Undoubtedly the most popular casino card game, blackjack was born in late-17th-century France as vingt-et-un, “twenty-one,” a reference to the total value of its highest winning hand. It migrated to the United States in the 19th century, where the game enjoyed a bonanza in Wild West saloons and gaming parlors, where snappy-talking buckaroos christened it “blackjack” after the 21-totalling card combination of the Ace of Spaces and Jack of Spades, a black suit, which at the time (but no longer) won a bonus for the player to whom they were dealt.

Blackjack’s popularity has continued to boom in the 20th and 21st centuries, a phenomenon with two basic causes. First, blackjack is phenomenally easy to learn (see “The Rules.”) More significantly, sharp, attentive, strategic play can bring more favorable odds (see “Strategy”).