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Introduction
A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card games played with traditional decks have formally standardized rules with international tournaments being held, but most are folk games whose rules may vary by region, culture, location or from circle to circle.
Traditional card games are played with a deck or pack of playing cards which are identical in size and shape. Each card has two sides, the face and the back. Normally the backs of the cards are indistinguishable. The faces of the cards may all be unique, or there can be duplicates. The composition of a deck is known to each player. In some cases several decks are shuffled together to form a single pack or shoe. Modern card games usually have bespoke decks, often with a vast amount of cards, and can include number or action cards. This type of game is generally regarded as part of the board game hobby. (Full article...)
Selected general articles
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Image 1
Marjolet (French pronunciation: [maʁʒɔlɛ]) is a French 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack. It is of the Queen-Jack type, and thus a relative of Bezique and Pinochle, albeit simpler. The trump Jack is called the Marjolet from which the name of the game derives. (Full article...) -
Image 2
Bête, la Bête (French: Jeu de la Bête), Beste or la Beste (Jeu de la Beste), originally known as Homme or l'Homme (Jeu de l'Homme), was an old, French, trick-taking card game, usually for three to five players. It was a derivative of Triomphe created by introducing the concept of bidding. Its earlier name gives away its descent from the 16th-century Spanish game of Ombre. It is the "earliest recorded multi-player version of Triomphe".
During the 17th century, the Ombre concept of bidding was incorporated into Triomphe resulting in the game initially called l'Homme ("Man") and, later, la Beste or la Bête (German Labet, Dutch LaBate, English Beast). La Bête, or just Bête or Beast in English, later gave rise to the variants of Mouche and Mistigri, the latter still being played today. It may also have been antecedent to the games of the Rams family although it does not share their characteristic of allowing players to drop out of the current deal if they consider their hand to be too poor. (Full article...) -
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Bierkopf ("beer-head") is a trick-taking ace–ten card game for 4 players, played in fixed partnerships. It is a simple version of the Bavarian national game of Schafkopf that is played in Franconia (northern Bavaria) and usually for litre-glasses of beer. It is especially popular in the area of Bamburg. The game is popular enough for regular tournaments to be held.
Bierkopf is recorded being played in Franconia just before the Second World War. It is described as a four-hand partnership game played for penalty points called Bolln represented by a blob on the slate, each one "formerly usually worth 1 or even 2 pints [of beer]." At that time a side hoping to take all tricks could announce a Bucher, which is no longer a feature of the modern game. (Full article...) -
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Rosbiratschka is a trick-taking, compendium, card game for three or four players that is played with a German-suited pack of 32 or 24 cards. (Full article...) -
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Rumpel is a card game, that is native to the Danube region from Regensburg to Linz, but is played especially in the region of Hauzenberg in the German county of Passau in Bavaria. Mala describes a version with 8 or 12 contracts from a menu of 29 called Großer Rumpel. It is a descendant of the old Austrian student's game of Quodlibet. (Full article...) -
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Dreeg, Nuremberg Dreck or Nuremberg Dreeg (German: Nürnberger Dreck, Nämbercher Dreeg or Dreeg) is a card game that is described as "a special Franconian form of Sixty-Six with the wonderful name of Nuremberg Dreck." It is the most common variant of Sixty-Six in the Franconian region of Bavaria, Germany. It is a compendium game based on four variations of Sixty-Six and is usually played by four players, although three may also play. (Full article...) -
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Julepe (Spanish: Julepe), (Catalan: Julep, also the variety Xulepe and Gilen.), is a gambling card game of Spanish origin, similar to the English five-card Loo, and best for six players. It spread rapidly across the Spanish-American countries during the 19th century.
Julepe is a variant of Tute and one of the many games of the tute family, and the game is played according to the same rules of tute. It is noted that the original Julepe, in which game three cards are dealt to each player, is the card game presently known as Tomate. (Full article...) -
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Konter a Matt, Kontra a Matt or Konter a Midd is a Luxembourgish trick-taking card game played by four players. The game is popular enough to have been televised on RTL, Luxembourg's leading TV station and for tournaments to be organised. Konter a Matt is one of a family of similar games, known as the Couillon Group, played in the Benelux area. Other games in the family include the Belgian game of Couillon, known as Kwajongen in Flemish areas and Kujong in Luxembourg, the Dutch game of Troeven and the Belgian games of Brûte and Gamelle. (Full article...) -
Image 9
Sheng ji is a family of point-based, trick-taking card games played in China and in Chinese immigrant communities. They have a dynamic trump, i.e., which cards are trump changes every round. As these games are played over a wide area with no standardization, rules vary widely from region to region.
