Here at NetBet casino online, we have new games for you every week and many guides as well. As one of the most popular games in our casino, online blackjack gets a lot of attention. But, how did the card game get so popular? We’ll tell you more about the complete history of blackjack in this guide which will help you learn more about the king of card games.
When Did it All Begin?
Historians still can’t agree on the precise origins of blackjack. It was already popular at French casinos around 1700, which means it was invented sometime in the XVI century. The card game was first mentioned in Miguel de Cervantes’ book Rinconette y Cortadillo, chronicling the lives of two card players who made their names known playing a game of Vingt-Un.
That game is widely believed to be the precursor of Twenty-One, or the game we know today as blackjack. The first official written record of blackjack occurred in 1888 in France. The first rules appeared in Britain for a game of vingt-un. Another version of the game, now translated to Twenty One, appeared in the USA in the early 1800s. Later, this variant was re-developed as a completely new game known as blackjack in 1899.
That was the time when blackjack truly took off. According to a popular myth, the earliest gambling houses in the United States offered a special payout on the game to stimulate interest in the game. One of these bonuses paid 10:1 for a combination of a black jack and an ace of spades. This hand was called a blackjack, and the name stuck. That’s how the legend of blackjack was born.
Continued Evolution
Blackjack played an important role in the rise of Las Vegas. The Nevada phenomenon featured many slot machines and blackjack tables, which became the centre of attention in the 1970s and 1980s due to card counters. That was the time when the famed Blackjack MIT made millions counting cards, adding to the myth of the game of 21.
Of course, it led to card counters being evicted from most casinos, and added a bit of negative connotation for blackjack. It took a while for the game to turn popular. Decades passed as new variants of blackjack made the game relevant once again. It enjoyed a major evolution during the early 2000s when the first online casinos came around.
From the moment it was digitized, blackjack’s revolution was underway. Nowadays, it enjoys the same fame as centuries ago thanks to new exotic variants and live dealer blackjack games. The latter has completely revolutionized the game, bringing classic blackjack action from real tables with human dealers streamed in real-time to your devices. If you’re looking at the best blackjack games, we have them right here on our website, so try a few for free or enjoy the top live dealer variants.
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