The game
Blackjack,
also known as Vingt-et-un, Pontoon, Van-John and twenty-one, was created by the
French in the late 18th century. During World War I the game became very popular
with the troops, and gradually, any two-card count of 21 became known as a
blackjack, and thus the game was given a new name. During World War II blackjack
was the most popular banking game of the soldiers. After the war, blackjack
replaced Faro as the mostly played game in the casinos of Las Vegas and Reno.
The history of the Blackjack card game itself is still disputed but was probably
spawned from other French games such as "chemin de fer" and "French Ferme".
Blackjack originated in
French casinos around 1700 where it was called "vingt-et-un" ("twenty-and-one")
and has been played in the U.S. since the 1800's. Blackjack is named as such
because if a player got a Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades as the first two
cards (Spade being the color black of course), the player was additionally
remunerated.
Blackjack is a simple and easy game to play and understand. Also it is commonly
thought that it is one of the few casino games at which a skilled player can
actually beat the house!
