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The History of Atlantic City Blackjack
Like any of the variants of Blackjack that have developed, Atlantic City Blackjack has its roots in the original Blackjack game. Atlantic City Blackjack is a variant of Blackjack that developed in the early 1900's when Blackjack became more popular again in the North American casinos and gambling was reinstated as a legal entity.
Blackjack is a game with a rich history, dating back at least as far as the 1700's, but some argue it was played even before that. It is a game of skill and luck whereby the aim of the game is to get as close to the numerical value of 21 without being bust with the cards that are dealt. All the cards hold their regular values apart from the Ace which can be 1 or 11. Classic Blackjack is played with one deck of a 52 card pack but the variations use different numbers of decks.
In the early 1700's Blackjack was the game that was played at French gaming houses which were later called casinos (the name casino comes from the Italian for "little house"). It was played by the noblemen of the time and thought to be a favorite game of Napoleon. Blackjack was a mixture of other games that were popular at that time such as Chemin De Fer and Trente et Un. There is also an ancient Italian game by the name of Seven and a Half which is much more like Blackjack as we know it; the game was played with 40 cards only, the eights, nines, tens were taken out of the deck and the Face cards were given a value of half. The aim was to get seven and a half without being bust. If the player was bust he was out of the game. All of these games had the same aim - to reach a certain number or as close to it as possible without going over it with the cards that were dealt.
Prior to the 1700's there are early reports of games being played with decorated paper tickets. For example, in the Arabian world, thin tablets of stone, which were like thin cards, were decorated with intricate designs, each one depicting a different character from society. These were used for playing games. The idea of the decorated ticket traveled to Europe where the mythological characters were replaced with members of high society such as Bishops, Cardinals, and Lords and so on. Eventually these were replaced with the cards as we know them today, Ace, King Queen Jack and so on.
The name of Blackjack was given when the game made its way across the Ocean to America, the name came from the original winning hand of a black Jack of Spades and an Ace of Spades which gave a payout of odds of 10:1. These were very high odds for this type of card game and with time these also changed. The current odds for a winning Blackjack hand which can now be any combination of an Ace and a picture card are 3:2. By the 1800's the game of Blackjack was flourishing in the United States. There was no restriction on gambling and games of Blackjack could be seen at every casino across the country. By 1910 when gambling was banned across the United States, Blackjack had already become a standard and well accepted card game that was played by almost all casino goers. Despite the ban in the United States Blackjack continued to flourish in Europe and it was during this time that the first variations of the game developed. Some of these variations still exist today, for example the European No- Hole Card Rule whereby the dealer only receives one card which is face up so all players can see his card. The dealer does not have another card with which to check for Blackjack. The dealer will only receive a second card once all of the players have taken their turns and decided how they are playing their hands. These type of game means that player stand to lose not only their original bets but also any extra bets placed as a result of doubling down and splitting. Of course though there is also no Insurance bet in this version of Blackjack.
Back in the United States, gambling was again legalized in 1931 and because of its previous popularity; Blackjack again was at the forefront of the gambling world. At this time, the different American versions of Blackjack gambling developed. The most well known one is Multi hand Blackjack which allows a player to hold more than one hand at a time as opposed to classic Blackjack which allows only one hand per player. Atlantic City Blackjack also developed around this time when Atlantic City became a gambling center and nearly as popular as Las Vegas. Just before the outbreak of the Second World War gambling was at an all time high in the US, maybe it helped to alleviate stress from all of the bad news around the world. It was at this time that Atlantic City Blackjack came to the forefront of Blackjack play. The main difference with Atlantic City Blackjack is that it is played with 8 decks of 52 cards each and the player is only allowed one hand at a time. Atlantic City Blackjack uses the rules of the American hole card game whereby the dealer has two cards, one face up and one face down. If the player draws two of the same cards he is allowed to split up to two or three times in a game but it must be remembered that with every split a bet, the same value of the initial bet, has to be placed again. Atlantic City Blackjack also allows for Double Down, this is when the player thinks that he has a winning hand with just one more draw of a card and takes the chance. He has to place an extra bet to the value of what his original bet is and he is allowed to draw only one more cards. The dealer then draws his cards and the one with the closest to 21 is the winner providing neither the players nor the dealer have gone over 21 which is bust. Insurance is another option which is allowed with Atlantic City Blackjack, if the dealer draws an Ace as his first card then the players have the chance to take Insurance which basically means they are insuring against the dealer getting Blackjack when he turns over his hole card.
At first Atlantic City Blackjack was just played in Atlantic City as its name implies but as the popularity of the game grew so did the game spread across the country and then the globe. Atlantic City was popular with the casino managers and with the players for a number of reasons. Firstly it was very difficult to card count as the player could only hold one hand at a time. This meant that the instances of cheating and manipulating the game to try and win it were much less. Because the player could only hold one hand at a time, the game was quick which added to the excitement and reduced the suspense of the game. The outcome of the game was almost immediate. This made it an extremely popular game to play for casual players who did not have a lot of time to spend at casinos.
With the advent of the internet and the adaptation of Blackjack and other cards games to online casinos, Atlantic City Blackjack was a good contender for the online casinos. In fact Blackjack, Atlantic City Blackjack and Multi Hand Blackjack were the first online casino card games that were played. For the same reasons that Atlantic City Blackjack was popular with the land based casino players it also grew in popularity with the online casino players. All of the online casinos offer clear and easy to understand instructions on how to play blackjack online and the screen is very user friendly. The game of Atlantic City Blackjack is quick and there is no hanging around for your other hands to play. Thanks to the advances in computers a player can now play at interactive casinos whereby the players all play around the same table and interact with each other. Atlantic City Blackjack is one of the interactive games that are offered
Atlantic City Blackjack has become one of the most popular versions of internet Blackjack that is played today, thanks to its easy rules and quick play. It provides and exciting and rewarding game. From the early days of Blackjack as a game for the noblemen only, Atlantic City Blackjack has helped to make it one of the most popular card games played today at online and land based casinos.
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