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Blackjack History

The origins of casino card gaming is shrouded in myth and controversy with legends down the years of exactly where many casino games were invented, and furthermore, whether they have more than one origin. Blackjack is no different, and it’s quite possible the game we play in web casinos today, is a melting pot of many games over thousands of years.

However, most blackjack historians tend to agree that that blackjack has definite Gallic roots, particularly in the game of Vingt En Un played in French casinos during the 17th century. However, while modern blackjack emerged from ‘21’, the roots of Vingt En Un are equally shrouded in mystery.

What’s known for sure is that Blackjack is an English conception based on Vingt En Un’s jackpot feature – a combination of a Jack and Ace of Spades.

While the key concept of the ‘blackjack’ seems to have French origins, there’s no doubt that other aspects are derived from other parts of Europe.

While the French were busy playing 21, over in Italy they were going mad for a game called Seven and a Half – with the basic aim of using face cards, 7’s, 8’s and 9’s to score 7.5. Within the game, 7’s, 8’s and 9’s had a value of one, while the face cards contained the vital half a point (there was also a cool wild card, fronted by the King of Diamonds). And where did blackjack get the concept of going bust from – from going over 7.5 of course!

While online blackjack gamers clearly have a European influence to thank for one of the worlds hottest card games – there’s no doubt the American influence took the game’s popularity and fame to new levels. In-fact, following the French Revolution, migrants took blackjack to the Americans, where lax gambling laws enabled the game to flourish. In addition, blackjack was one of the first games to be monopolised by professional gamblers, (even beating roulette) who quickly devised killer blackjack strategies, such as infamous card counting.

Unfortunately, blackjack’s mainstream rise to fame took a battering when the US government banned the game – but nevertheless underground blackjack flourished like never before and its fame was all the more special due to its elicit nature. By the 1930’s, the pressure to relent was too great and gambling was legalised, giving rise to the spiritual home of blackjack – Las Vegas!

Blackjack’s incredible fame has been driven by the capacity for casino players to use genuine skill and strategy to get an edge over the casino – a fact first publicly published by Roger Baldwin in the 1950’s, in his book, Optimum Strategy in Blackjack, specifically designed to help gamers remove the house edge. The next progression was the revelation of card counting systems by Edward thorp, in his 1962 ‘Beat the Dealer’ bestseller – sending casino bosses red with anger!

Thorps revelations sent blackjack’s popularity through the roof, and while his systems weren’t easy for average gamers to grasp, they ignited a fervent interest in casino card games – and blackjack soon became the ultimate star of the tables in Las Vegas.

For many people, the hero of blackjack is Ken Uston – a Robin Hood of the casino world. Uston published infamous books called ‘Million Dollar Blackjack’ and ‘The Big Player’. While Uston became loved by the man on the street, the casinos hated him for using secret computers to count cards while raking cash from many big Vegas Casinos – all totally legally (at the time). Furthermore, Uston’s legacy was a nightmare for the casino, with hundreds of professional gamers developing red hot skills from his amazing books. Perhaps the biggest coup of all time was performed by a group of highly sophisticated MIT students, who took millions from casinos before they were discovered card counting by private investigators.

Blackjack is the one game that can send shivers down the spin of the online casino – and wherever its true origins lie, we’re all very grateful.