Blackjack remains one of the most popular table games in casinos around the world. It draws in both beginner and seasoned card players due to its simplicity and low house edge, giving players the best possible chance of beating the dealer. While the allure of more glamorous card games such as Texas Hold’em poker and baccarat is strong, there’s something about blackjack that keeps people coming back for more. It’s more fascinating than you might think. Let’s take a look at some of the most interesting facts about the game of blackjack that you’re unlikely to have heard.

Many of the world’s most successful blackjack players in land-based and online casinos have attempted to hide their identities or shun the spotlight. That’s because many casinos still treat blackjack professionals with suspicion, given that card counting remains frowned upon on casino floors. Although card counting is not illegal, casinos reserve the right to refuse to allow you to play. For instance, best-selling blackjack author and pro player Ian Andersen has been forced to lead a reclusive lifestyle. Many of his books on blackjack and betting mentality have been written under a pseudonym, and he has never been pictured in public. Even his fellow blackjack pros don’t even know what Andersen looks like!

It won’t surprise you that the best two hands in blackjack are 21 and 20, but the third best hand may well make you raise your eyebrows. Contrary to what you might think, it’s not 19. It is in fact 11. That’s because if you get 11 in your first two cards you can hit for another card without any risk of going bust, whilst still having a great chance of making a strong hand to beat the dealer. If you make 11 from your first two cards, statistically you have a 46.2% chance of making a hand of 19 or more, with almost a one-in-three chance of making 21.

Some of the land-based casinos in Atlantic City experienced huge losses on their blackjack tables in 2010 due to one man in particular. Don Johnson, a renowned developer of algorithmic horse racing betting systems, scooped $15 million from Caesars, Borgata and Tropicana between December 2010 and April 2011. Due to his significant bankroll, Johnson was able to negotiate a preferential deal with the casinos, including a 20% discount on losses and dealers standing on soft 17.

Blackjack was given its name when casinos in the US began marketing a European card game called ‘Vingt-et-Un’, which is French for ‘21’. Some casinos offered 10-1 bonus payouts to players if their winning hand featured a black jack (spade or club), and, hence, the name ‘blackjack’ stuck.

The most famous story of card counting in blackjack came back in the 1980s when a team of students from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), overseen by a man named Bill Kaplan, took many unwitting casinos to the cleaners. Known as the MIT Blackjack Team, they were so prolific that Hollywood decided to make a movie about them called 21, starring Kevin Spacey.

Fancy being part of the Blackjack Hall of Fame? If you’re fortunate enough to gain induction to the Hall of Fame at the Barona Casino in San Diego, you won’t actually be allowed to play a single hand of blackjack on their premises. All Hall of Fame members at the Barona are instead offered free food and drink for life in exchange for never beating the house at the tables!

If you now know all there is to know about blackjack, then what are you waiting for? Hit the tables and find out whether or not fortune smiles on you. The important thing is to have fun and treat it as a form of entertainment rather than as a way of life!