Blackjack has a mysterious history. No one is sure where the game originated from. The earliest references to the game are as far back as the 1600s. The French, Spanish and Italians all have games very similar to modern day Blackjack.
In 1602 Miguel Cervantes wrote a short story featuring a gambler who was proficient at cheating at Ventiuna, a card game detailed in the story where the goal is to reach 21 points without going over. The ace is valued at both 1 and 11. The game is very similar to modern Blackjack, however Ventiuna is played without 8s, 9s or 10s in the deck.
The French are typically credited with inventing the game of Blackjack. Vingt en Un in French translates to “21”. Like Ventiuna and Blackjack,Vingt en Un has the ultimate goal of reaching 21 points without going over. In Vingt en Un, the dealer was allowed to double, and the cards were dealt in rounds with betting between each round, much like poker. If the dealer hit a natural 21, the players had to pay triple.
Regardless of where Blackjack originated, it found its way into American gambling halls around 1900. The game did not meet great popularity, and casinos offered bonus payouts to entice players to try the new game. These bonuses didn't stay around long, but they forever impacted the game. A 10 to 1 bonus was paid out on a hand that consisted of the Ace of Spades, and a Black Jack. This hand was informally called Blackjack, and the name stuck. In modern versions of the game a Blackjack is any hand with an Ace and a face card, or an Ace and a ten.
Blackjack has long been subject to card counting, and casinos continue to battle against unsavoury methods. From the 1960's Edward Thorpe's book detailing methods to beat dealers, and the books written by Ken Uston that outlined how he earned thousands of dollars a month playing blackjack there have been gamblers trying to beat the house. Millions of dollars were made by the 1990's MIT students, a group of card counting professional gamblers who beat the system only served to boost the popularity and appeal of a card game so accessible to the masses. With a good counting system, players can not only lessen the house edge but nearly guarantee profits.
There's a number of different versions of Blackjack available in both casinos and and online gambling websites. The popularity of this game is not only because of the friendly odds, but there is a great variety of types of Blackjack games players can play. With the advent of internet gambling blackjack has become an even more popular game.
Blackjack offers the thrill of gambling with the fun of card games, but it is a very simple game at heart. There are only a few choices in the most basic version of the game and as long as you can count to 21 you can play. The simplicity of this game only makes it easier to have a wide variety of styles of the game, all slightly different but at heart all the same game.
Blackjack and blackjack tournaments are highly popular on internet casinos, and can be found alongside Poker as one of the most popular card games today. With many online casinos offering free bonuses and deposit promotions, a player with a good system playing a reputable site has the opportunity to make a good profit.
