♠ BLACKJACK

Blackjack, also known as twenty-one, is the most popular classic casino game played throughout the world today. Blackjack is a comparing card game between you, the player, and the dealer. This means that you and other players all compete against the dealer, not against each other. It is played with one or more decks of 52 cards. The object of the game is to reach 21 points or to reach a score higher than the dealer without exceeding 21.

The game of Texas Hold'Em (poker) may be popular, but it's still not popular enough to oust the King of casino games, Blackjack. Legendary and well-known, the casino game of Blackjack bests and beats them all with it's No 1 position as the king of classic casino games.

Blackjack was originally known as twenty-one, or vingt-et-un in earlier times. These days the game's popularity has reached huge levels and it holds a major part of the gambling and casino world both on land and online. For those who want to try your hand at this exciting and intriguing game, or for the more seasoned Blackjack player, here are the current best online casinos for enjoying a game of online Blackjack for the month of October 2016. If you want to learn more about this exciting game read on!

Blackjack Casinos	Bonus%	Bonus	Review
Europa Casino	200%	£2400	review
Bovada Casino	100%	$3000	review
32Red Casino	160%	£ 160	review
Club World Casinos	150%	$ 150	review
21Prive Casino	100%	unlimited	review
Royal Vegas Casino	200%	$1200	review
Bet365 Casino	100%	£ 200	review
Gala Casino	100%	£ 400	review
High Noon Casino	100%	$ 500	review

How to Play Blackjack;

As a blackjack player you are dealt an initial two-card hand and you then add together the value or sum total of your cards. Face cards (kings, queens, and jacks) are counted as 10 points each. You, as well as the dealer can choose to count your ace as either 1 point or 11 points. All other cards dealt are counted at the numeric value shown on the card. After receiving your first two cards, you have the option of getting a "hit", which means taking an additional card. In a round, either you or the dealer wins by having a score of 21 or by having the highest score that is less than 21. Scoring higher than 21 (which is called "busting" or "going bust") results in a loss. You can win, by having any final score equal to or less than 21 if the dealer goes bust. (goes over 21). If you hold an ace valued as 11, the hand is called "soft", meaning that you cannot go bust by taking an additional card; otherwise, the hand is called "hard".

The dealer has to take hits (another card) until his or her cards total 17 or more points. (In some casinos, the dealer also hits on a "soft" 17 - e.g.: an initial ace and six.) You win if you do not go bust and have a final total that is higher than the dealer's. The dealer loses if he or she goes bust or has a lesser hand than you, who has not gone bust. If you and the dealer have the same point total, this is called a "push", and you don’t win or lose money on that hand.

Many rule variations of blackjack exist.

Other classic casino games that have been inspired by Blackjack are Pontoon and Spanish 21.

Blackjack Words and their meaning;

Bust;	When the cards you hold in your hand exceed 21.
21;	A hand that has a value of 21 which is achieved with 3 or more cards.
DoubleDown;	To double your current bet and receive only one card.
Hand;	The cards you are dealt.
Hit;	A request for an additional card
Stand;	To remain at your current card value and not get another card.
Split;	If you hold a pair in your hand (such as two fours) you can choose to spilt the cards and create two hands from them. The 2^nd hand then requires another bet being placed equal to the first.
Surrender;	This is allowed at some casinos; if you find you have been dealt a really bad hand you can give it up and only loose half your bet instead of losing the entire amount.
Soft Hand;	A hand that has an ace which can be counted as either 1 or 11.
Hard Hand;	A hand that does not contain any ace.
Pat Hand;	A hand that values 17 or more.
Hole Card;	The one card in each hand that is face down on the table.
Push;	When a players hand and the dealers hand have the same value and the hands are tied. No money is then lost or won.

Blackjack Basics and Tips;

Remember first and foremost that is impossible to win ALL the time! Blackjack is a game of strategy, mathematics and card counting. To be able to win big you have to play many hands, go with the flow, (the ups and downs) and work on perfecting your skills to be able to gain the advantage.

In a land based casinos card counting is wonderful for gaining advantage but you have to do it properly. Important to note here is that this tactic cannot be used when playing at an online casino as the cards are shuffled after every game (each hand).

Don’t get overconfident as this remains the main source of loss even with professional blackjack players. Put your pride in your pocket, keep a cool head and practice.

Playing many hands at once does not increase your chances of winning.

Get to know the terms used in Blackjack and what they mean.

Blackjack is an easy game to learn but it does take time to become good at it.

Take a break. Walking away from the game and doing something else this is not related to the game at all can make a huge difference and you will return with a new and fresh perspective on the game, when you do. This also helps to prevent you from becoming stale or stuck in a rut or bad habit.

Blackjack Hall of Fame;

Although there are famous players in the world that pre-date the Blackjack hall of fame and go back to earlier era's, and most of them with colourful past histories and lives. The Hall of Fame was created in 2002.

