Several card games popular in Europe in the 17th century made up the blackjack we know today. In addition, the first mention of a similar game was found in the records of the monk Bernadino from the city of Siena, who opposed such entertainment in the distant 1440th year. Many board games and card decks were burned after his sermon.
Blackjack’s predecessors were united by the achievement of twenty-one points. Miguel de Cervantes, author of the famous novel Don Quixote, in one of his works described two crooks who cheated people with the card amusement Ventiuna. This was the first mention of a similar game, which was made in 1601. The goal of this amusement game and the modern game is the same: not to exceed twenty-one points. A Spanish deck was used for Ventiuna, which lacked the numbers 8, 9, 10. In France there was an entertainment called “Vingt et Un,” which means “21.”
The French variety differed in that after each round, players could place bets to double their winnings. Italy also had a “7-and-a-half” show. It used sheets with images of 7, 8, 9 and. In this variety, the contestant who scored 7.5 was the winner. Cards with images received half a point and cards without images received one point. The owner of the king of diamonds could get any card he wanted. A player loses if he gets more than 7.5 points.
French immigrants fleeing the country after the Revolution gave rise to the game in America. Since it didn’t have many fans in the United States at first, the owners of gambling establishments had to attract players with extra bonuses. For example, a player was paid 10:1 for spades aces and jacks. This mix was called Black Jack, which means “black jack.” Hence the name of the event itself. In addition, Jack used to refer to jacks. The game was once illegal, but that didn’t stop its fans from playing illegally. Everything changed in 1931, when Las Vegas allowed such entertainment.
To win at blackjack, a player needs a certain level of experience. Not every player was able to come up with their best strategy. In the early 60’s, Roger Baldwin released the first official guide to the game. Edward Thorpe’s book “The Dealer’s Victories” came out around the same time. In the book, he proved mathematically that card counting could give any player an advantage. At first, gambling clubs were concerned about the knowledge that the American professor shared with everyone, but then it became obvious that few people were given to card counting. Thus, the overall profits of the gambling houses were almost independent of the activities of the players who had the ability to do so.