Like most gambling games, the exact origins of blackjack are clouded. Three different European countries claim to be the country of origin and its roots have been credited to several different games. The majority of historians, though, believe that the French game Vingt-En-Un (twenty-one) is the most likely predecessor to the modern game of blackjack.
Similar to blackjack, vingt-en-un's main objective was for a player to have a hand value closest to 21. Unlike modern-day blackjack, the game was played in rounds with betting following every round, similar to many poker games of today. Experts believe that this French game originated in the late 1600's and became popular in French casinos during the 1700's.
This version of 21 eventually made its way to America a few hundred years later, around the late 1800's. In the beginning, American casinos called the game either Vingt-en-un or 21. The game wasn't a smash hit. The American casinos changed the name to Blackjack when they added a bonus payout to the original game. In the bonus payout, when a player was dealt a blackjack - an Ace of Spades and a Jack of Clubs or Jack of Spades - they received a payout of 10:1.
Modern Blackjack History
Even though the ten-to-one payout was soon discarded in
American casinos, the name of blackjack remained. Gambling was legalized in Las Vegas in
1931 and the game became one of the most popular choices at the casinos. Its popularity
increased over the next two decades, by the late 1940's only craps was more popular.
Ten years later, in 1958, a book was published that outlined how a player, with a basic strategy, could mathematically gain an 'edge' over the house and earn money playing the game. Blackjack's popularity skyrocketed and has never plumetted. Today, blackjack is the most popular game played in casinos around the world.
