The History and Evolution of Blackjack
History of Blackjack
It is generally agreed upon by gambling historians that the French invented blackjack. Indeed, a game called "21" was played in the 1700s in France. But although the names are the same, the French game was played differently. To win the game, one had to have a hand total of 21, just like in modern blackjack. But the cards were dealt in rounds with a betting phase after each round, like in poker. Only the dealer had the option of doubling down. If the dealer had a natural 21, the player must pay him 3 to 1.
Another card game that may have influenced the development of blackjack was an old Italian game called "7 1/2." This card game utilized only the cards 8, 9, 10 and court cards. The court cards bore the value of one half. The king of diamonds was wild. Its resemblance to blackjack lies in the "bust" feature. A player automatically lost if their hand score exceeded 7 1/2.
Clearly the romantic languages had a love affair with blackjack. The Spaniards played known as "1 and 30." The objective was to make a hand total of 31 and three cards were dealt per hand instead of two.
In the 1800s, the French 21 came to American shores where it earned a cold reception. To attract more players, casinos offered a special bonus payout: the blackjack. If a player was dealt a jack of spades and an ace of spades for a starting hand, they won a special 10 to 1 payout. Some casinos also accepted the jack of clubs for a blackjack.
Today, a natural or blackjack can be any combination of an ace and ten-valued card. The name blackjack applies regardless of the color of the cards. A blackjack today typically pays out 3 to 2.
Evolution of Blackjack Strategies
Blackjack is a game of mathematics. Because of the way the game works, it is possible for the player tog gain an upper hand over the house by using math-based strategies. These strategies include hand-by-hand plays and card tracking methods.
Basic strategy is a hand-by-hand guide. It is a complete strategy that tells a player how to play every possible hand depending on what the dealer's up card is. Such strategy guides are openly known and permitted by the casinos. They reduce the house edge but do not remove it.
Edward Thorp, a professor and lecturer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, was responsible for introducing card counting to the masses. The infamous MIT Blackjack Team also came from the university where he worked. Card counting gives the player a 1-2% over the casino.
Ken Uston was another successful card counter who won a fortune with card counting before he was banned from casinos. (Happily for him and others, a court decision allowed card counters to play in Atlantic City at least.)
Stanford Wong followed Edward Thorp. He is known as the Godfather of Blackjack and is now in the Blackjack Hall of Fame. When the first Continuous Shuffling Machines came into use, Wong was one of the first card counters to beat them.
More recently, people have developed shuffle tracking. It is an advanced strategy harder to learn than card counting, but also more profitable.
This is a summary of blackjack history and evolution of blackjack techniques. Advantage players are constantly developing new strategies. Of course, the casinos do their best to keep up with them and the war goes on. No matter who has the advantage, blackjack will continue to be a popular and enjoyable game worldwide.