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Blackjack History and Origins |
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History of Blackjack
First Documentation of Blackjack
The first documented record of Blackjack first originated in French Casinos around the 1700s and was known as vingt-et-un ("twenty-one"). Prior to that, it is widely speculated that it evolved from the card games in the Middle Ages.
The first standardized pack or rather deck of 50 cards was first produced from ink and paper in the 1440s by Johann Guttenberg.Back then, many of the affluent and royalties played games like Quinze, One-and-Thirty, Trente-et-Quarante, Seven-and-a-Half and even Baccarat where the objective of the game was to reach a certain number.
But it was vingt-er-un ("Twenty-One") the French version that finally arrived in America in the late 1800s.
How Blackjack got its name
When it was first introduced to America in the late 1800s it did not offer the kind of 3:2 bonus we see today for a two-card 21 and was not very popular. Only when gambling halls started offering special bonuses did its popularity exploded.
The most well-known of those bonuses was when a player's hand consisted of an ace and a Jack of (Spades or Clubs), where the paid bonus paid was 10:1. That when the term "blackjack" was coined, and stuck to it ever since.
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