The History of Blackjack

By: Gene Marshall
Submitted: 2008-05-01 23:21:15
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Blackjack is one of the most popular card games in modern times but have you ever wondered where this gambling game originated? The history of the blackjack game is certainly a long and interesting one.

The game of blackjack can be traced back to 17th century France where a popular card game was played known as Vingt et Un. Vingt et Un means twenty-one in French. The game of Vingt et Un had very similar rules to modern day casino blackjack rules but did differ slightly. For instance, in Vingt et Un only the dealer could double and, additionally, players had to bet after each round of the game.

After the French Revolution the game was introduced to North America where it was known simply as Twenty-One. The game of Twenty-One took awhile to catch on, however. It was not until casinos started to offer huge payouts for the game that it became popular and people actually began to play blackjack. In order to draw gamblers to the game betting rooms offered mega-payouts on specific hands including the Blackjack hand which was a 2-card, 21-point hand made up of the Ace of Spades and a Black Jack. The Blackjack hand had a 10:1 payout and brought a huge amount of popularity to the game and people started referring to the game of Twenty-One by its modern day name of Blackjack.

Then, in the beginning of the 19th century, something happened that could have destroyed the game of 21 blackjack. The United States banned gambling and all of the casinos and gambling rooms were shut down. However, the game of blackjack gambling and other gambling games wouldn’t be stopped that easily. Blackjack betting went underground where it continued to be played in the backrooms of saloons and in private homes. Then, in 1931 Nevada decided to legalize gambling and blackjack was returned to the public in Las Vegas casinos.

As blackjack has grown so has the knowledge of blackjack strategy. Players have studied blackjack odds and learned how to maximize their chances of winning making the game even more popular.

In the last few years the game of blackjack has become even more popular since it was made available for Internet play. Online casino blackjack gives players all over the world the ability to play blackjack for money, even if they don’t live near a live casino. Twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week you can get online to play blackjack alongside millions of other players from all across the globe. Online blackjack also offers free blackjack games for players that enjoy playing the game of blackjack for fun or as a means to practice, work on blackjack strategy techniques and improve at the game of blackjack.

As you can see, the game of blackjack has been through a lot and come a long way from the 17th century French game of Vingt et Un. Playing blackjack is like holding a little piece of history in your hands.

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