Blackjack Today: An Introduction

The game of Blackjack has been around for quite a while now, more than two hundred years, in fact. However, there have been more changes to the game in its more recent past, from the latter half of the 20th century, i.e., than in its earlier period of existence. The changes have been innovative, and also technology based.

In this article, we will discuss how the game of blackjack has changed in the modern times, and some of the events associated with it.
Blackjack in the 1950s and 1960s

The game of blackjack was still a land-based casino game in the 1950s and the 1960s, as the concept of online blackjack had not materialized at that time. That event came about much later, in the 1990s, and we will discuss about it briefly later.

The year 1953 saw Roger Baldwin and his colleagues try to study the blackjack game. This was a landmark event in the history of blackjack, as so far it was just considered a game all could play and have fun and some could possibly win. Baldwin and his colleagues tried to reduce the advantage the house held over the players in blackjack, using as their tools mathematical calculations and statistical theory.

Their study resulted in the first strategy guide for blackjack. Baldwin and his colleagues called their study Optimum Strategy in Blackjack-, and published it in the American Statistical Association in 1956. While this was the first attempt at studying blackjack, as is usually the case with first attempts, the tools Baldwin and his colleagues used were rudimentary and always had scope for improvement.

The next person to use mathematics to study blackjack was Professor Edward O. Thorp. Professor Thorp basically refined the findings of Baldwin and his colleagues using superior mathematical and statistical tools and published Beat the Dealer in 1962. This was another landmark work as it contained the first ever card counting system, which is such a critical part of blackjack strategy today.

The book was so successful it hit the #1 spot in the New York Times- bestseller list. It also sent chills down the gambling establishment initially, and they set about making modifications to blackjack rules. However, they reverted to traditional blackjack after public protest against the new blackjack forms, and also after realizing the Thorp-s book was not a threat to them.

Blackjack Goes Online

Advances in technology have succeeded in bringing the blackjack game to the masses nowadays. You can now play on line blackjack, as the game is available not just at land-based casinos. Nowadays there are blackjack online casinos as well, where you can register and play the game for free or for money.

The arrival of the Internet has been the single largest factor in bringing about changes to the game. While the game itself remains the same, there have been huge changes in terms of the incentives and benefits associated with playing blackjack online. For instance, by playing online blackjack, you stand to earn welcome bonuses, referral bonuses, and a host of other incentives that were not available when you played blackjack earlier.

By Riza
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