Blackjack

Reading up on Blackjack and you will find that the game has muddied past. There is a perception that blackjack started in the 17th in Italy where they played a game by the name of ‘Seven and a Half’.

They used the face cards 7, 8 and 9 to play the game, and you need a hand of seven and a half points. A value of 1 can be allocated to 7, 8 and 9, and the face cards valued at a half a point. The King and the diamonds was a wild card. Your hand will bust when the count goes above 7 ½ points.

Blackjack made its way to the USA after the French revolution. In France there were laws against gambling, but not in the USA. It was also extremely easy to gamble on a ship. In the 19th century things in the USA changed when they outlawed a game like Blackjack and other games. They played Blackjack in secrecy during this period.

During the 1920 the restrictions became fiercer, but in 1931 Las Vegas opened a legitimate way to gamble. In 1956, they published the first Blackjack strategy guide. They based the manual on statistics to try and prevent a high-house edge. In 1962, they listed all the manuals in New York on the best sellers list, especially the manual published in 1962. The book by Thorp was difficult to follow due to all the mathematics.

Casinos made changes according to the book. Casinos started to worry, and the casinos made more changes after the release of the book “Beat the Dealer” in 1962. Blackjack was one of the most popular games, from the 60’s to the 80’s, in all casinos.