The game is most commonly played with two decks of cards, which can be called bāshí fēn (八十分, 'eighty points'), tuō lā jī (拖拉機, 'tractor'), shuāng kōu (雙摳, 'double digging out'), or shuāng shēng (雙升, 'double upgrade'); another variant is called zhǎo péngyǒu (找朋友, 'Finding Friends'), which has five or more players and two or more decks. Alternatively, it can be played with one deck, in which case the game may be called dǎ bǎi fēn (打百分, 'competing for a hundred points') or sìshí fēn (四十分, 'forty points'). (Full article...) -
Image 10
Tressette or Tresette is a 40-card, trick-taking card game. It is one of Italy's major national card games, together with Scopa and Briscola. It is also popular in the regions that were once controlled by the Italian predecessor states, such as Albania, Montenegro, coastal Slovenia (Slovene Littoral) and coastal Croatia (Istria and Dalmatia). It is also played in the Canton of Ticino with a French-suited deck. The Austrian game Trischettn as historically played in South Tyrol is also a derivative, albeit played with a 32-card German-suited deck.
It is recorded only from the early 18th century, though greater antiquity is suggested by its lack of trump. The name of the game, literally "three seven," may refer to seven sets of three or four point possibilities when a minimum of three each (three, two, ace or all of those together in a matching suit) are dealt, or to the fact that it is played up to twenty-one. According to Cäsar (1800), the name is derived from "Tre Sett" (three sevens) because, at that time, a player holding three sevens could declare them immediately and win the game (Partie). There are many variants depending on the region of Italy where the game is played. (Full article...) -
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Fipsen or Fips is an old north German card game for 4 or 5 players that resembles British Nap in some respects. It is a trick-taking game played with a standard Skat pack that was once popular across North Germany in the former states of Schleswig, Holstein, Mecklenburg and Pomerania, but is now restricted to the south Holstein region. In the village of Thedinghausen in Lower Saxony, a rather different game is played under the same name for currant buns called Hedewigs. It has been described as "quite a special card game" that is "ancient, but very easy to learn". (Full article...) -
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Clabber is a four-player card game played in southwestern Indiana near Evansville. It is a member of the Jack–nine family of point-trick card games that are popular in Europe and is similar to Klaberjass. The trump makers must score at least eighty-two points to keep from "going set", where they don't score any of their points. Additional points can also be scored for a combination of cards in a hand, which would assist in "making it", or, not going set.
The game is sometimes known as Klob, Clob, Clobber or Dad. (Full article...) -
Image 13
Lampeln or Lampln is an old Bavarian and Austrian plain-trick card game that is still played in a few places today. It is one of the Rams group of card games characterised by allowing players to drop out of the current game if they think they will be unable to win any tricks or a minimum number of tricks. (Full article...) -
Image 14
Calabresella, Calabragh, sometimes spelt Calabrasella, "the little Calabrian game", also known as Terziglio, is an Italian trick-taking card game variation of Tressette for three players, but it can be played by four with the dealer receiving no cards for the hand. One of the earliest references of the game dates from 1822. (Full article...) -
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Bostogné, Boston or Boston Whist is an 18th-century trick-taking card game played throughout the Western world apart from Britain, forming an evolutionary link between Hombre and Solo Whist. Apparently named after a key location in the American War of Independence, it is probably a French game which was devised in France in the 1770s, combining the 52-card pack and logical ranking system of partnership Whist with a range of solo and alliance bids borrowed from Quadrille. Other lines of descent and hybridization produced the games of Twenty-five, Préférence and Skat. Its most common form is known as Boston de Fontainebleau or French Boston. (Full article...) -
Image 16
Mariáš or Mariasch a three-player, solo trick-taking game of the king–queen family of ace–ten games, but with a simplified scoring system. It is one of the most popular card games in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, but is also played in Bavaria in Germany as well as in Austria. The Hungarian national card game Ulti is an elaboration of Mariáš. (Full article...) -
Image 17Cucumber (Danish: Agurk, Swedish: Gurka) is a north European card game of Swedish origin for two or more players. The goal of the game is to avoid taking the last trick. David Parlett describes it as a "delightful Baltic gambling game". (Full article...)
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Image 18
Écarté (French: [ekaʁte]) is an old French casino game for two players that is still played today. It is a trick-taking game, similar to whist, but with a special and eponymous discarding phase; the word écarté meaning "discarded". Écarté was popular in the 19th century, but is now rarely played. It is described as "an elegant two-player derivative of Triomphe [that is] quite fun to play" and a "classic that should be known to all educated card players." (Full article...) -
Image 19
Barbu, also known as Tafferan, is a trick-taking, compendium card game similar to hearts, in which four players take turns leading seven different sub-games (known as contracts) over the course of 28 deals. Barbu originated in France in the early 20th century where it was especially popular with university students, and became a prominent game among French bridge players in the 1960s. The French version of the game was originally played with a stripped deck of 32 cards ranked seven to ace in each suit. Modern forms are played with a full 52-card deck. Barbu may be descended from earlier compendium games popular with students and originating in the Austro-Hungarian Empire such as Lorum or Quodlibet.
