Well the best place to start with is naturally the beginning by examining who invented Blackjack. This is a hotly debated topic in itself as some people believe it to be the Romans, others the Spanish and others the French. From researching this issue, I have found that there doesn't seem to be much evidence to support the fact that the Romans were responsible for this game. Some say that the Romans used to play the earliest version of Blackjack with wooden blocks as opposed to cards and that different blocks were assigned different numerical values. Upon closer inspection though, it seems like this theory only exists because it has been proven that the Romans had a love for gambling and it was a popular past time in Roman society.
Others believe that the French were responsible for Blackjack and it originated in French casinos around the year 1700. The French games Chemin de Fer and French Ferme were both hugely popular at the time and both of these games bear a resemblance to Blackjack. It is thought that the card game Vingt-et-Un was derived from these two games and Vingt-et-Un literally translates as twenty-one. Although this explanation is logical, the first written reference to Blackjack actually predates this period by approximately a century. Between 1601 and 1602, a Spanish author named Miguel de Cervantes wrote a story called Rinconete y Cortadillo. The main characters in this story play a card game called ventiuna which is Spanish for twenty-one. They even state that the object of the game is to reach the value of twenty-one without going bust and that the ace card is equal to either the number one or number eleven and these exact rules still hold true today in Blackjack as we know it.
Whoever invented the game, it is clear that Blackjack reached a new level of popularity after it moved out of Europe and was introduced to America. When the game was initially introduced gambling houses offered bonuses to entice players. An example of this which is particularly relevant is a bonus where there was a 10:1 payout if the player's hand had either a jack of spades or a jack of clubs, i.e. a Black Jack. This is where the name came from that we use today even though the rules nowadays are different. If you play the game now the Black Jack hand is regardless of suit or colour. Thanks to the internet and the massive growth of online casinos, Blackjack continues to evolve with different variations of the game continually emerging.
Others believe that the French were responsible for Blackjack and it originated in French casinos around the year 1700. The French games Chemin de Fer and French Ferme were both hugely popular at the time and both of these games bear a resemblance to Blackjack. It is thought that the card game Vingt-et-Un was derived from these two games and Vingt-et-Un literally translates as twenty-one. Although this explanation is logical, the first written reference to Blackjack actually predates this period by approximately a century. Between 1601 and 1602, a Spanish author named Miguel de Cervantes wrote a story called Rinconete y Cortadillo. The main characters in this story play a card game called ventiuna which is Spanish for twenty-one. They even state that the object of the game is to reach the value of twenty-one without going bust and that the ace card is equal to either the number one or number eleven and these exact rules still hold true today in Blackjack as we know it.
Whoever invented the game, it is clear that Blackjack reached a new level of popularity after it moved out of Europe and was introduced to America. When the game was initially introduced gambling houses offered bonuses to entice players. An example of this which is particularly relevant is a bonus where there was a 10:1 payout if the player's hand had either a jack of spades or a jack of clubs, i.e. a Black Jack. This is where the name came from that we use today even though the rules nowadays are different. If you play the game now the Black Jack hand is regardless of suit or colour. Thanks to the internet and the massive growth of online casinos, Blackjack continues to evolve with different variations of the game continually emerging.
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