Black Jack – also known as ‘Chemin de Fer’ and ‘pontoon’ – is a card game that is usually seen in a betting house with players attempting their fortune on achieving the elusive ‘twenty-one’. It’s widely believed that the game started in France around the 1600’s. However, as with many other betting games the exact development of the game is a mystery.
Blackjack was introduced to the United States following the French Revolution, but the game did not become popular in the casinos until the casino provided bonus payouts. This was the only method that appeared to get people wagering on blackjack. One variant on the reward pay out was for a gambler to make ‘21′ with the black jack card (given a value of ten points) and an ace (given a value of 11 points). With the growing popularity of the game the payouts were canceled but the name of the game ‘black jack’ stayed.
Pontoon is not simply about achieving a straight ‘21′, but the main challenge is to beat the dealer without busting. The casino clearly has a house edge over the pontoon players over the long term, but with blackjack the player retains an element of choice.
Since nineteen thirty one when America first approved gambling, pontoon has become a quintessential betting house card game. Furthermore, it’s the blending of both ability and math used in pontoon that has caused the game to be hugely loved. Chemin de fer affords an attractive proposition to any academic, math guy or betting player wanting to research the tactic of the game.
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
You must be logged in to post a comment.
