Blackjack: A History
What's a casino without blackjack tables, right? Ever wonder where this phenomenal casino game came from? Up to date, nobody is really sure about the exact beginnings of blackjack. But it is widely believed that it evolved from similar French games such as the "chemin de fer" and "French ferme". And in the 1700s, blackjack was first played in French casinos as "Vingt-et-un", which literally means "twenty one".
Blackjack was first played in the United States of America during the 18th century and rapidly became popular, despite of anti-gambling policies implemented throughout the country. In 1930s, gambling was legalized in several states, led by Nevada, followed by other states such as Atlantic City and New Jersey in 1978. Because of this, blackjack became widely popular and played in several casinos across the states. It brought huge profit to casinos everywhere as people continue to enjoy playing blackjack.
With blackjack's popularity, scientists, mathematicians and even common blackjack players developed basic blackjack strategies to help blackjack players shift their blackjack skills to a more competitive level. Several articles and books were published, teaching techniques on how to play blackjack better, as well as beating the dealer.
Among the most notable works was Roger Baldwin's "Optimum Strategy in Blackjack", published in 1956. This is the first article to apply mathematical skills in the game of blackjack. Six years after Baldwin's article, Professor Edward O. Thorp published the book "Beat the Dealer", which improved and refined basic blackjack strategy, as well as card counting as a strategy.
Blackjack became more and more popular as books such as Lawrence Revere's "Playing Blackjack as a Business" and "Winning Blackjack" by Stanley Roberts were published. These books taught reader how they can live-off their blackjack profits. More sophisticated blackjack strategies were developed using computers during the 1970s. Computers began to simulate millions of blackjack hands that provided better statistics and led to a more scientific way of playing blackjack
All of these developments in strategies caused casino owners to gradually lose profit from their blackjack tables. In response, they tried altering basic blackjack rules, which caused much protest from blackjack patrons. Casino owners have no choice but to bring back old blackjack rules along with the introduction of 4, 5, 6, or 8-deck games to prevent cheating and card counting.
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