Playing cards were probably invented in China. The earliest cards were domino cards that represented the scores thrown by a pair of dice, in a similar way to domino tiles. Chinese money cards evolved into modern playing cards. They had four suits that included coins, strings of coins, myriad strings and tens of myriad strings.
Playing cards, similar to those used today, arrived in Europe in the 1370s. They originally had 52-card decks and suits of swords, polo sticks, cups and coins. Each suit had the numbers 1 to 10 and three court cards, which the Europeans changed into kings, knights and valets. Later, queens replaced knights. There were many design changes. The symbols on the cards varied with different cultures. The suits of hearts, spades, diamonds and clubs come from French cards and have continued to be used to the present day.
After the arrival of playing cards in Europe, new games were continually being invented and adapted. Rules were rarely written down. Along with the games went gambling.
Blackjack is derived from the game of 21. It was not very popular when it was first introduced to American casinos. To increase interest, odds of 10 to 1 were offered for a hand comprising an ace and one of the black jacks, giving the game the name blackjack. The game became popular when researchers found that it was possible to overcome the casino’s advantage by using a basic strategy. The basic strategy was developed from computer simulations of the game to find the best moves to make depending on the cards dealt. Roger Baldwin published the Optimum Strategy in Blackjack in 1956 In 1962, Edward Thorp published Beat the Dealer containing card counting techniques. Card counting is a method of play based on the number of cards of certain values left in the shoe (the box from which the cards are dealt). By using a card counting system players can overcome the house advantage. Julian Braun added to this research by developing the basic strategy and other card counting techniques. Casinos try to deter card counters by using multiple decks, frequent shuffling and surveillance of players. If they suspect that a winning player is using a card counting system they will often bar the player.