|
Blackjack tips, strategy, odds & more
|
|
A Brief History of Blackjack
The origin of playing cards dates back to 900 A.D. China. Gambling was
thought to have originated in China, as well, around 2300 B.C. Although
there is some debate around the origins of blackjack, it is generally
thought to be based on other early French card games and first appeared
in French casinos in the 1700s. At that time blackjack was referred to
at “vingt et un” or 21 – a name that still survives
today. Blackjack was been played in the U.S. since the 1800s. The term
Blackjack refers to a hand consisting of the ace of spades and the jack
of spades and rewarding the player accordingly.
Legalization
In the west, gambling was legal up to from the mid 1800s to 1910 at which
time, Nevada made in illegal to gamble. Nevada legalized casino gambling
in 1931 and blackjack became the most popular game at Las Vegas casinos.
Casino gambling was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey in the late
1970s. As of 1989 only 2 states had legalized casino gambling and since
then smaller casinos have been established in over 20 states. Today, casinos
are popular among Native American reservations.
Beat The Dealer
The first card counting techniques were developed by Professor Edward
Thorpe in his 1963 book, “Beat the Dealer”. He expanded upon
Roger Baldwin’s application of mathematics to the game called “Basic
Strategy”. Thorpe’s book scared the casino’s who made
dramatic changes to the rules of the game. Players left the game in droves
and casinos were forced to revert to the old rules.
MIT Blackjack Team
In the mid 1990s, a small group of math and science whizzes from MIT
took their recreational after school blackjack club and developed a highly
sophisticated system that would eventually allow them to consistently
beat the dealers at blackjack tables throughout the U.S. They took casino
gambling to a whole new level!
The MIT blackjack team’s strategy was based on card counters who
would signal other players that a table was “hot”. The team
used “spotters” to quietly play and consistently bet the minimum
while counting the cards played. “Back spotters” would watch
the game and count card from behind the players. The team employed “Big
Player” who would bet big and count cards as well. “Gorilla”
players simply bet big and didn’t count at all. Once the card count
became positive for the team they would use secret gestures to tell the
big players and gorillas that a table was “hot” and to bet
big.
They managed to go undetected by casino security, succeeding for many
years and winning millions of dollars. Eventually a private investigation
company hired to track unwanted winning players for casinos in Las Vegas
was able to gather identities of some of the MIT blackjack team members
after noticing some of the same faces together outside of the casinos,
of those who appeared not to know each other inside the casino. It was
also discovered that one of the members of the MIT blackjack team sold
a list of names to the casinos for $25 000. The high life soon came to
an end.
A movie based on the best selling book “Bringing Down the House”
is currently being produced by Kevin Spacey who is also reported to be
playing a supporting role in the movie. A short story based on the book
appeared in the September 2002 issue of Wired magazine.
Online Gambling
Gambling became a whole new ball game with the development of the Internet
in the 1990s. Players can now enjoy their favorite casino games from the
comfort of their home. Although players can usually find just about any
casino game online to choose, online blackjack still remains one of the
most popular. Not only do players have numerous sites and games to choose
from, there are also lots of opportunities to play free online blackjack
and other free online games. A great way to prepare you for the challenge
of a land based casino.
|
|
|
|
