One of the most popular casino games of today, the history of blackjack is an interesting one. There are several versions about the actual origin of the game and according to its history, blackjack was inspired by several European games like the -vingt-un- and -trente-et quarente- and -chemin de fer- of France along with other Spanish and Italian games like -one and thirty-, -baccara- and -seven and half-. After its popularity in the European countries, the game was finally introduced in US in 19th century.
Though the game was commonly played by gamblers, it was only after the legalization of gambling in the state of Nevada in 1934 that it truly rose to popularity. In order to attract players to blackjack, the casinos in its initial days offered bonuses. For instance, if the player had a jack of spades or jack of clubs, a bonus of 10:1 was paid. Initially the game involved one to two decks and soon surpassed the other casino games of that time.
In 1956, Roger Baldwin wrote a paper on how to reduce house advantage when playing blackjack, however, since the paper heavily relied on statistics, ordinary people and layman found it extremely difficult and confusing. Later, it was Edward O. Thorpe who first developed the technique of counting cards in 1962. With the help of a computer he refined the strategies given by Roger Baldwin which formed the base for his book -Beat the Dealer- in which he not only explained the different card counting methods but also different techniques for reducing house advantage.
After this there was a big increase of blackjack players in the casinos. Everyone wanted to try out the different technique, however, many found the system a little complicated and difficult to implement which in turn proved profitable for the casinos.
Over the period of time, several versions of the game have been developed and today it is one of the most favored casino games. The game is not only available in the land based casinos but with the coming of the online casinos it has become even more accessible to the players. Almost all the online casinos now offer blackjack games, along with the traditional versions of the games, some of the online casinos have also come up with new versions and interesting features which makes it more interesting. The conveniences offered by the online casinos along with the other added advantages have gone a long way in boosting its popularity.
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