Blackjack History

Blackjack is French in origin. French game called chemin de fer and French strength which is another French game called French Ferme are the two games from which blackjack was born. 21 is the French name for blackjack.

The Name

The name blackjack is appropriate owing to the fact that if player is dealt two cards and one of the cards is jack of spades and the other is ace of spades, then the player will win an extra amount of money.

Blackjack has been in existence in the United States of America and has been a favourite game since the 19th century.

Development

The application of mathematics in blackjack was first initiated by Roger Baldwin in the 1956 in his The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack. In this write up Roger tries to explain how probability and statistics as well as calculator could be used in blackjack in order to lower the house edge. Due to the fact that the theory is a system based, it was useless to the gamblers of that time.

However, the team of Ken Uston developed 5 systems which they used to beat the house during blackjack game. They were able to win a huge amount of money with those computers. Later one of the systems was seized and given to the FBI. The FBI ruled in their favour that the computer could not be used to cheat the casinos.

Ken also organised a 60 minutes TV program in 1981. With the help of Ken Atlantic City casinos were legally forbidden to prevent blackjack players that apply the system of card counting.