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| 1/12/2008 | The French seem to be credited with the inspection of this game; they called it vingt-et-un or twenty one to the rest of us. It is believed to have been played in the 1700’s in the French casinos. It enjoyed much popularity in the French gaming houses but got a slower start elsewhere. When first introduced in the United States it didn’t prove itself right away. The casinos had to sweeten the pot just to get people to try it. They called it a bonus and one of them was a ten-to-one payout. The catch here was that one of the cards had to be a black jack; it didn’t matter whether it was the black jack of spades to the black jack of clubs. The name stuck even though the payouts did not as it gained an audience. In today’s game you need not have a black jack to win but you still need twenty one or close to it.
Blackjack has become one of the most played casino games today. You have casinos offering many tables at which to play. However, with its popularity has come a problem and it is called card counting. Many people have tried this and have been successful until they have been caught. There is a skill to playing the game and of course the element of surprise. Card counting is not allowed when playing blackjack and will end your playing the game.
The idea is to get your cards to add up to twenty one or as close as possible. You will play against the house or dealer and each player at the table has the chance to win. You want the combination of the highest total of cards without going over twenty one. The cards have a value and cards two through ten are of face value. The other cards such as jack, queen and king are worth ten points and an ace can be eleven or one. If you would go over twenty one the ace can be worth one point so you don’t go bust.
Both the player and dealer can go bust in the same hand without any one winning. The bets that can be placed in blackjack will be different depending on where you play. Each casino can decide what amount they want and you will have a minimum and a maximum bet. Once the players have placed their bets the dealer will issue two cards. They will deal two cards to themselves as well, one of them face up. Depending on where you play in the world the dealer may check their face down card to see if they have twenty one before any more bets are placed. If they have a twenty one then the game is over and none of the players wins. In the United States this procedure isn’t followed, but the game only allows for the initial bet to be forfeited if it discovered that the dealer has a twenty one. The game that began in France has definitely become a winner everywhere. |
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