Origins of Blackjack

The game of Blackjack originated in the 1700s in France where it was originally called vingt-et-un, meaning twenty-one. It has grown today to be one of the most popular gambling games and is especially popular in the Las Vegas casinos, Atlantic City casinos and many other gambling centers around the world. The number of blackjack tables exceed other forms of gambling, and, other than slot machines, is the most popular form of recreational gambling.

You can likely remember when you were a small child and you learned how to play blackjack, probably using matches or candy to wager with.

Most serious adult gamblers know blackjack as one of the few games where you can actually beat the house, even at casinos where rules are often stacked in favor of the house.

When blackjack was first introduced in the United States it was not very popular. In order to make it more popular, gambling establishments would offer various bonus payout tactics just to get players at the tables. One of these bonus tactics was the 10-to-1 bonus payout for hands consisting of the ace of spades and a black jack (jack of clubs or jack of spades). This hand was named "black jack" and the name stuck. The bonus payout has since been abolished and a "black jack" today doesn't even need to contain a jack.