The history of blackjack: then and now
Just like any other card game, Blackjack also has a history of its own, some even began its path before the beginning of history itself without any of the lost records to prove the fact.
The Beginning
At this point in time historians have agreed on the fact that Blackjack history began in the 17th century in France. Back in the day it was called Vingt Et Un what was commonly played in casinos, the French used to call it "21" which was probably what blackjack started as, due to the fact that the rules were similar in some places.
In comparison to the blackjack games of today, in the past the rules stated that the dealer was allowed to double the bet and bets were supposed to be made after each round, and the goal in Vignt Et Un was to achieve a "natural" or with the help of blackjack's ranking system get a sum of 21. At the same time a game by the name of "Seven and a Half" has been played in Italy.
Turning point
A milestone in blackjack history was when it relocated to North America where it received a lot of popularity because there no laws that could prohibit card games at that time. When given thought a gambler noticed the perspective that the game had, came up with a scheme to increase the winning ratio.
The game took on such popularity that in the 19th century the US government had to ban all gambling activities, it was considered to deprave the population and favor the criminal world. With a number of regulations which opposed to the game, blackjack was forced to turn into an underground game. With the further legalization of gambling in Nevada, Las Vegas was born in 1931 and blackjack as popular as ever. Today, such a phenomenon as online blackjack gets a new life thanks to modern technologies.
Books
A central figure of blackjack by the name of Ken Uston, created a serious stimulus for people worldwide with his books "The Big Player", "Ken Uston on Blackjack" and "Million Dollar Blackjack". With the experience of using computers that were imbedded in their shoes to make millions daily in casinos all over Nevada they were found very popular.