Many games have been claimed to be or have had some influence in the history of Blackjack. The game of “21″ has gone by many a name but the most direct is most probably a game called “Vingt-et-Un” or, you guessed it, Twenty and One.

Even though “Vingt-et-Un” was originally known as the French “Vingt-Un” back in the late 17th Century, it had adopted the slight name change after making its mostly unpopular appearance in America as early as 1875 but, only became a public game almost two decades after it had arrived on the continent. It differed from the modern game in that cards were dealt in rounds and bets were placed on each round. The objective being to reach a “natural”, which is normally an ace plus a card with a value of ten ie. a king or 10, but in this case just a total of twenty one.

What does all of this have to do with the name “Blackjack”? Due to the unpopular introduction the game had on its arrival in America, gambling establishments tried all types of bonuses and payout rules to draw the attention casino goers. There was one such a payout that did not have a very long life span that would give a ten to one payout should the player’s hand consist of the Ace of Spades and any black jack. These two cards totaling to 21 but with the emphasis on the black jack gave the game the name that stuck throughout the rest of the history of blackjack.

In the more recent history of blackjack, the Blackjack Hall of Fame was founded during 2002 and currently consists of fourteen of the world’s best blackjack players and minds. Among them mathematicians, authors, computer analysts and professional players.