Did you know? The history of Blackjack dates back thousands of years, into the depths of our written history…

Historians believe that the idea of playing games with cards initially arose from the shuffling of paper money – in China, as early as 900 A.D! Card hadn’t actually been invented yet, but this was one of the many innovations we have to thank the ancient Chinese empire for. Once this grew into the popular practice of card playing, the craze started to spread into the world. Carried by traders with the European empires, card playing grew in popularity.

It was in Italy and Spain that the Kings and Jacks that are so important to Blackjack first appeared on playing cards. The French added a Queen many years later, and we came to have the royal cards as we know them today. The 52 card pack as we know it evolved from the French pack, and the game of Blackjack was invented.

The game Blackjack is named after the perfect hand – a black Jack and an Ace, adding up to exactly 21 points. So the next time you’re playing Blackjack at your favourite casino, remember its beginnings, in the shuffling of money, and look forward to shuffling and counting your winnings!