History of Blackjack - The 1900s

March 19, 2009 | Article Category: Blackjack

0 Comments By the beginning of the 1900s, blackjack was one of the favorite card games that had been banned by the United States government. The game had increased in popularity as professional card players came to understand the vast potential of the profits that could be made from the game.

In the early part of the century, a basic blackjack strategy was developed, which when followed, improved the odds of winning. The basic blackjack strategy did not include card counting, and is only used for a single game at a time. It is simply advice on when a player should stand, hit and so on, and is still followed by players today.

As with many banned things, blackjack's popularity rose even more as Federal Marshals and the government increased anti-gambling restrictions in the 1920s. The game was once again played legally in 1931 when Nevada legalized gambling. Players flocked to Las Vegas to gamble, and blackjack continued to attract interest.

Roger Baldwin and his associates began to study blackjack in 1953. In 1956, they published "Optimum Strategy in Blackjack" in the American Statistical Association. Calculating methods and statistics theory helped them arrive at their conclusions.

The next, and more advanced, development in blackjack theory was a study using science and math by Edward O. Thorp. He improved on the findings of Roger Baldwin and associates, and published "Beat the Dealer" in 1962. This book, containing a card counting system, reached the first place on the New York Times' bestsellers list in 1963.

While Thorp's book created ripples of terror for casinos who, as a result of the book, modified the rules of blackjack, it created even more interest in the game itself. The Ten-Count method that Thorp explained was difficult for most average blackjack players to understand. Once the casinos realized that there was very little threat to them after "Beat the Dealer" was published, they reverted to the traditional rules of blackjack. From the 1960s through to the 1980s, blackjack continued to rise in popularity at casinos.

An IBM employee, Julian Braun studied blackjack using computer simulated games. He published his findings in the second edition of "Beat the Dealer." Another book that inspired many blackjack players is "Playing Blackjack as a Business" by Lawrence Revere.

Another well-known blackjack author is Ken Uston. He published "Million Dollar Blackjack," "The Big Player," and "Ken Uston on Blackjack." Until they were caught, Uston and his colleagues made thousands of dollars in Nevada casinos every month by using computers that were kept inside their shoes.

In the 1990s, the MIT Blackjack Team used card counting techniques to win millions of dollars in land-based casinos. In 1997, these players were detected by the Griffin Investigation and were banned from entering casinos. Griffin Investigation is a private detective company that helps to protect casinos from those who wish to cheat by card counting and other methods.

Blackjack has proved itself to be a popular game in both land-based and in online casinos. It is a game that requires not only luck, but luck combined with some skill. Blackjack is available in both live dealer and regular online casinos.

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