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 History
of Black Jack
It is generally believed that blackjack got its start in French in the 18th
century. The game was very popular in the United States in the 19th century, but
it was mostly played by women. In the early 20th century the game grew in
popularity, against mostly among the ladies because they were not allowed to
play other casino games with the men.
Blackjack began to gain popularity among the male population when Dr. Edward
O. Thorp published Beat the Dealer in 1962. Since then, blackjack has become
ever more popular, among men and women.
Donald Catlin claims he played in the first blackjack tournament ever in
1979. Whether that is true or not we’ll leave to the judgment of the discerning
blackjack aficionado, but there is no doubt that the history of blackjack
tournaments can be traced at least to the early 1980’s.
Once land-based casinos figured out that people will pay to play blackjack,
they started making new developments in the game. Many of those developments
occurred in the 1970’s when Ken Uston and Al Francesco made their millions. But
many more have occurred since then. You can find a blackjack tournament in just
about any casino, land-based and online, today with very little effort.
Stanford Wong, known as the Godfather of Blackjack, began playing in
tournaments in 1985, but it is likely that blackjack tournaments existed before
then. Wong wrote his book Tournament Blackjack in 1987. In 1992, he updated the
book and changed its title to Casino Tournament Strategy.
While casinos popularized blackjack tournaments in the 1980’s with huge cash
prizes, it was not until the 1990’s that blackjack tournament play really took
off. The history of blackjack tournaments has not been the same since the advent
of the Internet revolutionized the gaming industry. Online casinos began popping
up in 1994 and online blackjack took off like a spaceship. This new development
took the history of blackjack tournaments to a new level. Online BJT became an
instant phenomenon.
In the early 21st century, blackjack hit national TV. Suddenly, everyone was
playing in blackjack tournaments, competing for big prizes, and the events were
televised. Three such huge tournaments are The World Series of Blackjack, the
Las Vegas Hilton Million Dollar Blackjack Tournament, and the Ultimate Blackjack
Tournament. These televised tournaments continue to draw new competitors as
previous winners return to compete again and again.
The history of blackjack tournaments is still being written, but serious
blackjack buffs are anxiously awaiting the future of BJT, which holds great
promises for this competitive event. Both TV and the Internet offer tremendous
opportunities for blackjack enthusiasts to continue writing the history of one
of America’s most popular past times.
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