The beginnings of Blackjack have been widely attributed to the French in the 1700's. It is believed to have stemmed from the French card games "chemin de fer" and "French Ferm" which were very popular card games in the casinos during that time.
Vingt-et-Un or "twenty and one" was first thought to appear as an upper class entertainment in France, though evidence of an earlier form of the game was found in Spain at least century before.
In the early 1600's Miguel Cervantes, the well-known author of Don Quixote, published a book about a collection of stories on people and different social events. In one story about vagrants and thieves, one of the characters said:
"With these (cards) I have gained my living at all the public houses and inns between Madrid and this place, playing at veintiuna (Twenty-One)…"
Even with the above-mentioned literary reference to an earlier version of the game, it is argued that the Spanish version originated from the game "One and Thirty" and was played with 3 cards instead of 2.
Shortly after the French revolution, Vingt-et-Un crossed the ocean into the United States and was initially unpopular in gambling houses.
The casinos tried various payouts to attract players. One such payout is when a player receives a Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades as the first two cards. This is how Blackjack got its name.
Soon professional gamblers realized that Blackjack presented a viable playing field for odds and bets and became widely popular because of its simplicity and freedom.
The history of Blackjack will not be complete without the mention of the people that made the game as popular as it is today.
One such man was Edward Thorp, a mathematician who devoted his research on the game and the mathematics of risk. He wrote a paper which he presented at the American Mathematical Association, titled Fortune's Formula.
Later on he published a book titled; Beat the Dealer which became a national best seller. In it he wrote about certain methods and conditions that can give a player clues as to whether the deck was favourable or unfavourable to him.
He tested his theories in Reno with a businessman named Emmanuel Kimmel. By the end of the experiment Thorp and Kimmel more than doubled their money. This was the moment when card counting was born.
Thorp's research reached Ken Uston who gained infamy in the world of Blackjack in the 1970's. He made a living out of playing Blackjack in different casinos. He was even barred from playing in Atlantic City until he challenged the casinos and was allowed to play again. A CBS show called 60 minutes even aired an episode about Uston and his Blackjack adventure.
Today Blackjack is played around the world and remains as one of the most popular casino games.
