The History of Blackjack
Blackjack is said to have originated in France and was called “Vingt Et Un” which means “21” in french. Although it is not entirely confirmed, this is the earliest traces of the game played today. Dating back as early as the 17th century “Vingt Et Un” appears in a book written by Miguel de Cervantes titled, Don Quixote. Within the pages two main characters are gambling cheaters working the town of Seville and tells of them playing a game with the object being to reach 21 points without going over and the Ace values 1 or 11. The short story was written between 1601 and 1602 so this is considered the earliest confirmed recognition of the game’s origin.
When the game made it to the United States it was not very popular at all, nor was it known as Blackjack. The “21” table was often pushed into a corner and not many played it. Casinos, or gambling houses at the time, tried to get more people interested in playing by offering various payout bonuses. One such bonus was a 10 to 1 payout if the player’s hand consisted of a black jack and the ace of spades, the hand was called “blackjack” and the name stuck in spite of the payout eventually being abolished. Since its early days of not being understood, the game of blackjack has become very popular and is actually now one of the most popular games in modern casinos. Its widespread popularity is said to have begun with the prospect having a mathematical advantage over the house.
Roger Baldwin wrote the first paper introducing a mathematical theory to winning blackjack. Titled “Tho Optimum Strategy in Blackjack”, which was published in 1956 by the Journal of the American Statistical Association. Baldwin’s paper consisted of mostly mathematics and discussed probability, calculators, and statistics showing methods of gaining an edge over the house. In 1963, Prof. Edward O. Thorp had his book “Beat The Dealer” published, which is said to be the first known introduction to the tactics of card counting. Being a national best seller, the books popularity eventually dubbed Thorp as the “Einstein of Blackjack” and caused casinos to take steps in rearranging the odds to once again favor the house. Around this time is when automatic card shuffling machines and multiple deck blackjack games were introduced. Truthfully though, Thorps version of counting cards was quite difficult to learn and did not pose as much of a threat to the casinos as they thought, it is possible the house ended up losing more in modifying the rules so drastically and causing an uproar in the players of the game then if players would have been left to attempt implementing the theory.
Overall, blackjack is by far one of the most popular card games played today. Perhaps its the simplistic nature of it that makes it so attractive. In reality, even if you were to learn Thorp’s card counting theory in depth, even mastered it, you could only gain a 44% probability of winning at best. Card counting and blackjack will be around for years to come but it is wise to recognize the fact that you can only become a better player through hard work and steadfast effort in playing. See you at the tables.
