Blackjack, commonly seen today as online blackjack via online casinos, is one of the world’s most established games and its past, its origins, are shrouded in mystery. The first mention of online blackjack’s land-based form was in a short story written in 1600, composed in Spain. It’s proof that online blackjack is a card game grown from centuries of gaming. It has gone on to outlive monarchs and governments. The mere presence of online blackjack is evidence of this. Rinconete y Cortadillo, composed by the pen of Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote, features a variation on 21st Century online blackjack. The central characters of the novel are a pair of conmen, quite good at a card game described as veintiuna – In Spanish, translated to 21.

In the novel, the main characters engage in a game quite familiar to a game online blackjack players play regularly – taking point-based cards out of a pack of cards in order to gain a total of 21 points. Does this sound recognisable to the game of online blackjack internet gamers play today? This primitive type of online blackjack wasn’t just a game for Spanish literary heroes though and the card game was played through each country of Europe at the time.

In France, casinos offered the opportunity for gamers to bet in a game named Vingt et Un, français for 21. Although the regulations differed from the 21st Century form of online blackjack, the basic principals applied. During the same period, Italians bet on a related card game to 21, identified as seven and a half. As they were dealt cards from the deck of cards, players attempted to achieve 7 and a half points, without being dealt a card that would give them more points than this score. 7 and a half differed because it was only played using the 7, 8, 9 and face playing cards. The number cards were valued at their number, while king, queen and jack cards were given the value of half a point. Online blackjack gamers will know that the total to aim for is now twenty-one.

The French Revolution caused the card game of blackjack to travel to America. Because it was a very new card game, extra bonuses were included in the card game for the purpose of attract more gamers. If a player was drawn an Ace and a Jack of Spades they were given a 10-to-1 payout bonus; it is thought that the name of modern online blackjack stems from this bonus. The huge rise of blackjack during this period of American history was quickly recognised by the government at the time who started to crackdown on blackjack through law. As a result, the game went underground. It was not to reappear until the 1900’s.

By Marcus Miles
Marcus Miles is a writer for Kerching Casino. An amateur gamer, based in Manchester, United Kingdom, he has been writing about gaming-related issues for over ten years, having started his career writing about gaming in the editorial department of a regional poker magazine in Liverpool. He has been a contributor to a number of internet gaming websites.