Blackjack History and Evolution

The game of blackjack has grown to be one of the most popular gambling casino card games in the world but where did blackjack history begin?

Blackjack history began in the 1700s in France. The French played a few games that were similar to blackjack. One of them was called “Vingt-et-un” which is the French word for “21”. When French colonists came to North America they brought the game with them and it spread throughout the colonies and the continent.

Blackjack history continued in the 1930s when Nevada made gambling legal and the French game of “21” was offered in casinos. However, gamblers weren’t really interested in playing this game because they wanted to play games with the potential for larger payouts. In order to attract more gamblers some casinos began to add a rule to the game which stated that if a player’s initial 2-card hand was made up of the Ace of Spades plus one of the black Jacks (Jack of Clubs or Jack of Spades) then the casino would pay 10:1. This not only attracted more gamblers to play the game of 21 but also caused people to start calling the game by a new name—Blackjack.

Although blackjack history tells us that the 10:1 payout was abolished after a short time the game is still referred to as blackjack to this day and has become one of the most popular casino card games ever played.