The History of Blackjack
It is said that blackjack first came from France in the 18th century and was called the vingt-et-un game, which means twenty-one. Even up to now, some countries like the United Kingdom still call blackjack twenty-one or pontoon.
Blackjack landed in American soil at around the 1800s. Despite the presence of anti-gambling policies at that time, blackjack was still being played. It was only in 1931 and 1978 did casino gambling became legalized in Nevada and Atlantic City in New Jersey respectively. Through the years, more and more states legalized casino gambling and with it, the play of card games such as blackjack.
Only in 1956 did blackjack players started to review the blackjack rules, process, cards shown and the table itself that led to the development of modern day basic strategies and card counting. It was around 1960s when the players learned of the basic blackjack strategy. The same time the industry of blackjack casino games boomed and earned greater profit.
Roger Baldwin published an article entitled "The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack" in the Journal of The American Statistical Association in 1956. He was the first who used applied mathematics in calculating the chances of winning in blackjack.
In 1962, Professor Edward O. Thorp published the book, Beat the Dealer, which further developed basic strategies and the strategy of card counting. Needless to say, the book became an instant hit.
Due to the fame of Thorp’s book, a number of casinos were forced to change the rules of blackjack that gave the gambling houses a greater advantage. This was followed by protests of players that boycotted these casinos thus effectively shifting the rules back to their original form.
The 1970s marked a new era for blackjack playing. The introduction of computers enabled the simulation of millions of blackjack hands consequently increasing the sophistication of game strategies. Because of this development and the birth of many more books about using statistics and mathematics to predict blackjack, casinos feared a loss of profits thus introducing the “shoe” or the use of two to eight decks of cards per game.
The internet also brought blackjack and casino playing to greater heights. It enabled the player to play at home minimizing both travel and playing time to a fraction of what it traditionally was. It also enabled basic strategy applications to be easier for players.
Despite all of these developments, blackjack remains a difficult game to play. Even in the presence of all these strategies, players can still win or lose at each hand. The important thing is that blackjack is still one of America’s favorite casino card games.
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