Seven and a Half is a one of several early precursors of the modern game of Blackjack (21)
Sette e mezzo (Italian for "seven and a half") is an Italian card game similar to blackjack. In Spanish it is known as Siete y Media and in Brazil, as Sete e Meio. It is traditionally played in Italy, by families and friends during the Christmas holiday period. The game is also known in English as Seven and a Half. It is often played with a special deck of cards, but can be played with a standard card deck with the Joker, 10's, 9's and 8's omitted.
Historically, an Italian card game called sette e mezzo, or “seven-and-a-half”, appeared sometime in the seventeenth century and is regarded as one of the precursors of modern Blackjack. This game was very similar to the French game Quinze of Spanish origin, which developed earlier.
Quinze, Quince, also known as Ace-low, is a 17th-century French card game of Spanish origin. It is also regarded a forerunner of the French Vingt-et-un (21). It is a two-player simplified version of the modern game of Blackjack.
Quinze is regarded a a simple and fair game, depending entirely upon chance rather than player input. Players compete with each other to acquire a hand of 15 points, or as close to 15 as possible without exceeding it. Consequently, the game is also known as Fifteen. It is usually played by only two players (one-on-one), with a full pack of 52 cards. All cards have their pip values (A is 1), and court cards counted as ten.
Seven-and-a-half was played with a forty-card deck, from which all Jokers, tens, nines, eights have been removed. The points for all cards are counted their pip-values, except for the court cards which each counted as one-half. A's are assigned 1 point. The object of the game for each player is to get a total point score for the hand 7 1/2 (natural), or as close to 7 1/2, without exceeding it (Going Bust). Unlike quinze, but similar to our modern game of blackjack, if the player’s hand total exceeded 7 1/2, the hand is 'Busted' and is automatically lost. Generally the dealer wins when point scores are equal. The player could not just tuck his hole card and hope the dealer busted also. Sometimes one card, such as the king of diamonds (Italian) or Queen of Hearts (French), or an added Joker, was a wild, and could be counted as any value.
As a casino game, seven-and-a-half was not banked by the house (which took a percentage), but was banked by the player who dealt the cards. All players bet against the dealer/banker, and bets had to be placed prior to the deal.
The forty-card deck was shuffled by the dealer at the start of play. Each player and the dealer were dealt one card face down. Players had to play their hands before the dealer played his. Each player in turn had the option to hit or stand, and any number of hits (extra cards dealt) was permitted, provided the hand total did not exceed 7 1/2.
If the player busted with any total of 8 or more, he or she immediately turned up their facedown card, and the dealer collected the player's bet. If the player achieved a total of exactly 7 1/2, he immediately turned up his cards, and provided the dealer did not also achieve a total of 7 1/2, the player would be paid off at 2 to 1 on his bet. If both the player and the dealer made 7 1/2, the hand was a PUSH. When this happens your bet will be returned. You don't win anything and you don't lose anything. The only exception was that a two-card 7 1/2, a natural 7 1/2, would beat a 7 1/2 total comprised of more than two cards. There are various variations of these rules
As in blackjack, even if the dealer busted, those players who had busted before the dealer played his hand had already lost their bets. But similar to quinze, the seven-and-a-half dealer was not bound by house rules in the play of his hand. Just like the players, the dealer could hit or stand at his preference provided his hand total did not exceed 7 1/2.
Obviously, sette e mezzo was related to quinze. And like quinze, optimal strategy for seven-and-a-half was based as much on psychology as math. Bluffing and 'reading' of gestures of facial expressions is very much part of the game played between the player and dealer.
Since a player could have a very strong total without taking a hit if his hole card was 6 or 7, a dealer might be enticed into hitting his own hand if a player stood pat (Stands'). And, since any hole card for the dealer other than a court card, valued at one-half, was in danger of busting, a player with a poor hole card, such as ace, deuce, or trey, might get the dealer to bust simply by standing pat. Because there was no fixed dealer strategy, both quinze and seven-and-a-half allowed trickery on the player’s part to try to get the dealer to make losing strategy decisions. Bluffing is very much part of the play, with varying bet sizes. Card reading is part of the strategy, watching the 7's particularly.
Both quinze and seven-and-a-half are so close to the modern “home” version of blackjack, where dealers may usually draw or stand at their preference, that other than the target totals of 15 or 7 1/2, there are many similarities between these games and blackjack.
In some descriptions, vingt-un (21) was played for a common pot, where all players played against each other or the dealer, drawing on a pot accumulated during each hand. In another variant of the game, a natural 21 paid 2 to 1, regardless of whether it was dealt to a player’s hand or to the dealer.
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