The game of blackjack is widely believed to have originated in French casinos around 1700, under the name Vingt-et-Un ("twenty-one"). Its roots, however, can be traced back even further to earlier European card games. The game crossed the Atlantic with French colonists and evolved into the game we know today, receiving the name "blackjack" in the United States.
Early origins in Spain and France
- Spanish Roots: The concept of a card game where the goal is to get a score without exceeding a specific number can be found in 17th-century Spain. A novella by author Miguel de Cervantes features characters cheating at a game called veintiuna ("twenty-one"), and describes key rules identical to modern blackjack, including the ace counting as either 1 or 11.
- French Popularity: The game became a sensation in French royal courts around 1700, where it was called Vingt-et-Un and likely developed from games like Chemin de Fer. It spread throughout Europe from there.
Arrival in the United States
- Colonial migration: French colonists brought Vingt-et-Un to North America in the 18th century, and it gained significant popularity in American gambling halls, especially in New Orleans. Early rules, however, differed slightly from the modern game; for example, the dealer might have been the only one allowed to "double down".
- The birth of "blackjack": By the time gambling was legalized in Nevada in the 1930s, casinos were looking for ways to draw more players to the game, still called "21". The now-debunked but popular theory is that a special bonus was offered: a 10-to-1 payout if a player's hand included an Ace of Spades and a "black jack" (the Jack of Spades or Clubs). While the bonus was temporary, the new name stuck.
- Alternative theory: Another theory, proposed by historian Thierry Depaulis, suggests the name originated with prospectors during the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–1899). A "blackjack" was slang for zinc ore often found with gold and silver deposits, and the term for the valuable ore may have transferred to the game's high-paying bonus hand.
Rise of modern blackjack
- Basic strategy: A paper published in 1956 by Roger Baldwin and others titled "The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack" provided the first mathematically sound strategy for playing the game optimally.
- Card counting: In the 1960s, Edward O. Thorp built upon Baldwin's work and published Beat the Dealer, detailing a card-counting system that gave players an edge over the house. This sent casinos into a frenzy of rule changes to combat card counting.