casino winner :: history of blackjack
All card games have unique history that rolls down the centuries beyond the days of history itself, unfortunately not always can historians and researchers discover the full trace of a game, such is the case of blackjack, which eludes scholars till these days.
Today it is commonly agreed that the first roots of blackjack appeared during the 17th century in France, where a game called Vingt En Un was played in French casinos. The name Vingt-en-Un means "21" in French, which evidently was not the first ancestor of blackjack, but it's clear that blackjack did originated from it thought the blackjack rules do not resemble it in all aspects.
At that time a game called Seven and a Half was played in Italy. In this card game, which was played with face cards and the 7's, 8's and 9's cards, your goal was to reach a hand of seven and a half points. Regular cards (7's, 8's and 9's) were valued as one point while face cards valued half a point. The King of Diamonds could substitute any card, like a Joker card and it was basically a wild card. When players exceeded seven and a half points they were "busted". It is believed that the term "bust" of blackjack derived from "Seven and a Half".
When 21 was first introduced in the United States it was not very popular, so gambling houses tried offering various bonus payouts to get the players to the tables. One such bonus was a 10-to-1 payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black Jack (either the Jack of clubs or the Jack of spades). This hand was called a "blackjack" and the name stuck to the game even though the bonus payout was soon abolished. As the game is currently played, a "blackjack" may not necessarily contain a jack or any black cards at all.
Another strong point of turn in the history of blackjack was after the French Revolution the game migrated to North America; there it gained much popularity since no laws prohibited card games during that time. Professional gambler understood the huge potential that lays dormant in the, and soon they developed the blackjack basic strategy for improving their winning odds. The game had started to gain popularity as in the beginning of the 19th century the government of the US had banned and outlawed gambling activities. The US government believed that gambling corrupted society and encouraged organized crime.