History of Blackjack
France has a large place in the history of many gambling games, including baccarat, roulette and craps. So it should come as no surprise that it also has a heavy hand in the history of blackjack, as well.
Like many games, the actual origin of blackjack is just a tad bit sketchy. But most will agree that it started in France and was probably derived from other popular French games like "Chemin de Fer" and "French Ferme".
The original name for blackjack was "Vingt-et-Un", which is French for "twenty-one" which is of course the number everyone hopes to attain while playing the game. It first appeared publicly in French casinos around 1700 and immediately became quite popular.
The journey of the game to the United States came over a century later, and was not a smooth journey. It first appeared stateside in the 1800s and was simply called "21". Dice games like craps and the ever-popular poker were the kings of the day, and so 21 did not catch on very well at first.
In order to attract new players, some poker rooms started to offer a 10:1 payoff if a player got a special combo- an ace of spades paired with either one of the black jacks (spades or clubs). This is how the game came to be called 'blackjack', which is what it is still referred to as today.
It became a popular game, but then suffered a setback- prohibition. Apparently, gambling was just as bad as drinking, so both alcohol and gambling were outlawed. This of course started secret poker rooms and underground games that were often paired with moonshine liquor. This held up until 1931 when prohibition was reversed, as was the outlaw of gambling in Nevada. Las Vegas as we know it today started to flourish, as did the game of blackjack. But it would only flourish there for quite some time. It took until 1978 for New Jersey to allow Atlantic City to offer casino gambling, therefore making blackjack popular on both coasts.
After Las Vegas and Atlantic City, eventually several states (some with great reluctance) began to allow a limited amount of casinos within their state lines. Today, more than 20 states allow some kind of gambling, many of which include Native Americans who own and run casinos on their reservations, so blackjack is now accessible to everyone.
Of course, the internet is where just about anyone can play blackjack, and the game enjoys great popularity on the net. The rules are simple to learn, and many sites offer practice or free games for their customers to use before betting actual money.