff for any two-card count of 21, and a 10-to-1 payout if the 21 consisted of the ace of spades and either the Jack of spades or Jack of clubs. Eventually the 10-to-1 payout was once again eliminated but the 3 to 2 payoff and the term “21” remained as an alternative name for the game.

In 1919, tables manufactured in Chicago with the “Blackjack Pays Odds of 3 to 2” motto began appearing in illegal gambling joints throughout America. Then, once gambling was legalised in Nevada in 1931, the popularity of Blackjack grew to its number one table-game-status that it still holds today.

And there you have it: blackjack history in a nutshell! See also BJ history at Wiki

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