Why blackjack never made its way onto the Isle of Wight
Blackjack may well be a refined game that needs no adaptations, but it wasn’t always the case. It had a precursor called “Vingt-Un”, which is “twenty one” in French, as written by the Spanish author Miguel de Cervantes in the early 17th century. The game spread around Europe, appearing in France in around 1700 and eventually hitting British shores during the 1770s. The formal rules for Vingt-Un in Britain were published in 1800.
While its American counterpart would later be famously dubbed “blackjack” around 99 years later, which is thought to be linked to the bonuses offered during the Klondike Gold Rush, the game in Britain has its own thing going on. During the first World War, the informal British version became known as “Pontoon” – and this term has stuck around to some extent, even if it’s just slang.
During all of these many decades, gambling was not regulated in the UK. It wasn’t until the Betting and Gaming Act 1960 that brought about licensed and supervised gambling establishments. So, before this date, we can expect that Pontoon was played on the Isle of Wight relatively frequently, particularly as the island played a role in the war.
The clubs that emerged out of the 1960 law were mostly in London, and it was the first time that games like blackjack become formalised in a regulated setting. And while blackjack online is popular on the Isle of Wight, it was only for an eight-year period during which the game has been played (in-person) in a regulated setting…
Isle of Wight’s flash in a pan casino story
Casino gaming has been elusive to those on the Isle of Wight for a long time. For decades, the prospect of a dedicated, land-based casino on the Island has been a recurring topic. After all, between the period of the 1960 law change and the invention of the internet, there’s a period of three decades where casinos were a thing, but not easily accessible.
Of course, there’s always been less regulated gambling on the island. Historical accounts of the likes of Sir Tristram Dillington (a 17th-century Newport MP) who actually faced some big gambling losses.
There was a short period where all of this changed. The Medway Queen popped up from 1966 until late 1974 and turned a former paddle steamer into a marina clubhouse and nightclub at Island Harbour – and operated a casino. Blackjack would have been played here, and it would have been the only eight year period where it was played in a regulated environment in the island’s history.
That was, of course, until the internet, where blackjack is now readily available online. In fact, the Isle of Wight has been called the mecca of online gaming before. There is an appetite, and many deem its population to be large enough to keep another land-based option afloat. But, with the growth of online blackjack and the trouble that even large city casinos are facing, it’s unclear that we will ever experience this again.
