What’s in a deck of cards (part one)?

 

Being rather fond of playing cards and the associated games, it never quite dawned to me that some people may not actually know what they are playing with. In truth, when we say "deck of cards" most of us will immediately go for the more common 52 Card packs which may also include anything from one to three jokers. As I will show you, not all decks are the same and not all decks use the four pip convention of diamonds, spades, heart and clubs.

The French Deck

What we normally play with, for games ranging from poker, black jack, gin/rummy, crazy eights and solitaire, is what is known as the French deck. This deck consists of four suits, diamonds and hearts normally red in colour and spades and clubs normally black in colour. Each suit consists of exactly 13 cards ranging from Ace (1) to ten (10) and then Jack, Queen, King in that order. Multiply 13 by 4 suits and you get 52. Additionally depending on the deck you are handling you can find any-thing from 1 joker card to 3 jokers. Jokers are wild cards whose function changes from game to game and adds an extra level of strategy to the games where it is used.

    

Have a look at the figures above, ever wondered why whenever you pick up a French deck of cards, you will always find a somewhat unique and elaborate Ace of spades whereas the other Aces (diamonds, clubs and hearts) are always very plain? Well from some online research I found out that the practice of having an elaborate Ace of spades dates back to the reign of James I of England, who at the time passed a law which required the printing of a unique insignia on that card as proof that a tax placed on the local manufacture of cards had been paid. I also found out that right up to August 1960, decks of playing cards manufactured in the UK had duty paid on them and the Ace of Spades still carried the printer’s name and proof that taxation had been paid.

The Tarot Deck

Due to the close relationship that grew between this deck and the art of divination, many often forget that Tarot decks were used for play long before any gypsy grabbed a pack to read the fortunes of hopefuls that came their way. The Tarot decks can have one of two sets of 4 pips. The French decks such as those produced by Piatnik & Sons use the regular French deck suits. Other decks such as the Marseille Tarot pack employ the 4 pips of the Spanish decks namely Cups (instead of hearts), Coins (instead of diamonds), Swords (instead of Spades) and Batons or Wands (instead of Clubs). The Tarot decks also come with an additional 22 trump cards which feature very intricate designs and are themselves the source of all the mystique that surrounds these decks. In the Piatnik deck used in the trick-taking game of Tarot, these trumps depict scenes from the days of kings and kingdoms, snapshots of peasants and nobles indulging in various common day to day activities. These trumps are numbered from 0 to 21. The "zero" card in the Piatnik deck is also called the Mandolin, Excuse or the Fool and its function within the traditional games is not far removed from that of the joker in the regular French decks.

In the Marseille deck which contains older depictions and more symbology we find now archaic references to daily life way back when people and the especially the common folk had to contend with a more frugal, frightening and cruel reality marred by relentless masters, the whims of nature, and death caused by a plethora of incurable diseases. Add to this the almost con-tinuous brushing of shoulders with all the various facets of wars between adjacent kingdoms or princedoms and life could indeed be a short and grim affair. Hence the Marseille deck has trump cards that depict such things as Death, the Devil, the Chariot, the Hierophant or Pope, but then we also find the Lovers, the Sun, the Wheel of Fortune and such priced human qualities as Temperance and Strength. Another peculiarity of the Tarot deck is that you have 4 picture cards to every suit and not three. In order we have Page, Knight, Queen and King. This gives us 14 cards for every suit or 56 cards in the four suits. To these we must then at the 22 trumps (zero to 21) given a whopping 78 cards as our final count.

The Spanish Deck

Though not quite so popular outside their country of origin (namely Spain and Italy), there are several games that can be played with the Spanish Deck. The main significant feature of these decks lies in their usage of the four suits which are the same as for the Marseille Tarot deck mentioned earlier. So in the Spanish deck we have Coins, Cups, Batons/Wands and Swords. Additionally the number of cards in these decks can vary from 40 to 52 and here’s why. In the 52 card variant you have 13 cards per suite Ace to 10 and Jack/Page, Knight and King. As you noticed the Queen is missing and you will not find her in a Spanish deck. In the 40 Card decks then you have only 10 cards per suit Ace to 7 and the Jack, Knight and King. In Italy you will find various regional variations on this Spanish deck but mostly they are all 40 card decks. Even the size of these cards varies, some are quite diminutive others are closer to what we might call bridge-size decks. Most of the 40 card decks are used for two principle games in Italy and these are Scopa and Briscola. I have personally grown quite fond of the former because it offers some interesting elements of strategy while offering hours of carefree competitive play.

I would also like to mention here a third variation of the Spanish Deck which comes with 48 cards and in common use in Spain. Suits are the same as above but now you have 12 cards in each suit. In sequence you have Ace to 9 then Sota (Jack), Caballo (Knight) and Rey (King). The number 10 is normally found printed on the Sota, the Caballo has 11 on it and 12 on the Rey. There are various card games that are played using this deck, and more commonly, the 40 card decks mentioned earlier. Mus for instance is a popular vying or betting game for exactly 4 players. Then you have other games such as la escoba del quince (a trick-taking game), el julepe, el cinquillo, las siete y media, la mona etc.

The German Decks

There are also other variations out there with unique pips that stem out of popular regional culture. For instance a popular deck variation in Ger-man speaking countries and regions around Europe is composed of 36 cards with specific unique suites namely Bells, Leaves, Acorns and Hearts. Each suite has an Ace (As/Sau), King (Konig), Over (Ober), Un-der (Unter) and the 10 through 6. The 6 of bells has all other signs in-scribed on it and with the word WELI printed on it. One variation of this deck is the Salzburger deck used in German speaking parts of South Tyrol in Italy and as far south as Trento. They are used to play games such as Perlaggen, Watten and Bieten (also played in Austria).

....to be continued