History of Blackjack
The beginning of most popular casino game
It is widely believed that Blackjack as we know it
today originated in France. The first recorded mentioning
of this game is found as "vingt-et-un" (twenty
and one) in the seventeenth century. Just like with
the rest of games we do not know precise origin of Blackjack
and there are only guesses left as to what is the true
beginning of this excellent game. Blackjack is thought
to have descended from other alike French games but
as the gambling games are built upon precise and well
balanced calculations, this is very unlikely. Casino
games seldom mutate one into another all on their own.
Blackjack is a very popular card game in Russia, where
it's traditionally called "21" or "Ochko"
("the hole"). The game is not just played
in fashionable casino but is also very popular among
the folk, who play it passionately. Other known names
for for Blackjack are "pontoon" and "California
Aces". The English name "Blackjack" comes
from the original French game where a played was rewarded
to draw a Jack of spades and an Ace of spades as the
first two cards. The first card to draw was Jack and
spades is black, hence the name Blackjack.
Soon after the French revolution, Blackjack hit the
United States and rapidly became popular because of
its flexibility and freedom. Professional gamblers realized
soon that Blackjack is a wonderful playing field for
manipulating the odds and bets. Without government regulation,
gambling was flourishing and provided a fine ground
for this unique game until almost the beginning of nineteenth
century which is when the government of United States
realized that uncontrolled, gambling industry was leading
to corruption and encouraged organized crime.The State
of Nevada written gambling into law as a crime in 1910,
and the situation was rapidly deteriorating for decent
players while the industry went largely underground
and became major criminalized, together with other ridiculous
conducts of the government forming the very core of
gangsters as we know them today. Eventually things went
so horribly bad that the Nevada authorities finally
got a clue, and the gambling was legalized, along with
creation of laws that protect the players and overseeing
bodies in the government. As the Las Vegas was reborn,
Blackjack spread like wildfire throughout the casinos,
momentarily winning the hearts and the minds of the
players. As all other states were conservative and did
not seek to rehabilitate the casino gambling, Las Vegas
quickly became the gambling center of United states.
extremely reluctant to legalize casino gambling, Illegal
and underground casinos were not and will never be competition
to Nevada even though there are few other places in
US where gambling is legal.
Today, Blackjack is played everywhere around the globe.
It is considered a classic in Canadian, European, Russian
and American casinos all alike.
As a gambling game, Blackjack wasn't avoided by the
science either. The scientists of late fifties took
a great deal of interest in Blackjack. It is not a simple
game mathematically, and calculating best gaming strategies
seemed to be an attractive task for some maths and statistics
scholars. Quite some effort and money was invested in
the search for Blackjack holy grail; and some success
was doubtlessly achieved. In 1956, a mathematician named
Roger Baldwin and his associates published what we now
know as the "Basic strategy" for Blackjack
in Journal of American Statistical Association: cue
cards with printouts of optimal strategy in Blackjack.
Cantey, Maisel, McDermott and Baldwin created the framework
for further development of basis strategy. It was not
in any way ideal, and there were known quirks, but the
work of these gentlemen inspired the rest of scientific
community, and so it was: Prof. Edward Thorp reworked
the strategy using newly available methodics and machines,
and gave birth to the modern card counting techniques.
The theory of card counting says that the card decks
have "memory"; that is, under certain conditions
and employing certain methodics, a player can tell whether
the deck is favorable or unfavorable to him or her.
The mathematical research that was spun off these theories
was published in Thorp's "Beat the dealer"
in 1962. Even though the theories that Therp brought
up were not easy to understand for an average gambler,
his work has definitely contributed to the popularity
of Blackjack in the gambling community. Many gamblers
wrongfully perceived his theories as an instant and
unbeatable way to win and cheat the casino. His work
caused a storm in the media and caused fear and loathing
among the casino owners; but on and by at large, it
greatly contributed to success of gambling industry
as a whole.
Thorp's work led to Ken Uston's journey into the world
of Blackjack. Dubbed the "Mr. Blackjack" and
called a prima donna celebrity of the gambling world,
Ken found a way to make a living off the Blackjack tables.
His adventures produced even more chaos and awe in the
casinos than Thorp's research.
In 1978 gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, making
it another popular destination for American and not
so american gamblers.
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