In 2002, professional gamblers around the world were invited to nominate great blackjack players for admission into the Blackjack Hall of Fame. Seven members were inducted in 2002, at the Barona Casino in San Diego, California, USA.

These first seven were announced at the Blackjack Ball in January of 2003. The Hall of Fame is situated at the Barona Casino in San Diego.

In 2003 the Initial Seven inductees into this hallowed Hall of Fame were Al Francesco, Peter Griffin, Tommy Hyland, Arnold Snyder, Edward O Thorp, Ken Uston and Standford Wong.
In 2004; Keith Taft and Max Rubin.
In 2005; Julian Braun and Laurence Revere were added.
In 2006; James Grosjean.
In 2007; Johnny Chang.
In 2008; “The Four horsemen of Aberdeen” namely Roger Baldwin, Will Cantey, Herbert Maisel and James Mc Dermott.
In 2009; Richard W Munchleia.
In 2010; Darryl Purpose.
In 2011; Zeljko Ranogajec.
In 2012; Ian Anderson.
In 2013; Rober Nersesian.
In 2014; Don Schlesinger.
In 2015; Bill Benter.

Each of them for outstanding performance or contribution in one form or other to the game of Blackjack.

Interestingly one of the prizes for being added to this prestigious list is that they receive a lifetime comp from the Barona Casino which includes, full room, food and beverage for life in exchange for a deal never to play on Barona Casinos tables!

History of Blackjack;

Blackjack, the world’s most widely played casino game, this classic casino game can trace its roots back to the card games that emerged in Europe.

Many present day gambling games are incarnations of previous games. The French are credited with inventing playing cards in 1387, and in 1440 Johann Gutenberg of Germany printed the first full deck of cards.

Some historians say that the Italian game Thirty-One is the true parent of blackjack as we know it today. This particular game was first mentioned in a sermon by an Italian monk in 1440 in which he preached about gambling. The basis of the game 31 was to get a three card hand reaching a total of 31. The game was very popular at this time and it features in the famous work of "Gargantua and Pantagreul" as one of the hundred games played by Gargantua. It was also mentioned in a novel by a famous Spanish writer in 1613.

Following on the popularity of 31, the Italians invented another card game known as Seven-and-a-Half. The features of these two games eventually made their way into a game that most gambling scholars now consider the direct ancestor of blackjack, a popular French 17th century card game known as Vingt-et-Un, or Twenty-One (21).

While the French working class of the sixteenth century became adept at the Egyptian game of roulette, Napoleon Bonaparte, Emperor of France, took great interest in the card game vingt-et-un that is now known as blackjack or twenty one today.

Vingt-et-Un closely resembled blackjack. Its goal was to obtain a total of 21 points using the same ranking system employed by blackjack with a few differences. For more information on these differences, see our article on Madame Moustache "The First Lady of Blackjack". A famous gambler from the USA in the days of the Wild West. You can read more about her and Vingt-et-Un here.

Vingt-et-Un eventually crossed the Channel and arrived in the UK, and the British gave it the pet name “blackjack” which, as we all know stuck! This name was given as the winning combination of a jack and an ace of spades earnt a special payout.

After the French Revolution in 1789 the game migrated to North America, the US at the time had strong ties with France due to support it was given by them during the American Revolution. From the early 1800s through to 1910 America had no laws against gambling, saloons in the USA and blackjack continued to gain popularity. Professional gamblers soon realised there was potential in the game to make huge winnings and so the mathematics and strategies for winning at the game began.

Early in the 20th Century, the United States outlawed gambling as a practice that corrupted the country and left its people prey to outlaws and crooks. The Restrictions were tightened even further during the roaring 1920's which drove gambling underground.

In the 1950s, when "The Four Horsemen of Aberdeen” which were a group of USA Army servicemen, completed the first complete strategy for Blackjack and demonstrated how a player should play in any situation. What is amazing about this is that it was done with calculators, (no computers then) and figured out all the different calculations of the game. Since these boys wrote this book, Blackjack has been a target of advantage players, particularly card counters in land based casinos, who track the profile of cards that have been dealt and adapt their wagers and playing strategies accordingly. The "Four horsemen of Aberdeen" were inducted into the Blackjack hall of fame in 2008.

Fancy pitting your skills and trying your luck with a game of online Blackjack?

Blackjack is a classic casino game that is the most popular Casino card games in the world today. How to Play Blackjack, all about playing the game, famous Blackjack gamblers and the best online casinos for enjoying the game.

Play blackjack at 21 Prive

High Noon Casino for some great Blackjack

21 - The Movie

Johnny Chang was the basis for the character Mickey Rosa played by Kevin Spacey in this fact based movie released in 2008. It's all about six MIT students who are trained to become card counting experts and take the Casinos in Vegas for millions.