Investigating the popularity of the classic card game of Blackjack

Also known as 21, the game is now legendary in popular culture as well as on the casino floor

As casino table games go, Blackjack is one of the easiest to understand. The felt is reassuringly simplistic, especially compared to other card games such as Casino Hold ’em and Let It Ride. The action itself is arguably easy to follow, too, even if you have no prior knowledge of the game. Pay attention to the interactions between the players and dealer at a busy table, and you are likely to be able to grasp the basic principles within just a few hands. It is no coincidence that online casinos, like Unibet Casino UK, have found their live tables to be among the most popular games they offer, competing closely with the top digital slot machines.

Cryptic terms and complex rules make it understandably difficult for a casual audience to understand a game. Had the 1939 novel “Johnny Got His Gun” featured a more complex game, many appearances could have been cut from its 1971 film adaptation. Instead, the resulting scenes are often described as authentic and compelling.

Not just for casinos or high-rollers

When the 1962 novel “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest” was reimagined for the big screen in 1975, it also featured the segment based on Blackjack in all its glory. The scene is memorable for both its setup and setting; With the main character wrongfully imprisoned in a mental institution, he runs rings around the other patients on his ward. It’s a hard-hitting appearance for the game, as far away from the bright lights of Vegas as you could imagine.

Later Appearances on the Big Screen

The 1988 film “Rain Man” was perhaps one of the first modern-day movies based almost solely around it. Featuring Dustin Hoffman and Tom Cruise, the film was a smash hit and was credited with significantly increasing the popularity of the casino game. The 1989 film “The Wizard” is primarily based on Rain Man, too, although Blackjack was replaced with the video game “Super Mario Bros 3” for this more PG-friendly interpretation of the story.

One of the most notable appearances in popular culture is the 2008 film “21,” featuring Kevin Spacey, which was based on the 2003 novel “Bringing Down The House”. That book was initially made into a French-language film in 2004 named “The Last Casino,” which was dubbed into English before later inspiring the creation of 21.

Both of these films and the novel that inspired them took a reasonably accurate stab at telling the story of the MIT team during the 1990s. This group of individuals employed an impressive combination of mathematics, card counting, and social engineering to form a “no risk” strategy to beat the casinos at their tables.

Although the author has admitted to some degree of “creative license” whilst writing his book to benefit reader engagement, it is still definitely based on a true story. Several Las Vegas casinos have admitted that they paid out significant sums of money to individuals who were later confirmed to be a part of the MIT team.

21 in Wider Culture

It isn’t just books and movies starring that deserve mention when discussing the game’s notoriety in popular culture. The artist Michael Godard has created many pieces inspired by the game. These have proven to be extremely popular both in their original form (as shown by their hammer price at auction) and most notably in the form of prints, some of which have racked up sales of tens of thousands of impressions.

Fans of modern video games will almost certainly have come across virtual representations of 21 inside some of their favorite titles. One of the industry’s biggest names, Rockstar, has incorporated a mini-game in several of their most popular recent titles, including Red Dead Redemption 2 and Grand Theft Auto V. The latter of these even features an entire virtual casino where players can spend their time enjoying a few hands for a break from the main game with the bonus of being able to win additional in-game currency.

A Short Conclusion

The pairing of an ace and a face card – most commonly the Ace and Jack of Spades – are now immediately recognizable as a symbol of good luck, casino gaming, and gambling in general. However, while Texas Hold’em is arguably the most popular card game so far this century, even going as far as replacing Baccarat in the 2006 version of the James Bond film Casino Royale, it still has a long way to go before catching up with the game as an icon of popular culture.