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The history of Blackjack
According to many exerts, the history of blackjack originates in 17th century France. We find traces of a similar game called "
vingt et en" (21) that could definitely be the sources for what we know today as blackjack More games that can be traced
back to that time are Baccarat and "seven and a half".
As with money other similar games, blackjack history is rather vague but we will try to give as many known facts as possible.
The name "blackjack" dates back to France where there was a reward for drawing Jack / Ace of spades. As Spades are black the
English name evolved to be "Blackjack".
Following the French revolution, the game crossed the Atlantic and arrived in North America. Being a rather risk controlled
game blackjack became extremely popular and drew in the pro "gamblers".
Around 1910 the Nevada officials were worried about the increase in Blackjack parlors and uncontrolled gambling in general was leading
to organized crime formations and corruption. So yet again blackjack history had a twist when the state of Nevada decreed blackjack
and all forms of gambling in its territory illegal. This act led in turn even faster formation of organized crime which quickly
led the government to allow gambling within the state of Nevada.
Casinos where being built and blackjack was spreading and becoming
ever so popular throughout the whole state. Las Vegas and its casinos were flourishing and blackjack was leading the pack
in being the most popular game of them all. Yet again , blackjack history was made, it begin its second huge leap.
Throughout its history, blackjack has always been a popular topic for scientific and mathematical discussion. The first real
publication in blackjack history must have been Roger Baldwin's paper, ""The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack". Published in the American statistical association’s
journal, Baldwin's paper showed how using Probability and statistical tools, players can lower the "house edge" in blackjack and change the odds in their favor.
The next important point in Blackjack history was Professor Edward Thorp's 1962 book "Beat the Dealer" in which he refined the mathematical edge idea even more.
The book's consequences were quite extraordinary and changed blackjack history. As too many players were winning by using the systems, although the system was NOT
written in layman’s terms many casinos reported enormous loss in profit ,
leading in turn to several policy changes.
Casinos began using many decks, shuffling machines and so on. Anything to lead them back to what was in casino
operator’s eyes , "acceptable payouts".
Several more people that had an influence on blackjack history :
Julian Braun, an IBM employee that using extremely complicated software code( for the time) came up with many new techniques for card counting and blackjack strategies.
Stanford Wong - writer of the best seller ""Professional Blackjack", became what many people believe to be the number one "Guru" in blackjack history.
Ken Uston - During the 70's , Ken Uston and a group of collogues traveled around between casinos using micro computers with card counting simulators and blackjack strategy
engines hidden in their shoes.
Using technology ,team work and a detailed understanding of how casinos work, Uston and his team managed to won extremely big amounts of money
fast.
He later on published his best selling books "Million dollar Blackjack" and "Ken Uston on Blackjack". The first reviews basic blackjack strategy methods, the second
being more a fictions review of how Ken Uston sees the world of casino blackjack. Both books had a deep influence on the history of Blackjack, promoting many people
to learn and improve their blackjack skills.
This page will be updated with various Blackjack variations, we also recommend other Blackjack resources such as this
Online Gambling Guide.
More Blackjack Resources
Blackjack Rules
Best Online Casinos
Blackjack Tips
Blackjack variations
Blackjack money management
Click here to go to our main Blackjack page
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