Blackjack is one of the most popular and easily recognized card games in the world today. A favorite at casinos across the globe, blackjack's history has been attributed to a variety of similar games that date back hundreds of years.
The ancient Chinese were known to have played card-like games using paper money and card games spread across the East and to Europe throughout the first millennium. During the middle ages various card games were played and the four suits of spades, diamonds, clubs and hearts originated in France during the fifteenth century. At about that time Italian gamblers were challenging each other to a game called Seven-and-a-Half. This game used only eights, nines, tens, and face cards for half points to score seven and a half. In the following century, Spanish gamers favored one-and-thirty a game in which players tried to score 31 using a combination of their dealt cards and community cards. Both these games had very different rules to the blackjack of today but certainly they give us the first hints of what was to come.
By the 1800s casino mania was gripping Europe and kings, princes, dukes and their mistresses flocked to the tables. French casinos popularized Quinze in which the aim of the game was to score 15. Another game Trente-et-Quarante that sets the card goal at 31 also became popular at that time and is still played today. Both these games reached the shores of England were they enjoyed
However it is in the game Vingt-Un (21) that we find the clearest forefather to Blackjack. In this game cards were dealt in rounds with accompanying betting as opposed to the –up-front wager in modern blackjack. The game crossed the Atlantic in the late 1800s to the United States but at first it met with little success. For American gamblers poker was the game to play and they shunned the European card game. Not to be outdone, casino owners sought to generate interest by offering bonuses for special winning hands. In particular, there was the ‘blackjack' a ten to one payout for a hand that comprised the ace of spades and either or the black jacks. The ploy worked and by the 1930s blackjack tables were drawing the crowds. Eventually casino owners dropped the blackjack bonus but the name stuck and the game has remained a firm favorite ever since.
During the 1960s, blackjack was given a further boost when the first probability theories were developed about the game. These theories showed the best strategies to play depending on the player's hand and the displayed dealer's card. In addition ‘card counting' was explored and for the past forty years various players have demonstrated how the correct strategy together with practiced skill can tip the odds in favor of the player. The knowledge that blackjack is not just a matter of fate but that skill and experience can really make a difference has inspired generations of gamblers ever since.
As online casinos developed blackjack was quickly added to the games available and today online blackjack is one of the biggest and widely played gambling game on the Internet.
