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Blackjack Online New Zealand 2023

Blackjack is played in casinos all over the world. In Las Vegas it is the most popular casino game. But where does the card game come from? Good question. What is the history of blackjack? The honest answer: we do not know exactly. The American mathematician and lover of card games Richard Epstein writes in his standard work The Theory of Gambling and Statistical Logic:
‘The exact origin of the game or blackjack is rather murky.’
In other words: the exact origin of the game of blackjack is rather obscure. But we can do a well-reasoned guess of course.

The oldest Cards Game

If we want to know the history of black jack, we must first look at the history of playing cards, with which the game is played. The first playing cards are probably made in the 9th century. In China, the ‘leaf game’ is very popular at the imperial court. Those Chinese playing cards do not look like our cards with hearts, diamonds, spades and clover, but probably look like sheets of paper with images of dominoes on them. Through the Middle East and Egypt playing cards in the 14th century slowly enter Europe. But only after the printing press was invented in the 15th century, card games become popular. Until that time cards are (too) expensive, because hand made, painted and calligraphed. So unattainable, because unaffordable, for the common man. Playing cards do exist at court and some monasteries have them, but they are mainly used for educational purposes and not for gambling. The card game blackjack can hardly be much older than the 15th century. Yet some historians claim that the Romans already played a form of blackjack. Not with maps, but with blocks of wood. But since many centuries have elapsed between Roman times and the introduction of playing cards in Europe, it seems practically impossible that there is a connection between that alleged Roman game and current blackjack.

One-and-twenty

More faithfully, Mr. Casino thinks the historians point to the Spanish writer Miguel Cervantes (1547-1616), whom you know from his famous novel about Don Quixote. In his story Rinconete y Cortadillo (1612) a card game is briefly passed that is called ‘veintiuna’. Veintiuna is probably the Spanish name of vingt-et-un, a card game played roughly between 1600 and 1700 at the French court. Then it seems obvious that the famous card game is also played during the reign of Louis XIV (1638-1715), the Sun King. It maintains a rather rich and exuberant court life, there in Versailles. In blackjack, the number 21 plays an important role. It is the highest score you can get with your cards, but if you go over 21, you lose your bet. Popularly, blackjack is still called ‘twentieth’. It is therefore logical that most historians assume in 2015 that blackjack originated from the originally French card game ‘vingt-et-un’. That name means – of course – one-and-twenty.

Blackjack in the first casinos

From the French court, the game must have landed in French casinos. The history of the casino phenomenon begins in Europe in the 17th century. So that fits seamlessly. But why is it a Spanish writer and not a French author who first mentions the card game in his manuscript? We do not know that (even though), but we can philosophise a little bit. Miguel Cervantes is not only a writer but also a merchant, and of good quality. In this capacity he travels a lot through Europe and he will often be welcomed by people from the better circles. This way he could have come into contact with vingt-et-un, or, veintiuna. The story Rinconete y Cortadillo is in his collection of novels Novelas Ejemplares. That means as much as ‘The Sample Novels’. Cervantes is proud to be the first writer in Spain to master the new, extremely modern genre of the ‘novella’. Perhaps in his desire for modernity, he also wanted to describe modern things in his before that time hip stories. Such as the rise of the popular new card game that would later be called blackjack.
‘From John’ and Ein-und-Zwanzig In the French casinos vingt-et-un quickly becomes popular, because it is rightly seen as a game where you as a gambler can exercise more influence than for example roulette. From France, this primal form of blackjack spreads over other countries. In England it is called ‘Van John’, a corrupted pronunciation of vingt-et-un. The Germans were then more of the dubbing and keep it on Ein-und-Zwanzig. Where does the word ‘blackjack’ come from? The word ‘blackjack’, there is no doubt about that, is 100% sure from America. In the US, the card game first appeared in 1912. Gambling halls in Evansville, Indiana, offer it under the name Twenty-One. But after a short hype the local authorities ban all gambling games. It was not until 1931 that one state in the US decided to officially legalize gambling: Nevada. The new legal casinos in Reno and Las Vegas also offer Twenty-One, but most Americans do not know the game and do not trust it (so). Some casinos find something there. To make Twenty-One more attractive, they pay 10 to 1 if you are the first to get two cards of spades-bait and clover-farmer or spade-farmer. On the other hand, it is often allowed, so a black bait with a spade farmer.

