When Blackjack was first played
Gambling historians are confused about the history & origin of the game we know as Black Jack. Even today, its history is a hot topic of debate for many researchers. From the history of card games, it can be established that playing cards were initially used in China, India & Egypt as early as 900 AD. The first card games are said to have started in China.
But it is still said that it was the French who really invented the game of Blackjack. The French had card games known as ‘chemin de fer’ and ‘French Ferme’. It is believed that Blackjack is really an offshoot of these two French games.
Somewhere in the year 1700 AD, a game known as ‘vingt-et-un’, which means twenty-one, was introduced in the French Casinos of the time. In the 1800s, the same game migrated to the United States.
Though ‘vingt-et-un’ looks to be quite similar to Blackjack, it is yet different in some aspects. In this game, the goal is to reach a ‘Natural’ with cards whose total is twenty-one. In addition, the cards were dealt in rounds, and bets were placed for each round. Also, only the dealer had the authority to ‘double’ & in case he or she got a Natural, all the other players would be obliged to pay him or her triple.
Another argument by the respective researchers is that the Italian game known as ‘Seven and a half ‘ could have also contributed to the current Blackjack. The game was played with cards numbered 8, 9, and 10, along with face cards. While the face cards were counted as ‘half’. In addition, the King of Diamonds was treated like the wild card. It is believed that this was the first game in which the concept of ‘bust’ was introduced. This means that if the total of the cards was over seven and a half for any player, he or she went bust or out of the game.
‘One and thirty’, the famous Spanish game, too, was similar to Black Jack. But in this, the total was thirty-one instead of twenty-one, along with the fact that it was played with three cards instead of two as in Black Jack.
Initially, when Blackjack entered American casinos sometime in 1910, it was not very popular. Gambling houses introduced various incentives and bonuses to lure people to the game. The bonus payout initially offered by the gambling house was 10-to-1. Some gambling houses added the lure of the new game, recognizing both the Jack of Clubs and the Jack of Spades for a payout of ten to one.
Another peculiar thing is how the name “Blackjack” is used in this game. It is said that the game was called Blackjack because, to receive the bonus payout, the player had to have either the Jack of Spades or the Ace of Spades as their first two cards.
Though now Jack is no longer required to make a winning hand, and any ten-value card with an Ace will qualify as a winning hand, the name Black Jack carries one.
