History of Blackjack

It is hard to determine the exact whereabouts of Blackjack’s origin. The birth of Blackjack is credited to games such as the Spanish “one-and-thirty”, French “chemin de fer” and the Italian “seven-and-a-half”. Seven-and-a-half was a game in which the total pip count of the hand had to be the closest to 7 ½, without exceeding it. The term used when the permissible total was exceeded was the same one used today in blackjack – “busted”.

Today most scholars agree that the first trace of Blackjack could be found in its most probable ancestor “vingt-et-un”. This game was played in French casinos in the 1700’s and is literally translated as “twenty-and-one”. Vingt-et-Un had slightly different rules, although the basic goal of the game was to have the highest hand without exceeding a total of 21 - same as Blackjack. The early French version of the game differed by the fact that cards were dealt in rounds, each one followed by betting and the only one who could “double” was dealer. If the dealer scored a "natural" he received a payout of 3-to-1.

Vingt-et-Un traveled to the US in the early 1800’s, although it didn’t reach casinos until the end of the century. The game was not very well embraced at first and casinos tried to attract gamblers by offering bonus payouts such as 10-to-1 for a natural, consisted of Ace of spades with any of the two black Jacks, which was the strongest hand in Vingt-et-Un and is actually where the English name of Blackjack came from. With the game gaining popularity, such odds were eliminated, as today the payout for a “blackjack”, which could be consisted of an Ace and any 10-value card, is 3-to-2.

Although the origins of Blackjack are not as clear, the one thing certain is its popularity. The game is being played all around the globe, holding a top place among casino games in the US. With the combination of a required skill along with chance and the fact that it is the only game where the advantage of the casino could be beaten by the player, Blackjack has even conquered the internet, as the interest in playing the game on online casinos continues to grow.