Voilà: blackjack

Then the game evolves further. The 10-to-1 bonus for a blackjack is soon no longer necessary, because players are in line to play the card game. Since then, every combination of an ace and a card worth 10 points is called a blackjack. You win one and a half times your bet. The most important innovation appears at the end of the fifties: the possibility to insure. On photos from the fifties you can not see the familiar words ‘Insurance pays 2 to 1’ on the blackjack garment. But insurance was already fully established in the 1960s. Since then, not much has changed in the game, although the rules can vary slightly per casino and even per table.

‘Blackjack pays 6 to 5’

Nevertheless, in recent years there has been a new innovation in Las Vegas, which does not appeal to Mr. Casino at all. In more and more casinos, especially on the Strip, the bank pays for a blackjack no more than one and a half times your bet but only 1.2 times your bet. So if you bet $ 10, you win only 12 dollars with a blackjack instead of 15 dollars. That may not seem like a big difference, but the house advantage of the casino is more than doubled. If you happen to go to Las Vegas (or another place in the US with casinos), pay attention and never take a seat at a table where ‘blackjack pays 6 to 5’ is on the sheet. The fewer people play this dubious blackjack variant, the faster it hopefully disappears.

Learn Blackjack

Untrained blackjack players bring a shitload of money to the casino and are welcomed with open arms. Learning blackjack is a prerequisite for playing blackjack. This casino game has the highest payout percentage: if you do well! It requires knowledge of the rules, strategy and a discipline that is hard to discipline. These are the 3 basic steps:

Stamp the card values ​​in your head

The card values ​​of blackjack are very important to know, because with each hand / round you will be dealt two cards and you have to determine the card value. You can then also request extra cards and you must also know the card values. A pack of cards has 52 cards and these are divided into 4 types: clover, spades, hearts and diamonds. Each type therefore consists of 13 cards: an Ace, King, Queen, Jack and numbered cards with the numbers 2 to 10. With blackjack, the card type has no meaning unless you play a side bet. The first step of learning blackjack is the card values. Each card in the card game has a certain value. Blackjack is about counting points and you can not accumulate more than 21 points. These are the card values:

  • Pictures: the value is 10
  • Ace: the value is 11, unless there are more than 22 points: then it is 1
  • 2 to 9: these cards have a value of 2 to 9

What makes the Ace special is that you can choose 11 points or 1 point yourself. If you get more than 21 points with 11 points, the Ace counts for 1 point. A hand with an ace is called a “soft” hand, since the Ace can be considered as 1 or 11. The hand Ace and 6 together makes a soft 17. With a soft hand you can not “bust” with the next card. The hand Ace, 6 and 10 on the other hand make a “hard” 17, because now the ace has to be counted as 1. If the Ace counted as 11 you have 27 points, which is unfortunately more than 21 points.

Example:

You get a 9 and an Ace from the dealer handed out. If you count the ace as one, the value of your hand is only 10 points and that is not a good hand. If you count the ace as an 11, your value is 20 points and you will probably win from the dealer. There is only a small chance of a dealer win at 20 points from the player.

