I’m ready to teach you these skills ... are you ready to learn them?

 

 

• It’s an easy game to play.
• There’s an element of skill involved.
• The mystique that surrounds card counting, which makes it possible to beat the game, keeps it in the public eye.

You may think that blackjack is the same today as it was 70 years ago, but that’s not so. There have been many subtle—and some major— changes to the game throughout its long and provocative history.

The origins of blackjack are not entirely clear. It is widely thought that its precursor “vingt-et-un” (pronounced van-tay-uhn, meaning 20 and one, or, simply, 21).

 

It began showing up in French casinos around 1700. The rules for vingt-et-un differ from blackjack as we know it. The game’s objective was to reach a “natural” with cards that total 21; however, players wagered after (not before) they received their first card. The dealer had the option to double everyone’s bet after looking at his initial card. Moreover, if the dealer got a natural, players would pay him triple. Nevertheless, there are some striking similarities with modern blackjack; namely, the hand-ranking system and the goal of trying to achieve 21.

ITALIANS PLAY SEVEN-AND-A-HALF

The Italians, meanwhile, were playing a game called “Seven-and-a-Half.”

THIS GAME:

• Used only face cards (counted as half a point)
• The 8s, 9s, and 10s (counted as one point)
• The king of diamonds was a wild card

The goal was to reach a hand totaling 7.5 points. A player automatically lost when his hand exceeded 7.5 points. It is widely believed that the blackjack term busted was derived from this game.

SPANIARDS PLAY ONE-AND-THIRTY

Another card game with similarities to blackjack was the Spanish game called “One-and-Thirty.” Played in Spain and Ireland in the 15th to 17th centuries, players received three cards. The objective was to get closest to 31 with three cards in the same suit.

CHANGE FROM “21” TO “BLACKJACK”

Vingt-et-un’s popularity spread throughout the world; however, the name of the game soon became corrupted: in England it became “Van John,” and in Australia, it was “pontoon.”

 

It is generally believed that the game made its way to America in the 1800s, but, initially, it was not popular in gambling houses. To encourage more players to try it, the casinos changed the rules and began paying a 10-to-1-bonus payout when a player’s initial two cards were either a jack of clubs or jack of spades, together with an ace of spades. As a result of this change, Americans called the game “blackjack.”

 

LEGALIZATION

Nevada legalized gambling in 1931, and, gradually, blackjack made its way into legalized casinos in Las Vegas. Casino owners didn’t know much about the math of the game, but what they did know was that they were making a lot of money dealing blackjack. Actually, they were making too much money because of this simple fact of the game: Players acted before the dealer, and if a player’s hand exceeded 21, the player’s bet automatically lost, regardless of what the dealer subsequently did. Casino managers smartly realized this was too big an edge for them, so they implemented some player-favorable rules. These included paying 3-to-2 on a blackjack, and allowing players to double down and split pairs. The dealer, on the other hand, had no options: she was required to hit on 16 or less, and stand on 17 through 21. These rule changes increased the popularity of blackjack, even though the math of the game remained a mystery, because many casino owners believed the game was simply too complicated to be mathematically analyzed. But that notion changed in 1956.

THE FOUR HORSEMEN TO THE RESCUE

Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott, often referred to in the literature as the “Four Horsemen of Aberdeen,” developed the first reasonably accurate basic playing strategy for blackjack.

 

What was impressive about their accomplishment was that it was done using only hand calculators (or, “adding machines”). These pioneers proved that blackjack offered the best odds of winning if players would follow a specific set of playing rules. Their work was published in 1956 in the Journal of the American Statistical Society, and then, a year later, in the book Playing Blackjack to Win. Although the Four Horsemen were not widely known by the general public, their peers recognized their accomplishments in 2008 by inducting them into the Blackjack Hall of Fame.

 

BLACKJACK IN THE 1940s-1960s

In the ’40s and ’50s, there were a few players who independently developed rudimentary counting systems to beat blackjack. The most notable was Jess Marcum, a nuclear physicist for the Rand Corporation, who quit his job to play professionally. However, it was Edward O. Thorp, in 1962, who developed and published the first powerful, winning card-counting system (the “Ten Count”). When Thorp’s book made the New York Times list of best-selling books, hysteria took hold in Las Vegas casinos, and, on April Fool’s Day 1964 - as if to perpetrate a cruel hoax on the public - casinos drastically changed the rules of blackjack: 

 

 

• Players were restricted to only doubling down on two cards that totaled 11.
• A pair of aces could no longer be split.

