Here at NetBet UK casino, we aim to promote games via our blogs to different players. While online slots remain almost every player’s favourite, there’s no question that online blackjack has an army of fans too. But, how did it all begin? In this blog, we’ll take a look at how blackjack has changed over the years to the versions you can play right now at NetBet casino.
The Origins of Blackjack
The casino gaming industry is always shifting. Games evolve rapidly over the years, and so did blackjack. It’s a much different game than when it was first played in casinos, yet manages to retain its fundamentals and offers the same experience. In a much better and changed environment, of course.
While every game evolves in a particular way, the changes are usually subtle. They’re more like quality of life improvements than basic changes of the game’s core. That happened with blackjack too, which evolved the most during the Las Vegas boom after World War II.
The first mentions of blackjack are in the mid-XVII century in books published by Miguel Cervantes. There, it was mentioned as Vingt-Un, which has remained a name many countries use. It also shows the goal of the game, which is to reach 21 before the dealer does.
When Las Vegas started to boom in 1946, blackjack was already a big hit in casinos. It had a low house edge, and many players used strategies to get the house edge even lower under 1%. These strategies became especially popular in the decades that followed, which resulted in big profit cuts for casinos. That’s where they decided it was time to make a change.
Blackjack Evolution
The real changes started when casinos realized that players are using strategies to beat the game more often. In the early 1960s, a few books talked more about blackjack strategies, which prompted casinos to think about how to turn the tide in their favour. Some of them changed the rules of the game, resulting in a house edge of over 2%. Players fought back as they believed casinos aren’t fair, so most venues stayed empty. Casinos were forced to reinstate the original rules, which saw an immediate increase in player activity.
Over the next two decades, slight changes were introduced to the blackjack rules to bring profit back to casinos. For example, the game went from being played with one deck to being played with two. Later, the number of shoes increased to 4, 6, and 8, making it much harder to apply strategies or count cards.
The dealer hit rule also changed to Soft 17. Now, the dealer must hit on a Soft 17, and players weren’t allowed to double down after a split. These changes only slightly altered the rules, yet managed to decrease the shuffling time and essentially increase profits for casinos. They also ensured that players are never in mathematically overly advantageous situations like many were before when counting cards was allowed.
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