Profitable and loss-making card values

The different card values ​​in blackjack have a greater or lesser chance of “busting”. For hands with a “hard” 11 or higher, the following chances are to “bust”:

11: 0%
12: 31%
13: 39%
14: 56%
15: 58%
16: 62%
17: 69%
18: 77%
19: 85%
20: 92%
21: 100%

Know the choices

When it is your turn, you generally have the choice between passes (stand) or card questions (hit). You can fit on every two cards, then you will not get any more cards. You may continue to ask for cards until you have more than 21 points. In addition, there are other options for certain card combinations:

  • Insure: this is not possible in every game and only available if the dealer has an Ace
  • Doubling: you double the bet and get only one card. Often possible for a number of points from 8 to 11
  • Split: Make two hands from a hand if both cards have the same values.
  • Surrender: Sometimes you can give up your hand for half a bet.

Start by winning after learning blackjack

To win, you must collect more points than the bank, but no more than 21 points. If you do, you are “bust”. With a draw, it is a “push”. Then neither the player nor the bank will win. First all players are at the table and then the dealer. The hand of the dealer determines the outcome of the round. Generally, players copy the dealer and request another card under 16 points. Let’s be clear: that is a bad deployment strategy. Another bad strategy is to stop at the moment that you could Bust with a next card. The biggest advantage of the casino comes from the fact that the player first has to decide and then the bank. If a player has more than 21 points, the casino wins anyway. If the bank also “busts” there, the bank still won from the first player. After all, the bank is the last to act.

Special Blackjack Terms

Double

A player can double his or her bet. This is only possible if the total value of the first two cards is 9,10 or 11. This doubling is linked to one condition: only one card is drawn regardless of the value. This can sometimes have the result that one will end up with an undesirable total such as 12 or 13. If you draw a card with a value of ten or eleven, then the chance of double winnings is of course quite big.

Divide

One can split if the first two cards that are shared have an equal value. It does not have to be the same cards, for example, two farmers, but cards with the same value, such as a farmer and a woman. At a split, the bet must be added to the second card. The two cards are placed side by side with both their bet on top. Each of the two cards will then receive a second card. LikThe game is then played according to the regular rules. It is possible to split cards several times, after the first split two cards may have the same value again, one may split again.

Blackjack

Apart from the fact that the game is so hot, it is also possible to get a combination called ‘Blackjack’. This is when you get an Ace and a ten with the first two cards. If this happens then this one and a half time the bet is paid out unless the dealer also has a blackjack, then there is the talk of a push, a similar game.

To ensure

As mentioned earlier, all players including the bank get two cards in the beginning. The bank has only one card open and the second one closed. If this open card is an Ace, then the bank will ask the players if they want to insure. The player can here decide whether he wants to bet half of his bet as insurance against a bank’s blackjack, this bet is then put on the insurance line. After everyone has had the chance to draw or fit a card, the dealer will open his closed card. If the dealer now has blackjack, everyone loses at the table who does not own blackjack, and the bets are removed. If there are people who have insured, the insured stake will be paid twice, so there will be no loss or profit. If the dealer has shown his second card and did not have blackjack, then all insurance policies are taken away from the table. Ensuring works, statistically, to your disadvantage. We, therefore, recommend never to insure. There are still a few rules that can occur in very specific situations, but we will not go into this further. With an online casino, these rules are all included in the software, so that the rules are automatically displayed when such a situation occurs. You do not have to remember all the rules in detail to be fun.

How does the dealer play?

The dealer will keep buying until he has gained 17 or more points. It is not smart to play in the same way as the dealer, if you and the dealer buy themselves dead then you lost your bet and this goes to the dealer, so in the long term you always end up losing. At the Holland Casino players always get 1 card from the dealer, based on this card you can already determine how much risk you take with the addition of cards.

Payouts

If you have an equal number of points if the dealer achieves, you win or lose nothing, this also applies to a BlackJack. If you receive a BlackJack, you win one and a half times your bet. With a normal profit your bet is doubled.

Conclusion

Blackjack is perhaps the most important casino game after roulette. Under normal circumstances, the house has a very small advantage in blackjack. With the right blackjack rules and bonuses, that changes in even more advantage for the player. You do not even have to count the cards to make this work – just find the right table, get the right offers and win real money online with playing blackjack!