Blackjack

Also known as twenty-one. The rules are simple, the game is exciting and there is an opportunity for high strategy. For the skilled gamer who plays a mathematically perfect game and can count cards, the odds are sometimes in the player's favor. But even for the casual participant who plays a reasonably good game, the casino odds are less, making blackjack one of the most appealing casino games to the player. While blackjack's popularity stems from World War I, its roots date back to the 1760s in France, where it is called Vingt-et-Un (French for 21).

Today blackjack is the only card game found in any American gambling casino. As a popular home game, it is played according to slightly different rules. In the casino version, the house is the dealer (a "permanent bank"). In the casino game, the dealer stands still, and the players sit. The dealer oversees all aspects of the game from shuffling and dealing the cards to handling all bets. In the home game, all players have the option of being the dealer (a "changing bank").