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The Game Of Blackjack, Review And History Posted on Sep 1, 2006 - 5:48PM Review Of Blackjack- It started simply enough. In the 18th century, a French card came called "Ving-et-un" was born. Soon, it spread to America, which had an anti-gambling stance at the time. The game eventually became known as Blackjack. Blackjack got its first legal taste of gambling action in America in 1931 when Nevada legalized gambling. Legally, the gambling action was bottle necked until 1978 when Atlantic City joined the gambling party. Blackjack has had a long and illustrious venture from its French origins. In my mind, the late 1950's were the jumping point for the game from a gambling perspective. At that point people really became interested in the mathematical approach to the game. This was due partly to the 1956 release of "The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack," which was authored by Roger Baldwin. The book really got the minds of Blackjack players going. Just six years later another bombshell fell when Professor Edward O. Thorp published, "Beat the Dealer." It was an instant classic. Soon the gloves came off. Mathematicians and crafty players all over were deeply analyzing the game to look for strategies to not just win, but to live off of Blackjack. Over the past few decades countless books have been released that tried to do just that—make a living from playing Blackjack. Who can forget the famous Blackjack team that tried to take down Vegas? Can you really make a living playing Blackjack? You bet. Legendary Ken Uston did just that. He was so good that seven casinos in Las Vegas—major ones too—banned him from playing. Was this move legal? Uston didn't think so and he sued to prove it. What happened next is part of a true stigma that surrounds Vegas—especially in the old days. In 1987, Ken Uston was found dead in Paris. Perhaps proving that you don't mess with Las Vegas and live to talk about it. So, what about today's game? Surely it's changed right? Today's Blackjack games are the same as they were years ago. The main difference that I see is fewer single deck games to be had by lower limit players. Most of the smaller tables ($10 or under) have gone to the shoe, which is a device for dealing Blackjack when the table is using four or more decks. Double deck games are still relatively easy to find—although they have disappeared a little bit in the past decade. Still, Blackjack is an old standby for most casino pits and they are reluctant to change the deck size too much. It would be very rare to find a casino using all eight-deck shoes for instance. Most casinos will offer single deck games to those playing at least $25 per hand. As a Blackjack player, your mission is to get into a game that uses as few decks as possible. The more decks used; the more the house has an advantage over you. Today, new Blackjack players have a plethora of solid information available to them. There's never been a better time to get serious about winning at Blackjack. Real money is being won every hour of every day in casinos around the world—both online and at brick and mortar casinos. |
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