Blackjack remains one of the favorite games in the casino. This is because it has many different skills and strategies, allowing you to increase your odds.
Blackjack is much more popular than slots these days. This is because it requires more than just spinning the reels and hoping for luck.
Fun facts about Blackjack
Blackjack is one of the most popular card games. That’s why it’s impossible to imagine a casino without it, and you’ll still find it whenever you’re out on an evening out. It doesn’t matter where in the world you are, you always have the opportunity to play at a casino.
However, there are many more fun facts about blackjack. Read on and find out what makes the game so fun.
Author Don Quixote first described the game
Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes became known primarily for the book Don Quixote (1605). After all, this novel set the standard for European literature. However, the author wrote much more.
The famous book describing Blackjack
In fact, one of his books, Rinconete y Cortadillo, also described a story about two gamblers in the city of Seville. The characters in the book discovered some cheats for card games. Their favorite game was ventiuna, which means twenty-one in Spanish. This is a card game in which the values of the cards are the same as in today’s blackjack. The goal of the game was to get as close to 21 as possible, without going over it.
The story of the book is set in 1569. This should show that the ancestor of blackjack was invented sometime in the 16th century.
Regional variants even older
While the first story is set in the 16th century, regional variants can also be found from all over the world. For example, there was already a counterpart in France. This variant is the closest to today’s blackjack. Only a number of escalating betting rounds were added, allowing the stakes to be raised in the event of a favorable starting hand.
In Italy, on the other hand, there was a game that amounted to ‘seven and a half’. This is a hybrid form of blackjack, which used a deck of 40 cards. Sette e mezzo had cards from ace to 7, keeping the numerical value. The picture cards, on the other hand, had a half point value. Instead of getting 21, in this case you must get 7.5. Basically, the same as how blackjack is currently played.
The European immigrants who migrated to America brought the card game over. Since then, many players have taken up the game and it has become a format for modern blackjack.
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10 to 1 jackpots on the first games
You may wonder why the name blackjack was given to the game. For this, however, you need look no further than the jack of spades and the jack of clubs. These two cards were an easy way to promote the European card game. At that time, casinos still played poker, while saloons and gambling halls, among others, had to focus on promoting blackjack. This had to be done in the most accessible way possible.
From there, the promotion was born. Indeed, every time a player looked down for the ace of spades, it was accompanied by a pair of spades or clubs. If this pair was present, then a payoff of 10 to 1 was made. Actually, this said it all. It was a good way to make a profit and the rest is history. Once everyone got used to the game, however, the developers stopped offering this high payout. In this case came the 3 to 2 payout, which was going to be more favorable in many ways.
The four horsemen produced the written strategy analysis
Four soldiers decided in 1953 to play cards during downtime on base. In this case it was poker, but someone else asked for the blackjack game. When asked, however, a caveat had to be set up. From this it emerged that the dealer present had to pass a hit on 16 and at 17. This did get the group of soldiers thinking.
The four players, also known by the names Wilbert Cantey, Roger Baldwin, James McDermott and Herbert Maisel, had more in common than they initially imagined. After all, it didn’t stop at blackjack. For example, they had all obtained university degrees in mathematics. Curiosity and mathematical skills led them to search for the most optimal strategy for blackjack. The complete analysis eventually took two years, after which the paper “The Optimum Strategy in Blackjack” was published in 1956.
In the same year, the first basic strategy cards were also published in a 92-page book. This book was called ‘Playing Blackjack to win: a new strategy for the game of 21’. From then on, the four horsemen were inducted into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.
The Blackjack Hall of Fame
Yes, there is a Blackjack Hall of Fame. It is located in Cooperstown. It is located in the Barona Casino in San Diego, California and was founded in 2002. In this year, the experts were called together to nominate the first people. Among them were a number of luminaries, for example, author Edward Thorp. Many great players were added at a later date.
To add strength to the hall of fame, the blackjack ball is organized every year. It is a celebration where the nominations are passed around. The lists can be found everywhere.
One of the names on the hall of fame going home with 15 million
Don Johnson, a player from New Jersey, lived up to every player’s dream in a five-month period. To do this, he took an eight-figure budget to the casino and trusted himself to place the right bet. A favorable deal was made with the casinos in Atlantic City for this purpose.
He bet 100,000 euros per hand and had losses of up to 20 percent. If he lost 500,000 euros in bets, he would only have to pay 400,000 euros to the casino. If there was a win, he was allowed to keep the full amount. He just had all the conditions against him and it took a long time to get a result. He ended up winning 6 million at Tropicana, 5 million at Borgata and 4 million at Caesars. All three casinos stopped the game and refused the offer.
Conclusion
Although blackjack is very quick to learn, it can provide years of enjoyment. You can also keep discovering new ways to play the game. There are many different variations on the house rules and the new bets ensure that no gambler can sit still. So you are constantly rediscovering.
So while you continue to learn the game, you do get to know a lot. The fun facts about the game add an extra layer of enjoyment and you’ll also learn about the history of blackjack.