History of Blackjack: Evolution of the Game of 21 Blackjack
Where Blackjack was created is still up in debate, as there are quite a few different games that Blackjack is claimed to have derived from. This is true with most old fashioned card games and even with the playing cards themselves.
Origins of Blackjack
In fact, there are at least 3 popular opinions on where playing cards originated. Some say that the Chinese first came up with playing cards way back in 900 A.D., but they were used from paper money. To this date, in China, playing cards are known as paper tickets. Of course, for as many people that claim playing cards originated from China, there are just as many to claim that they were derived from India, or even Egypt.
One of the other major claims to the creation of Blackjack is thought to have been created from the game of chess in India, while others claim it was thought up as a companion to Dominos. The consensus of most is that Blackjack was first introduced in the early 1700’s in French casinos. Of course, back then, the game was not called Blackjack, rather it was called ‘vingt-et-un’, which means twenty-one in French. Blackjack is rumored to be a mixture of 2 popular 17th century and earlier French games known as ‘Chemin de Fer’ and ‘French Ferme’.
Evolution of Blackjack
Blackjack stayed one of the most popular French Casino card games and in the beginning of the 19th century, settlers brought the game to the United States of America, which was known then simply as the New World. On the West Coast of the United States gambling was quite popular and known about, especially between the period of 1850-1910. Of course, in 1910, there was a big raucous and Nevada outlawed all gambling for more than 20 years, until 1931 when Nevada again made it legal to gamble but only in a casino.
For more than a decade, the only casinos you could find were either in Nevada, or New Jersey as they were the only 2 states that had legalized gambling in a casino. In the first casinos in both Nevada and New Jersey, Blackjack was one of the first games that was available to play and wager on.
It took more than 10 years for other states to catch on and follow trend, legalizing gambling in casinos. In the past 100 years, since gambling has been legal, nearly all of the United States have added their own card rooms and casinos, as well as the hundreds of Native American Indian Reservation casinos that you can find across the country.
Today there is more to Blackjack than just trying to reach 21 without busting, there are many different bets that you can make, all depending on what Blackjack variation you choose to play.
There are many different Blackjack variation games that are available today at both online and offline casinos and card rooms. Some of the Blackjack variation games that you might find in your favorite online or brick and mortar casino are Spanish 21, Pontoon, Double Exposure Blackjack, Double Attack Blackjack, Chinese Blackjack, Multiple Action Blackjack and even a game called Elimination Blackjack as well as many more that casinos have created unique for their casino.
