History of BlackJack

Although it is not exactly certain where the casino game of BlackJack orginated, the most common theory seems to be that Blackjack evolved from earlier versions of the modern day Bacarrat. The games are fairly similar and the modern version of Blackjack seemed to have originated in the 18th century in France, where it was known as “twenty-one”.

BlackJack in the United States

Although Blackjack has been played in the United States since the 1800’s, BlackJack really gained in popularity in 1950 when a mathematician published a paper showing how the house’s advantage in Blackjack could be greatly reduced by using a system of probability and statistical formulas.

A few years later, the bestseller Beat the Dealer was published, expanding on the mathematician’s theories. So many players used the system in this best seller that casino managers had to change the rules to regain the house advantage. Players were outraged and refused to play under the new rules. It is reported that the loss of revenue foced the casinos to reinstate the original rules and original structure.

Modern Day Strategy

Blackjack is widely considered as the best “beatable” casino game. Modern day strategy has been tested by computers as early as the 1960’s. As a matter of fact, Julian Braun, an IBM employee, is credited with devising today’s basic blackjack strategy based on the countless hours of simulated Blackjack games run through the mainframes in the 60’s and 70’s.