| | |  | | | | Blackjack History
The history of blackjack is somewhat unclear; however the generally accepted thought is that it evolved out of other French games such as chemin de fer and French Ferme. Blackjack originated in French casinos around the 1700's where it was called vingt-et-un (twenty-and-one) and has been in United States since the 1800's. The name blackjack came from an early bet (since discontinued) that paid 10 to 1 if the player got a jack of spades and an ace of spades, both black cards, as the first two cards.
In the late 1950's and the 1960's mathematical information was published that showed sophisticated gamblers how they could play nearly even with the house and perhaps gain a slight edge. One of these books became so popular that it made the New York Times bestseller list. This information sparked the interest of the public and made it the number one table game in the U.S. in the 1960's as it has remained right into the new millennium. The casinos made a bundle from the games newly gained popularity and all of the media attention it generated.
It is widely believed that Blackjack as we know it today originated in France. The first recorded mentioning of this game is found as "vingt-et-un" (twenty and one) in the seventeenth century. Just like with the rest of games we do not know precise origin of Blackjack and there are only guesses left as to what is the true beginning of this excellent game. Blackjack is thought to have descended from other alike French games but as the gambling games are built upon precise and well balanced calculations, this is very unlikely. Casino games seldom mutate one into another all on their own.
Blackjack is a very popular card game in Russia, where it's traditionally called "21" or "Ochko" ("the hole"). The game is not just played in fashionable casino but is also very popular among the folk, who play it passionately. Other known names for Blackjack are "pontoon" and "California Aces". The English name "Blackjack" comes from the original French game where a played was rewarded to draw a Jack of spades and an Ace of spades as the first two cards. The first card to draw was Jack and spades is black, hence the name Blackjack.
Soon after the French revolution, Blackjack hit the United States and rapidly became popular because of its flexibility and freedom. Professional gamblers realized soon that Blackjack is a wonderful playing field for manipulating the odds and bets. Without government regulation, gambling was flourishing and provided a fine ground for this unique game until almost the beginning of nineteenth century which is when the government of United States realized that uncontrolled, gambling industry was leading to corruption and encouraged organized crime. The State of Nevada written gambling into law as a crime in 1910, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating for decent players while the industry went largely underground and became criminalized, together with other ridiculous conducts of the government forming the very core of gangsters as we know them today. Eventually things went so horribly bad that the Nevada authorities finally got a clue, and the gambling was legalized, along with creation of laws that protect the players and overseeing bodies in the government.
As the Las Vegas was reborn, Blackjack spread like wildfire throughout the casinos, momentarily winning the hearts and the minds of the players. As all other states were conservative and did not seek to rehabilitate the casino gambling, Las Vegas quickly became the gambling center of United states. Extremely reluctant to legalize casino gambling, illegal and underground casinos were not and will never be competition to Nevada even though there are few other places in US where gambling is legal. |
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