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Blackjack started in France around the 17th century under the name 'Vingt-Et-Un', which means '21' in French. The aim of Vingt et Un was to obtain a card total of twenty-one or a card total as close as possible to twenty-one without going over. A hand with a card total exceeding twenty-one was a "bust" (i.e. loss).
In 1931 casino gambling was legalized in Nevada, Las Vegas, and Blackjack was the featured game of chance at most of the casinos. The object of the game was to get a hand consisting of an Ace of Spades and a Jack of Spades; the Spades signifying “Black” and the Jack signifying “Jack” in the name. Special odds were offered to Players who received an authentic Blackjack hand. Other Blackjack hands were also accepted (i.e. Ace and a Face Card; Ace and a 10-card) and cards totalling 21 even if they did not contain an Ace (referred to as Hard Hands) was also a winner. In 1953 Roger Baldwin wrote a paper entitled “The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack” in which he applied Mathematics to Blackjack. Then in 1962, Professor Edward O. Thorpe refined Baldwin’s strategy and developed the first card counting techniques. The father of Blackjack card counting, as he was sometimes referred to, outlined these strategies in his book entitled “Beat the Dealer”, which remained on the New York Times’ best sellers list for one whole week in 1963.
The introduction of “Beat the Dealer” was both a nemesis and a friend to the land-based casinos. It forced the casinos to change their rules to make it more difficult for the Players to win. The Players, however, rebelled against the new Blackjack rules by not patronizing the casinos as much. This ultimately forced the casinos to revert back to the original rules. All the fuss ignited a media frenzy and soared the popularity of the game to new heights. Blackjack lovers flocked to the casinos again and within months their profits began steadily rising.
During that decade, Julian Braun, an IBM programmer, further developed Thorpe’s book in a second edition, which improved upon the calculations and strategies. His results were published in a 1966 revised edition to “Beat the Dealer”. Thorpe acknowledged Braun’s contributions, which were both simpler and more accurate, and publicly announced: “Braun's detailed blackjack calculations, based on his extensions and refinements of my original computer program, are the most accurate in existence, and he has kindly allowed them to be used throughout this revised edition.” During a four-year period, Braun created the Hi-Lo Blackjack strategies and the Basic Strategy. In 1980 Braun published his own book “How to Play Winning Blackjack” in which he outlined Optimal Strategy and gave advice on how to play Blackjack by providing colour-coded charts to help guide the Player through every possible situation that could arise in a Blackjack game.
In 1977, Ken Uston and his team of Blackjack Players won over a hundred thousand dollars playing Blackjack and using computers built into the shoes of his Players. They were banned from a series of casinos until Ken won a judgement against the casinos that card counting was not cheating and a casino couldn’t ban a person for counting cards. Uston published his own book “Million Dollar Blackjack” in 1981 following Peter A. Griffin’s publication entitled “The Theory of Blackjack”. The latter book uses the mathematics of Blackjack and discusses card counting for single and multiple decks, the consequences of card counting errors, and rule variations.
The biggest breakthrough in Blackjack came during the 1990s when online Blackjack was developed. No longer did Blackjack Players need to get dressed and drive to Las Vegas or the nearest land-based casinos. Players could bet with and win real money playing on a computer and in the comfort of their own home. This appealed to many a Blackjack lover who no longer had to tolerate the noisy casino crowds and the fast pace of the wagers. Now, they could control the pace of the game and, as well, there was no peer pressure to bet higher than normal. Today, all online casinos offer the option to play for free so Players can hone their Blackjack skills before playing for real money. Whether you Play for Fun or Play for Real, the game of Blackjack still remains as fascinating and exciting as Vingt et Un back in the 1800s.
If Blackjack interests you, then so might the phenomenol game of
Poker; such as bluffing techniques, rakeback, variations, and strategy.
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