Barry Rigal - Card Games For Dummies

In each chapter, I place icons in the margin to emphasize the following types of information:

With this icon, I point out the wrong way to play a game. Pay special attention to these icons so that you avoid finding things out the hard way.

This reinforces a point of the game that may be less obvious (or intuitively right) than meets the eye. You should keep these points in mind as you play the game.

I’ve been playing cards for quite some time, and I use these icons to emphasize some insights born of experience that will help make you a sharper player.

Next to this icon, you’ll find a list of all the stuff you need to play a game — I tell you how many players you need, what type of cards you play with, and if you need any other special equipment, such as something to keep score with.

Most of the games in this book have so many variations, I’d have to write a whole library to include them all. Instead, I cover the most popular variations of a game and tag them with this icon.

In addition to the material in the print or ebook you’re reading right now, this product comes with some goodies on the Web that you can access anywhere. Simply go to www.dummies.com and type in “Card Games For Dummies, 3rd Edition Cheat Sheet” in the Search box. You’ll find handy tips and tricks on picking the best games, card game do’s and don’ts, and more!

Each game in this book is a self-contained chapter. If you want information on a particular game, consult the appropriate chapter and discover everything you need to know in order to get started.

Along with the Table of Contents at the front of the book, the index at the back of the book can help you locate the game you want to play without too many diversions. Having said that, one of the more interesting ways to experience this book may be to open it at random and discover a game that you’ve never heard of before.

Part 1

IN THIS PART …

After I explain some of the basics of cards (along with some tidbits about the history of cards and the etiquette of card games), I introduce a diverse range of games for you to deal out. If you don’t have anyone to play cards with, don’t worry. I provide an entire chapter of Solitaire card games. And if you’re a beginning card player, teaching children to play cards, or just a kid at heart, check out the chapter on popular children’s games, including War and Go Fish. Enjoy!

Chapter 1

IN THIS CHAPTER

Speaking card game lingo

Following the rules and etiquette of card games

Hand-picking the best card game

I’m sure that if you’ve ever played cards at all, you don’t need me to explain what fun 52 pieces of pasteboard can be. But just in case, here goes …

Because you don’t know what the other players have in their hands in almost every card game, playing cards combines the opportunity for strategy, bluffing, memory, and cunning. At the same time, you don’t have to play cards all that well in order to enjoy yourself. Cards allow you to make friends with the people you play with and against. A deck of cards opens up a pastime where the ability to communicate is often of paramount importance, and you get to meet new faces and talk to them without having to make the effort to do so.

If you want to take the plunge and start playing cards, you encounter a bewildering range of options to choose from. Cards have been played in Europe for the last 800 years (see the sidebar “Card Games Through the Ages” for more details), and as a result, you have plenty of new games to test out and new rules to add to existing games.

One of the features of Card Games For Dummies, 3rd Edition, is the diversity of card games covered in it. I can’t hope to list all the rules of every card game within the chapters, so this chapter discusses the general rules that apply to most card games. Get these basics under your belt so you can jump in to any of the games I describe in detail later in the book.

Card gamers have a language all their own. This section covers the most common and useful lingo you encounter as you get to know various card games.

When card games come together, the players arrange themselves in a circle around the card-playing surface, which is normally a table. I describe it as such for the rest of this section.

You play card games with a deck of cards intended for that game, also referred to as a pack in the United Kingdom. The cards should all be exactly the same size and shape and should have identical backs. The front of the cards should be immediately identifiable and distinguishable.

A deck of cards has subdivisions of four separate subgroups. Each one of these subgroups has 13 cards, although the standard deck in France and Germany may have only 8 cards in each subgroup. The four subgroups each have a separate identifiable marking, and in American and English decks, you see two sets of black markings (spades and clubs) and two sets of red markings (hearts and diamonds). Each of these sets is referred to as a suit.

Some form of playing cards existed in China, at least 80 years and maybe as much as 250 years before they surfaced in Europe. The earliest known Chinese cards had four suits, described in mid-15th-century sources, and featured 38 cards: 9 each in three suits and 11 in the fourth. Similar cards are used in parts of China and Southeast Asia to this day, though the deck composition and designs are not identical.

Although some scholars claim the Saracens or the Persians invented card games (the Persians certainly seem to have invented Poker), the Mamelukes of Egypt appear to be credible ancestors of modern card games. A Mameluke deck from around 1400 A.D. consists of 52 cards with suits of swords, polo sticks, cups, and coins.

National standard designs appeared in the late 15th century. Swiss decks (with shields, flowers, bells, and acorns) and German decks (with hearts, leaves, bells, and acorns) appeared by 1475. The French deck (with spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs) first appeared by 1480.