Europe shows the Origin / History of Blackjack

 
In the 19^th century the game of Blackjack was introduced in the United States.  It may have originated from several card games played in Europe, like in France, Italy or Spain, or it may be combination of all of them.

 In 1934 gambling was legalized in Nevada, and Blackjack was the most popular card game. It was played with one or two decks of cards. It was a gamble based on probability and statistics and several mathematicians have developed card counting techniques.

 Blackjack is the most popular table card game in the casinos all over the world. When it started in the United States the player was declared an automatic winner if he was dealt the Jack and the Ace of Spades.  But as the game evolved the winner can have any ace combined with any ten point value card – 10, jack, queen and king and it counts as a Blackjack.

 Initially the game seemed difficult to play with all the mathematical calculations, strategies and counting cards, but now it is enthusiastically played in all casinos and even on the internet.

As mentioned earlier, it is difficult to trace the history of the game of Blackjack, but it may have originated from the    French game called Vingt En Un, which was played in the 17^th century.  It was played in French casinos, and blackjack resembles it in many ways.  In modern blackjack you don’t have to bet after each round, but in the French game betting had to be done after each round.  The name Blackjack was taken from a special feature of Vingt en Un, in fact it is the ideal hand consisting of a Jack and an Ace of spades, hence the term Black Jack.

 The game of Seven and a Half played in Italy also had an influence on the modern Blackjack.  The term "bust" of blackjack is derived from the Italian game, because when players exceeded seven and a half points they were "busted". 

 After the French Revolution the game migrated to North America and since there were strict rules against gambling it became an underground game. Finally Nevada legalized gambling and when Las Vegas was born, the game of Blackjack attracted a tremendous amount of interest. 

 Many scientists and mathematicians have proposed and published blackjack strategy guides. The famous book "Beat the Dealer" written by Professor Edward O. Thorp had a tremendous impact on blackjack players and its history as he proposed new calculating systems and machines.  The casinos even modified the blackjack rules after the book was published, and the game is played in all casinos with great enthusiasm even today.