The History of Blackjack

Blackjack Table The game of blackjack as we know it has a rather long and interesting history.

Blackjack's precursor was a game called vingt-et-un ("twenty-one"), which originated in French casinos around 1700. However, this French card game did not offer the 3:2 bonus for a two-card 21 as today's game does.

When the card game of 21 was first introduced in the United States it was not very popular. Why? It is not very clear why it wasn't popular, because most card games imported from Europe were very popular. To get Americans interested in playing the game of 21, gambling houses tried offering various bonus payouts to get the players to the tables.

Now comes the interesting part. One such bonus was a 10-to-1 payout if the player's hand consisted of the ace of spades and a black Jack. The black Jack could either be the Jack of clubs or the Jack of spades. This hand was called a "blackjack". And the name stuck to the game even though the bonus payout was soon abolished.

Today's game of blackjack is played very fast. And as the game is currently played, a "blackjack" or a hand with a total count of 21 may not necessarily contain a Jack or any black cards at all.