Card Games

Playing cards are believed to date back to the 9th century in China, where a game played with leaves may have provided the genesis of both card and dice games.http://www.gamesmuseum.uwaterloo.ca/Archives/Wilkinson/Wilkinson.html Some time before the year 1370, the tradition of playing games to pass the time with decorated decks of cards made it to Europe.http://web.archive.org/web/20070826144858/http://www.usplayingcard.com/gamerules/briefhistory.html

Today, there are thousands of varieties of games played with cards. They can be single-player, like solitaire, or multi-player, like bridge. Many card games can be learned quickly; others are more advanced and require a great deal of practice.

American card games date back to around the year 1800. The US brought a number of advances to cards, including the invention of the Joker character and the use of varnished surfaces to make shuffling and dealing simpler.http://web.archive.org/web/20070826144858/http://www.usplayingcard.com/gamerules/briefhistory.html

Though the images on the front of "face cards," such as the Jack and the Queen, and the use of "suits" derive from French traditions, a number of the images on the backs of cards - which often depict bicycles and other cycling activities were introduced by Russell and Morgan, whose card company eventually transitioned into the United States Playing Card Company, responsible for the popular Bicycle brand.http://web.archive.org/web/20070826144858/http://www.usplayingcard.com/gamerules/briefhistory.html

Poker
Poker is a name for a wide variety of games that all involve turn-based play and betting based on the "rank" of all the players' hands. Typically, play begins with cards being dealt and individual players choosing to place a bet or fold, thus giving up all previous bets that have been made. When all betting is complete, remaining players turn over their hands and reveal who has the highest rank, according to pre-determined rules. There are several different variations of poker, including five-card draw, seven-card stud and Texas Hold 'Em.

Solitaire
Sometimes also referred to as "Patience," Solitaire is among the most popular single-player card games. The game is played by placing cards from a shuffled deck into a set pattern, and then trying to reorder the cards based on suit and rank under prescribed restrictions. A popular variation of teh game is called "Klondike." A computerized version of the game, along with variations like Klondie or "Free Cell" come pre-installed on most Microsoft Windows applications.

Blackjack
Also known as Twenty-One, Blackjack is the most popular casino card game in the world.http://www.blackjackinfo.com/ Typically, the game involves one or more players facing off against a dealer, all of whom are dealt a series of cards in an attempt to reach a point total of or approaching 21 without going over. The game's name derives from the combination of a face card (each of which has a value of 10 points) with an Ace card (which has a value of 11 points), which results in exactly 21 points and is known as a "blackjack."

Hearts
Hearts is a card game with a long list of variations, based around the collection of groups of cards into "tricks." Certain cards, such as any card in the "Hearts" suit or the Queen of Spades (often referred to as the "Black Lady"), are assigned points, with the goal being to finish the round with the least number of points of any player. Players take turns playing a card from their hand, attempting to play an appropriate card with the lowest total, thus giving the cards (and potential points) to other competitors.