Recorded History of Blackjack
Posted in Blackjack on 03/05/2010 12:21 pm by Zayden
Black Jack – also known as ‘twenty-one’ and ‘pontoon’ – is a game that is generally seen in a casino with players attempting their luck on achieving the elusive ‘21′. It is commonly presumed that the game came into existence in France amid the 17th century. However, as with most other casino games the precise evolution of the game is a mystery.
Blackjack was introduced to the United States after the French Revolution, but the game did not become favored in the betting houses until the casino offered payouts as a bonus. This was the only way that seemed to get gamblers betting on blackjack. One variation on the bonus payout was for a gambler to acquire ‘21′ with the black jack card (given a value of 10 points) and an ace (valued at 11 points). With the expanding popularity of the game the pay outs were phased out but the name of the game ‘chemin de fer’ remained.
Twenty-one isn’t just about acquiring an outright ‘twenty-one’, but the primary adventure is to defeat the dealer without going ‘bust’. The casino obviously has an advantage over the gambling players over the long term, but with chemin de fer the gambler holds on to a bit of choice.
Since 1931 when America first legalized gambling, twenty-one has developed into a traditional casino card game. Furthermore, it is the combination of both skill and math used in chemin de fer that has caused the game to be hugely liked. Black jack provides an attractive proposition to any academic, mathematician or gambling player wanting to research the scheme of the game.