Origins and early history of blackjack

The history of the blackjack card game is still disputed. Evidence suggests it was probably spawned in French casinos in the early sixteenth century as a variation on other popular card games of the era such as “chemin de fer” and “French ferme”.

Originally called “vingt-et-un” (twenty one) its popularity spread throughout Europe and to a greater extent the U.S. in the early 1800’s where the game became known as Blackjack.

The name “21” was prevalent throughout U.S. casinos until World War II. During the war, in a bid to restore the popularity of the gambling industry (which had undergone a sharp downturn in business), casinos in Indiana began offering payouts of 3 to 2 whenever the value of a players cards equalled “21”.

To make the game more player-friendly the casinos later ruled that if a player was dealt a Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades as the first two cards (later Clubs were included, and eventually any suit), they received a bonus payout of ten times the original bet. These two card 21s came to be known by players as Blackjacks to distinguish them from a 21 consisting of three cards or more.

By 1945 Blackjack was second in popularity only to the dice game known as craps, which held pole position into the late 1960s. By the late 1970s Blackjack was recognised as the most popular method of recreational gambling, by far surpassing all other casino games combined.