Blackjack, also known as 21 is one of the most widely played casino games throughout the betting world. Blackjack is mentioned as early as the 16th century. Miguel de Cervantes, who wrote Don Quixote, among other works, mentioned the game in his novel. The two main characters “Rinconete y Cortadillo”, from “Novelas Ejemplares”, are a couple of cheaters working in Seville. They are proficient at cheating at “ventiuna”, described as a game in which the object is to reach 21. It also mentions that an Ace is worth either one or eleven. Blackjack has an unknown origin but it is believed that the first game was played after the invention of paper since shuffling a deck of 52 clay slates would require considerable effort on the part of the dealer and multiple decks would be out of the question. References to 21 can be traced back to Spain and France as early as the 16th century with other references found on the walls of some of the finest brothels in Amsterdam as late as last Thursday. Poker

The name of the game evolved to Blackjack when in the early days of its introduction, it was not a very popular betting game. Casinos in the USA concocted a hefty bonus plan to attract new betters where when a total of 21 included an Ace and a Jack of clubs or Jack of spades there was an extra bonus paid. This betting practice was soon outlawed as is much of anything and everything else in the USA. In any case, the term “blackjack” was born and stuck. Today any Ace and Jack are called a natural and thus a “blackjack”. Poker site

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