Do you know how old gambling is? The first forms of gambling appeared hundreds or even thousands of years ago. These games were much simpler than the ones we have today, but the human’s need to interact, wager money and compete is known as one of the biggest, and most powerful forces in the world.
The first countries that opened professional casinos, since people gambled at the comfort of their homes, privately – were Great Britain, China and the US. As the gambling population started to grow and brick and mortar casinos started to multiply, many different games have been created and it’s become clear that this will be one of the most significant phenomena in the world.
Today, the gambling industry is one of the most powerful industries in the world. While brick and mortar casinos remained popular especially in the cities such as Las Vegas, where these casinos are tourist attractions – the majority of gambling has switched to online.
The fact that the same games (or at least the majority of them) can be played online in the comfort of your home, anytime and anywhere is what is especially driving the revenue of online casinos and gambling websites every day, making it even more profitable compared to the traditional casinos we know of. But it’s not only the convenience. Online gambling sites such as onlinepokiesnz.co.nz offer fantastic bonuses, free spins and jackpots, which is a great option for both beginners and more experienced players.
When it comes to the global gambling market you might wonder what’s the gambling industry worth in dollars. Or how big it is. The answer is simple – it can be measured in billions! But when we say billions it sounds vague – the global gambling market is around 500 billions dollars worth and it seems like it will only continue to grow.
In that chaotic, fast-paced, risky, luxurious, fun and exciting environment, some games stood out as more popular than others and that is for various reasons. One of them is most certainly – blackjack.
Blackjack – a Historical Phenomenon
One thing you probably didn’t know about blackjack is that it’s founded in France in the 18th century. The name of this game was 21, only to evolve into blackjack over time. It was a table game, as it is today. The one thing that differentiates this game from all the others is the fact that there’s no need for special equipment, you only need a pack of cards, and a table with chairs to play it. The convenience of this game is one of the reasons it has become so popular over time. But even more important is the fact that this game is not so hard to learn, compared to poker for example.
It surely can’t be played without developing a strategy, or without being familiar with several strategies, but once you know the rules and you gain some experience, chances are you will be at least a good player, if not great. But what really made blackjack widely popular, famous and exciting for the players around the world are – movies. There are at least 10 movies that portray blackjack in a fun, exciting way in some of their scenes, or that have a plot about this game, such as the movie 21 (2008) or The Last Casino (2004).
Not only have many people heard about blackjack this way, but popular movies like these have enabled people to understand how the game works from the inside, what are the rules, how it should be played, how to deal with losses and finally – how to have fun. Not many people wanted to visit a brick-and-mortar casino, since it was stigmatized by society. Movies made blackjack more fun and somewhat appropriate for everyone interested to indulge in this world. And that’s why blackjack is one of the most played games in the world today.
Basic Terminology
Just like any other game, blackjack is full of slang. This means that you may feel overwhelmed sitting with a few experienced players, or playing this game online – when they use the terms you don’t understand. Luckily, these terms can be learned. You can also learn them for fun, in order to better understand one of the movies you’re watching. Let’s dig into it.
- What’s the best card you can get in this game? It’s most certainly the famous Ace. This card is extremely important as you can never win a blackjack game with only the first two cards. Ace can be 1 and 11 in value, so you can choose the option that fits you most.
- If almost no one got an Ace, or if you’ve noticed that not many aces have been dealt, it’s called Ace Rich. It means that you can expect to get that card soon.
- You probably know this, but the amount of money you have and you can use to play any game, including blackjack is called – your Bankroll. You should always pay attention to your bankroll, since it’s the only way to save your money in the gaming process.
- The dealer holds the cards before they deal them to the players and that’s called a Hand. There are two types of dealing the cards, they can be dealt with their face up or facing down so no one can see them and that is called Face-Down.
- If the hand didn’t have the most valuable card – the Ace but has a value that exceeds 12, this situation is called Hard Hand.
- You were probably wondering what’s that knock on the table you see in the movies? It’s called Hit or Drawing. This means that you want to get another card, usually faced down so other players can’t see it. You can reveal it only after the rest of the players finish their turns.
- When you wager, it’s called Action.
- There’s one thing you shouldn’t do if you want to win the game – you mustn’t exceed the number 21 in cards. If that happens, it’s called Bust.
- Something that can happen during the game is that you and the dealer have the same hand. In that case, it’s called Stand Off.
- When you see someone trying to remember all the cards, it’s called Card Counting. By doing this, players try to track and predict what’s going to be dealt with in future so they could win the game.
