The History of Blackjack

The First Card Games

Generally speaking, the roots of the earliest card games go back to ancient China, when in the 9th century during the rule of the Tang Dynasty there is a reference in literature to the time when Princess Tongchang is described playing with cards.

The invention of sheets of paper, instead of the rolls of paper that were previously used, allowed the creation of letters of different sizes. The ancient Chinese game cards are known as “money cards” and were divided into four suits with symbols drawn on them. Subsequently, numbers were added to the symbols, denoting a hierarchy of card values.

The first card games arrived in Europe in the late 14th century, probably by the traveling Mamluk tribe from Egypt, who brought with them a deck of 52 cards with symbols similar to the ones used in Tarot cards, such as cups, swords, coins and staves. There is documented evidence of card games that were banned in Switzerland in 1367AD.

Card games spread rapidly throughout Europe and reached various royal courts during the 14th century. Cards were printed by hand and were different in different countries in terms of the number of suits per deck and the types of suits. The four suits in use around the world today – hearts, diamonds, spades, and clubs – originated in the late 15th century in France.
During the 15th century, Europeans changed the face cards to represent European royalty, and today the typical deck of cards has a queen, a king, and a prince, called a jack.

The 17th century and the invention of Blackjack

Historians agree that Blackjack dates back to the 17th century in France, where a game called Vingt-et-Un was played in casinos. The name Vingt-et-Un means “21” in French. Other historians argue that it meant “Twenty and A”.

Vingt-et-Un is identical to blackjack, with the exception of minor differences in the rules, such as that only the dealer can double down in Vingt-et-Un. The game is believed to have arisen from other French games, such as Chemin de Fer and French Ferme.

Blackjack in America in the 19th Century

Once BlackJack arrived in North America in the early 19th century, it became popular almost immediately in the United States, due to the large number of people who came from France and brought with them the custom of playing BlackJack.

One figure who gained great popularity at this time was Eleanor Dumont. The young woman emigrated to America from France and initially worked as a Croupier in different cities of the country. With the money saved after several years of hard work, she opened a small gaming parlor in Nevada, California, where she only accepted rich or famous clients. The experience was so exclusive, that man traveled from across the country to see her.

Famous Card Counters who changed the way the game is played

Unlike most casino games, Blackjack achieved unprecedented success as card counting was a game-changer in competing against the dealer and increasing your chances of winning. The reason why it was possible to perform mathematical calculations to overcome the advantage of the bank was that it was played with a single deck of 52 cards, discarding the cards as they came out and continuing the game without mixing the deck until the end of the game. In this way, Blackjack became an arithmetic game in which what the players got in a hand depending on the cards that had previously appeared.

The most famous card counters are not individuals, but teams of card counters. Since the 1970s, there have been many successful card counting teams that have managed to win several million using a team of card counters called “spotters” that would spread out around the casino blackjack table and play for small stakes while counting the cards. When the count was positive (that is, when there were more high cards and fewer low cards in the game) they would use a discrete signal to inform the “big player” that it was time to join the game. Subsequently, the “big player” would join the table and start making maximum bets. The moment the “spotter” would realize that the count was no longer positive, he would signal the “big player” to leave the table.

Famous card counting teams include the Al Francesco’s team, Ken Uston’s team, MIT’s team, and Tommy Hyland’s team. Without a doubt, the most famous of these is the MIT blackjack team, which was immortalized with the movie “21”. A group of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology managed to beat casinos for several years in a row in the 1980s. Due to this, the casinos began to take measures like installing cameras to control card counting, the use of several decks of cards (up to 8 decks at a time) was also introduced. As measures to avoid this practice were developed, mathematicians came up with ways to perform multiple deck counting calculations. Continuous mixing machines were also invented, which can make card counting nearly impossible.

Famous Blackjack Movies That you Should Watch at least Once

Thanks to Blackjack’s rising popularity, the game soon found its way in the scripts of some famous Hollywood blockbusters. Among them, those that have left an indelible mark on the memory of viewers and game lovers, include names like “21”, with Kevin Spacey and Jim Sturgess, which shows how a group of university students and their math teacher create an ingenious form of scam with which they manage to earn millions of dollars.

Another one of the blackjack movies that cannot be missing from this list is “The Cooler”. Starring William H. Macy, Alec Baldwin and Maria Bellow, this fascinating film was the recipient of eight awards from eighteen Oscar nominations. Released in 2003, “The Cooler” tells a curious and funny story set in an old Las Vegas casino. In it, Bernie, the protagonist, works doing a singular job: giving bad luck to the players. This streak of bad luck that Bernie is capable of infecting disappears when he falls in love with a new waitress.

“Croupier” is a 1998 film starring Clive Owen, Kate Hardie, and Alex Kingston. The protagonist Jack Manfred is an aspiring writer who decides out of financial necessity to work in a casino as a croupier. In his work, he is involved in a series of intrigues, affairs, and strained relationships with strangers that lead to an unexpected robbery of the casino, designed by Manfred’s father. “Croupier” is a deep thriller that uncovers human wills and passions in a well thought out and better-made film. These three blackjack movies are gems that every card game lover should see.

Online Blackjack – a New way to play the game

The rise of the Internet in the late 20th century and the migration of many physical companies to the online arena, together with the great advances in game programming and the faster Internet connection, have led online casinos to become on the front line of the gambling industry. Many new players had the chance to discover blackjack and to realize that it is a skill-based game that allows players who master it to make huge profits when they play against the casino.

Nowadays it is possible to play a multitude of interesting varieties of Blackjack with specific tweaks in terms of their rules, which is all possible from the comfort of the player’s own home. Not only that, but players can take advantage of the many great bonuses, added security measures such as the RNG (Random Number Generator), which shuffles the cards and ensures that each hand is randomly dealt and the results are random, and no waiting times.

A Live Dealer Blackjack Game? How about a Blackjack Party?

Nowadays players get to enjoy another great way of playing Blackjack, as close to the real experience as possible. The Live Dealer Games are now widely popular in the online gambling industry and allow gamblers to play against a real dealer. The first attempts to move the action from a physical casino to the home of the player were partially successful. In the early 2000s, real-time broadcasts were made from real casinos, although the image quality left much to be desired. With the improvement of technology, the situation changed however and in 2006 the first game providers emerged and started to create different Live Casino games.

The initial difficulties of Live Casinos (camera angles, card size, chip movement, number of tables, etc.) were corrected over time. Physical studios from where the games are broadcasted became the norm and nowadays the quality of the broadcast has improved enormously and currently players have the possibility of getting the feeling of being in a physical casino, interacting with the dealer through a chat system and all this from the comfort and portability that their device provides. There are also numerous variations of the game available in the Live Casinos today, in almost every language and flexible wagers.

Are you looking to have some fun with your friends? One of the most popular variations of Live Blackjack today is “Blackjack Party” from the game provider Evolution Gaming. It is basically the traditional variation of the game (American Blackjack) but hosted with at least two dealers. While one of them deals exclusively with the distribution of cards and counting points, the other is in charge of talking with the players and making sure everyone has a good time. The lower betting limit (50 cents) helps to create a relaxed atmosphere. This variant has been internationally recognized for its qualities and in 2013/2014 it received the award for “Game of the Year” by EGR.

As you can see, Blackjack has transformed a lot in the past 300 years, starting from a simple card game, taking over the new world, and becoming one of the most popular casino games today. If you want to get started with learning Blackjack, you can read our guide on the Basic Blackjack Strategy here, and learn more about the rules and get some useful tips.