Blackjack Strategy

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Black Jack – also known as ‘twenty-one’ and ‘pontoon’ – is a card game that is usually found in a betting house with players trying their luck on achieving the elusive ‘twenty-one’. It’s commonly presumed that the game started in France amid the 1600’s. However, as with many other casino games the precise development of the game is a mystery.

Blackjack was brought to the States following the French Revolution, but the game didn’t become favored in the gambling dens until the casino offered payouts as a bonus. This was the only method that seemed to get players wagering on black jack. One variant on the reward pay out was for a player to acquire ‘twenty-one’ with the blackjack card (given a value of 10 points) and an ace (valued at eleven points). With the growing appeal of the game the bonus pay outs were phased out but the name of the game ‘black jack’ remained.

Chemin de fer is not just about acquiring a straight ‘twenty one’, but the main challenge is to beat the croupier without going ‘bust’. The betting house obviously has a house edge over the gambling players in the long term, but with chemin de fer the player retains a bit of choice.

Since 1931 when the U.S. first legitimized wagering, twenty-one has grown into a quintessential betting house card game. Furthermore, it’s the joining of both skill and mathematics utilized in pontoon that has caused the game to be massively popular. Pontoon affords an attractive adventure to any academic, mathematician or betting player wanting to analyze the scheme of the game.