August 2021

Card games, like everything in life, have crossed their own evolution. Nobody knows some when and where blackjack has been played for the first time, many game card games have traits similar to blackjack and can give us a good idea of ​​its trace throughout history.

Twenty one
In France at the beginning of the 17th century, a match called twenty nations or twenty-nations was one of the twenty-first games. Just like blackjack, the goal of this game was to get 21 without breaking. Initially, this game was not set by the casinos and was a private match. The players led to role as the dealers, banking at the game. If played in casinos, the casino would take a percentage of the dealer’s gains.

Here are some of the rules of twenty-and-nations
1. Only the dealer could double
2. If a reseller had 21 players (natural) paid him triple
3. A player could bet on each twenty-one round
4. An ace has been counted as 1 or 11
5. If a player has a natural, he is paid as 2: 1

Historian rev. Ed. S. Taylor in “The history of playing cards stated that twenty-and-nations has become popular in the middle of the eighteenth century and has been played by notables such as Mademe du Barry, a mistress of Louis XV and played also by the emperor Napoleon.

Fifteen
A predecessor to twenty-nations, fifteen was another French game of Spanish origin. The purpose of fifteen was to reach 15. Once again, this game was not set by the house, but by the player who treated cards. There were a lot of blackjack similarities, but a big difference was that if a player gave up with more than 15 years, he was not obliged to declare the bust. He could wait for the dealer to have finished playing. The players who erupted before the dealer did not lose their bets.

This game had made some aspects that made it psychologically interesting. First, the dealer did not have to play by the rules of the house and the second, the players did not have to declare a bust. As a result, it was very often the case that players try to hide a strong or weak hand. The aristocratic players have even been known to wear masks to cover their emotions.

Set e mezzo
Set e Mezzo or seven and a half, was an Italian game that was played in the 17th century. Similar to twenty-nations and blackjack, the goal was to score 7 ½ without making a bust. This game was played with a bridge of 40 cards, a bridge where all 8, 9 and 10 were removed. In Spain and in parts of Italy, they often used a pack of 40 Latin cards, with costumes of coins, cups, clubs and swords.

This game was different from fifteen in this player who broke out before the dealer can not keep their bets. In that the dealer has not been linked to playing by the rules of the house, part of the match was again psychological where players try to deceive the dealer in the manufacture of bad strategic movements.

In Italy, it was popular to play this game during the Christmas period.