History of blackjack

History of blackjack

Blackjack is today one of the most popular card entertainment and is available in almost all online casinos. Blackjack has been played for centuries and has become popular almost everywhere in the world. It is a game that requires mathematical knowledge, luck and determination. It’s this unusual combination of necessary player qualities that has made blackjack popular. In this article we will tell you about History of blackjack.

How Blackjack came to be

Most historians believe that blackjack originated in the seventeenth century in Europe. It is believed that French players sat in the salons of noble lords and played “vingt-et-un”, which means “twenty-one” in French. At the same time, the legendary Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes, creator of the iconic characters Don Quixote and Sancho Panza, wrote the story of a great blackjack cheat and his friend who were well versed in the game “veintiuna” (translated from Spanish as “twenty-one”). In Italy there was also a similar game, “sette e mezzo” (Italian for “seven and a half”), which came into vogue among the Italian nobility.

In all of these games, the general rule of blackjack game (still in effect today) was that if a player was dealt more than 21 points, he lost. The winner was the one who had the most cards and did not exceed 21. You can play blackjack today both in a real and in a virtual casino.

Hello from Las Vegas!

Like many modern card games, Blackjack was brought to America by immigrants. At this time, entertainment such as blackjack, poker, and faro was gaining popularity, which is why the enterprising players moved west.

In 1931, a small Nevada town desperate for income during the Great Depression became fertile ground for the cultivation of blackjack, making the game of chance legal. And the small town became the forerunner of today’s casinos. The forerunner city was Las Vegas, and the card game that attracted most casino players was blackjack. In fact, the name blackjack came from a rule that allowed players to win back their bet tenfold if their first two cards that came up were an ace and a jack of spades.

History of Blackjack – Card Counting Methods

In 1962 a young mathematician named Edward Thorpe used a primitive computer to analyze typical blackjack hand distributions. Using his research and computer modeling, he developed a method which is now called a basic blackjack strategy and became one of the most prominent figures in modern blackjack history. He introduced the idea of card counting in blackjack, which could be used to keep track of which cards were already out and, after analyzing the options, decide how to dispose of his bets.

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