Barbu literally means 'the bearded [man]', a reference to the common depiction of the king of hearts, which is the only heart with a beard. This card is of special significance in one of the seven contracts featured in the game. (Full article...) -
Image 20
Köpknack (lit. 'draw knock') is an old Swedish card game which is a development of knack and, like the latter, is mainly played for stakes. The game is also known as trekort which, however, usually refers to a simpler version of Danish origin that may have been its progenitor. (Full article...) -
Image 21
Tarneeb (Arabic: طرنيب, romanized: ṭarnīb, lit. 'trump'), also spelled tarnibe and tarnib, and called hakam (حكم ḥakam) in the Arabian Peninsula, is a plain trick-taking card game played in various Middle Eastern countries, most notably in the countries of the Levant, and Tanzania. The game may be considered a variation of Whist, or a version of Spades. (Full article...) -
Image 22
Put, occasionally Putt, is an English tavern game first recorded in the 16th century and later castigated by 17th century moralists as one of ill repute. It belongs to a very ancient family of trick-taking card games and bears close similarities a group known as Truc, Trut, Truque, also Tru, and the South American game Truco. Its more elaborate cousin is the Catelan and Spanish game of Truc, which is still much played in many parts of Southern France and Spain. (Full article...) -
Image 23
Bruus, formerly Brausebart or Brusbart, is a north German card game for four players in two teams of two. It was once highly popular but has since died out except for a few pockets in the state of Schleswig-Holstein. As Brusbart, it was the ancestor of a family of similar games in northern Europe, including Swedish Bräus and Danish Brus which are still played today. Bruus features 'daring and tormenting' which has been said to give the game a certain charm. Once considered the national game of Hamburg, Bruus is a descendant of Karnöffel, the oldest identifiable European card game in the history of playing cards with a continuous tradition of play down to the present day. The game is named after the Bruus or Brusbart, once its top card, but now its second-highest trump. (Full article...) -
Image 24
Knack is a Swedish card game, mainly played for money, in which the aim is to win at least one of the three tricks. It is also known as Trekort or Trikort, although that usually refers to a more basic game of Danish origin that is probably its progenitor.
Each deal begins with the dealer anteing an agreed stake into the pot. The players receive three cards each, and then a card is turned that indicates the trump suit. The remaining cards form a talon. Players who so wish, may exchange up to two cards for cards from the talon. In turn, the players then decide whether they want to play for the pot; if so, they announce this by knocking on the table and possibly also saying "knock". Alternatively they may fold without exchanging. (Full article...) -
Image 25
Letzter Stich is a card game for 3 or 4 players in which the aim is solely to win the last trick. It originated in Germany and the names mean "last trick" respectively. It has been described as suitable for children, yet having a "surprising wealth of interesting game situations." It should not be confused with Letzter, a reverse game of greater complexity where the aim is to lose the last trick. (Full article...)
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Selected images
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Image 1Petrtyl's deck with Indian and American motifs (from Königrufen)
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Image 2The four lowest trumps from an 18th-century animal Tarock pack (from Königrufen)
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Image 3Austrian-style 54-card Tarock hand (from Königrufen)
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Image 4Sigmund Freud indulged in Königrufen in his spare time. (from Königrufen)
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Image 5French Rouen pattern on the left, Spanish Toledo pattern on the right (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 6Deck celebrating the union of Brittany and France with Spanish suits but has queens instead of knights (Antoine de Logiriera of Toulouse, c. 1500). (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 7A transitional deck with suits of hearts and crescents (François Clerc of Lyon, late 15th century) (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 8Dondorf Rhineland pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 9Galicia with today's limits (from Königrufen)
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Image 11The values of Königrufen cards. The columns (from l to r) are: Card Type, Number, Card Value (from Königrufen)
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Image 12Book cover detail of the Illustrirtes Wiener Tarokbuch of 1899 (from Königrufen)
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Image 13Baronesse pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 14The standard English (Anglo-American or International) pack uses French suit symbols. Cards by Piatnik (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 15Modern pack of Tarock cards by Piatnik; Industrie und Glück design, Type 6 by Josef Neumayer, 1890 (from Königrufen)
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Image 16North German pattern: the Kings (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 18The Ober of Bells from a Württemberg-pattern pack (from Binokel)
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Image 19Pagats by a modern, Central European manufacturer; three type 6, one type 5 (here smaller, in Austria however usually larger than type 6) (from Königrufen)
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Image 20Russian pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 22Belgian pattern (from French-suited playing cards)
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Image 23Historically, card games such as whist and contract bridge were opportunities for quiet socializing, as shown in this 1930s magic lantern slide photo taken in Seattle, Washington. (from Card game)
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Image 24Bukovina (orange) (from Königrufen)
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Image 25Chinese mother-of-pearl gambling tokens used in scoring and bidding of card games. (from Card game)
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