History of Black Jack
Black Jack – also known as ‘Chemin de Fer’ and ‘pontoon’ – is a game that nowadays is often found in a betting house with players trying their luck on acquiring the elusive ‘twenty one’. It’s commonly presumed that the game started in France around the 1600’s. However, as with most other gambling games the precise development of the game remains a mystery.
Black jack was brought to the States following the French Revolution, but the game did not become popular in the betting houses until the house offered payouts as a bonus. This was the only method that seemed to get gamblers betting on pontoon. One variation on the reward payout was for a player to acquire ‘twenty one’ with the black jack card (valued at 10 points) and an ace (worth eleven points). With the growing popularity of the game the payouts were phased out but the name of the game ‘chemin de fer’ stayed.
Pontoon isn’t simply about acquiring an immediate ‘twenty-one’, but the primary adventure is to defeat the croupier without going ‘bust’. The casino obviously has an advantage over the gambling players over the long term, but with pontoon the gambler retains an element of choice.
Since 1931 when the U.S. first approved wagering, pontoon has developed into a quintessential gambling den card game. Furthermore, it’s the fusion of both ability and math used in chemin de fer that has caused the game to be hugely loved. Chemin de fer gives an attractive proposition to any academic, math guy or betting player looking to examine the tactic of the game.
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