History of Blackjack

Gambling with playing cards spread steadily throughout Europe after Johann Gutenberg printed the first deck of cards in Germany in 1440, and many of the games involved drawing cards to reach a certain total. Although the exact relationship remains obscure, blackjack is believed to have evolved from several of these early games. Baccarat, with the magic number of 9, appeared in Italy about 1490, followed by the game of "seven and a half," which seems to be the first game where the player automatically lost if he went over the desired number.

The game of "one and thirty" was first played sometime before 1570 in Spain, and the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Queensbury, and Prime Minister Disraeli all played quince (15) in Crock ford's, the famous English casino that flourished between 1827 and 1844. From France came trente et quarante (30 and 40) and finally vingt un or vingt et un (21 or ZO and 1), Which crossed the Atlantic Ocean and was listed in the American Hoyle of 1875.

As first played in the United States, blackjack was a private game, but by the early 1900s, tables for 21 were being offered in the gambling parlors of Evansville, Indiana. Acceptance was slow, and to stimulate interest, operators offered to pay 3 to 2 for any count of 21 in the first two cards, and 10 to 1 if the ? 1 consisted of the ace of spades and either the jack of spades or the jack of clubs. This hand was called, of course, blackjack. The 10-to-1 payoff was soon eliminated, but the term remained, first as the name of any two card 21 hand, and subsequently as the name of the game itself, although 21 would have been more appropriate.

By 1919, tables covered with green baize and emblazoned in gold letters announcing "Blackjack Pays Odds of 3 to 2" were being manufactured in Chicago and appeared in illegal gambling halls throughout the country. The popularity of the game grew slowly until gambling was legalized in Nevada in 1931, and blackjack soon became the third-most-successful game, outstripping faro, but trailing both roulette and craps. Because of the prohibitive casino edge of 5.26 percent in roulette, discouraged players drifted away from the game, and by- 1948, blackjack had become the second-biggest casino moneymaker after craps.

Once again, with this arrangement the wager in the betting circle becomes yours -- this time to either double or lose. You're offering the player a guaranteed $1 profit on his 19 in the face of an impending dealer's 20 -- and some will take it! After tallying up the times you win, the times you lose and the times you push, you'll average a 3% profit on each $26 invested. (If the player's bet was $100, paying a nice round $105 would still yield a 2% advantage). Now look at the next hand:
Most players expect to break about even with 18 against an 8, figuring that on average, they'll push. Wrong! The player is better than a 6-to-5 favorite to win. So if somebody at your table has this hand for $25, brashly announce.