 

Players balked at these changes and stopped playing. The casinos had no choice but to revert back to the standard blackjack rules with one major, but important, change: instead of dealing a hand-held, single-deck game, many switched to a four-deck game that was dealt from a dealing shoe. The public accepted this change, and, for the first time, multiple-deck blackjack games became more or less the norm in casinos. Millions of players purchased Thorp’s book, thinking it contained an easy method to get rich. But, even though his Ten Count worked, the public found it too complicated, and many reverted to their old ways of playing. Thorp’s book led to an increase in the popularity of blackjack, which ironically led to soaring profits for casino owners.

When blackjack was first introduced in casinos, it was dealt with a single deck of cards. The dealer manually shuffled the cards, and they were pitched to players face down. Players would pick up their cards to look at them, and then either tucked their cards under their chips, or scraped them on the felt towards themselves to indicate to the dealer if they wanted to stand or hit. Untied player blackjack hands received a 3-to-2 payoff. In the very early days, the dealers would always stand on soft 17, and players could double down on any two cards and after pair splitting. For many years, this game was often referred to as the “standard Las Vegas Strip blackjack game.” But times change, and so did the game of blackjack. In the subsequent chapters, I’ll explore some of these changes, not only to the way the game is played, but also to the techniques that have been developed that allow skilled players to beat the game.

KEY TAKEAWAYS:

• The objective of blackjack is to beat the dealer’s hand either by having a total that exceeds the dealer’s total, or by not going over 21 when the dealer does.
• Players have several playing options that include surrender, pair splitting, doubling down, and hitting and standing.
• The casino game of blackjack has its procedures, codes of conduct, and playing strategies to ensure the security and integrity of the game, and so you won’t attract the ire of your fellow players, or the dealer.
• ​By using the basic playing strategy, it’s possible to reduce the house edge to less than 1% (rules dependent).
• Blackjack is a game of skill, not solely chance, and by using certain playing and betting techniques, it is possible to swing the odds in your favor. This is not possible for any other casino game.
• It is widely thought that the French game of Vingt-et-Un, played in French casinos around 1700, was the precursor of blackjack.
• When blackjack made its way to America in the 1800s, and to encourage more players to try the game, casino operators changed the rules and began paying a 10-to-1 bonus when a player’s initial two cards were either a club or spade jack, together with an ace of spades. This resulted in Americans’ calling the game “blackjack” rather than “21.”
• Blackjack began being offered in legalized casinos in Las Vegas in 1931 even though casino operators didn’t know much about the math of the game.
• Roger Baldwin, Wilbert Cantey, Herbert Maisel, and James McDermott, often referred to in the literature as the “Four Horsemen of Aberdeen,” developed the first reasonably accurate basic playing strategy for blackjack in the 1950s.
• In 1962, Dr. Edward O. Thorp developed and published the first powerful winning card-counting system known as the “Ten Count.”
• After Thorp’s book Beat the Dealer made the New York Times list of best-selling books, casinos changed the rules of blackjack. Players balked and stopped playing. Casinos had no choice but to revert back to the standard rules with one major change: many switched from a hand-held single-deck game to four-deck games dealt from a dealing shoe.

 

CHAPTER SUMMARY

TEST YOURSELF

 

Try answering the following questions based on the information in Chapter 1.

1. The name of the game that is thought to be the precursor of blackjack is the French game Vingt-et-Un. True or False?
2. The game of “21” became known as “blackjack” when what occurred?
3. What did the “Four Horsemen of Aberdeen” accomplish?
4. Who developed and published the first powerful winning card-counting system for blackjack?
5. What was the name of this card-counting system, and the name of the book that made the New York Times list of best-selling books?
6. What is the objective of blackjack?
7. What major change occurred to the way blackjack was dealt in casinos following the publication of Beat the Dealer?
8. In a single-deck, pitched game you are allowed to hold your cards with two hands. True or False?
9. You want to make a $40 bet with one green chip ($25) and three red chips ($5 each). What’s the correct way to stack your chips in your betting spot?
10. You can reduce the house edge in blackjack by betting more after losing several hands in a row. True or False?

 

Answers

1. True.
2. Casino operators began paying a 10-to-1 bonus payout when a player’s initial two cards were either a club or spade jack, together with an ace of spades. This resulted in Americans’ calling the game “blackjack” instead of “21.”
3. They developed the first reasonably accurate basic playing strategy for blackjack in the 1950s.
4. Dr. Edward O. Thorp.
5. The Ten Count. The name of his best-selling book was Beat the Dealer.
6. The objective of blackjack is to beat the dealer’s hand either by having a total that exceeds the dealer’s total, or by not going over 21 when the dealer does.
7. Casinos started using four decks of cards dealt from a dealing shoe.
8. False. You may hold the cards with only one hand, and the cards must be above the level of the table at all times.
9. You stack your chips with the largest denomination chip(s) on the bottom ($25 green chip) and the smaller denomination chip(s) on top (three $5 red chips).
10. False.