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BlackJack History
originated in French
casinos around 1700
where it was called
"vingt-et-un"
("twenty-and-one")
and has been played
in the U.S. since
the 1800's. BlackJack
is named as such because
if a player got a
Jack of Spades and
an Ace of Spades as
the first two cards
(Spade being the color
black of course),
the player was additionally
remunerated.
Gambling was legal out West from the 1850's to
1910, at which time Nevada made it a felony to operate
a gambling game. In 1931, Nevada re-legalized casino
gambling where BlackJack became one of the primary
games of chance offered to gamblers. As some of
you may recall, 1978 was the year casino gambling
was legalized in Atlantic City, New Jersey. As of
1989, only two states had legalized casino gambling.
Since then, about 20 states have had a number of
small time casinos sprout up in places such as Black
Hawk and Cripple Creek, Colorado and in river boats
on the Mississippi. Roughly 70 Native American Indian
reservations operate or are building casinos as
well. |
