Blackjack Game
The History of Casino Blackjack Gaming
Although the Game of Blackjack is believed to have begun around the beginning of the 18th century in France, evolving from games like Chemin De Fer and French Ferme, many people believe the Blackjack Card Game was born in the 1700's in French Casinos, where it was called Vingt-et-une (twenty one). The Blackjack Game name itself came from an early casino bet that paid 10 to 1 if the blackjack player was dealt a jack of spades and an ace of spades as the first two cards.
Casino Blackjack in the U.S.
The Blackjack Card Game found its way from France to the United States in the 19th century, where it was mainly played in the American West. In 1931, when gambling became legal in Las Vega, Blackjack Gaming became one of the most important games in the new casino scene.
Play Blackjack Game Strategy
Around the late 1950's and 60's, Dr. Edward Thorp published a Blackjack Game Strategy book by the name of 'Beat the Dealer', in which mathematical information showed sophisticated Blackjack Gamblers how to play on a nearly even playing field with the house, and possibly gain a slight edge. This book taught Blackjack Players how to improve their odds of beating the dealer, and became so popular that it made the New York Times bestseller list. This mathematical information sparked the interest of the public and quickly made the Card Game of Blackjack the most popular table in the Casino's.
Blackjack Strategy and the Casino
The Blackjack Casinos however, were not very happy with the success of a Blackjack Book that taught the Blackjack Gambling Public how to beat the house. The Blackjack Casinos tried to change the Rules of the Blackjack Game to make it more difficult to win. This didn't last long as people protested by not playing the new rules version of blackjack, and the resulting loss of revenue quickly forced the casinos to revert back to the old rules of the Game of Blackjack.
The Blackjack Casinos however, did make changes to increase their odds. They introduced multiple decks to the game of Blackjack, shuffling machines, and frequent and early shuffling among some of the changes. These changes, plus the reality that the methods described in the books were difficult to master (if indeed you could understand them), restored the casinos edge in the odds of blackjack to where the Blackjack Casinos considered them acceptable.
Playing Blackjack with Computers
In the 1970's, Ken Uston and his merry band of creative Blackjack Gamblers used hidden computers to win hundreds of thousands of dollars from the Blackjack Casinos. Their ingenuity attracted the attention of the FBI, which examined the computers and decided that they were not cheating devices when used to Win Blackjack in the Casinos, and therefore were fair and legal. Blackjack Game Players rushed to apply the lessons of Uston's method, but many casinos decided to adopt a multi-deck system of play, which complicated methods to improve the blackjack player's chances.
Uston himself was banned from several Las Vegas casinos and was eventually found dead in a Paris apartment in 1987. But the Game of Blackjack lives on, and prospers in almost every self-respecting Casino, whether it be the traditional land based Blackjack Casino or the ever popular Online Blackjack Casino Internet Site.
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