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A card game is any game using playing cards, either traditional or game-specific. There are also some card games that require multiple standard decks. In this scenario, a "deck" refers to a set of 52 cards or a single deck, while a "pack" or "shoe" (Blackjack) refers to the collection of "decks" as a whole. The deck or pack A card game is played with a deck (common in the US), or pack (common in the UK), of cards intended for that game.identical in size and shape. Each card has two sides, the face and the back. The backs of the cards in a deck are indistinguishable. The faces of the cards in a deck may all be unique, or may include duplicates, depending on the game. In either case, any card is readily identifiable by its face. The set of cards that make up the deck are known to all of the players using that deck. Although many games have special decks of cards, the 52 cards exactly one card in the standard deck having that suit and rank. In addition to games that use the standard deck, there are also games that use some modification of the standard deck, for example all cards of rank lower than some rank (e.g., a pinochle deck), or adding a special card, joker, to the standard deck. Many European regions have their own variants of the standard deck having different names and imagery for suits, or having a different set of ranks in the cards. There are also some card games ths to a set of 52 cards or a single deck, while a "pack" or "shoe" (Blackjack) refers to the collection of "decks" as a whole. The deal Dealing is done either clockwise or counterclockwise. If this is omitted from the rules, then it should be assumed to be: clockwise for games from North America, North and West Europe and Russia; counterclockwise for South and East Europe and Asia, also for Swiss games. A player is chosen to deal. That person takes all of the cards in the pack, stacks them together so that they are all the same way up and the same way round, and shuffles them. There are various techniques of shuffling, all intended to put the cards into a random order. During the shuffle, the dealer holds the cards so that he or she and the other players cannot see any of their faces. Shuffling should continue until the chance of a card remaining next to the one that was originally next to is small. In practice, many dealers do not shuffle for long enough to achieve this. After the shuffle, the dealer offers the deck to another player to cut the deck. If the deal is clockwise, this is the player to the dealer's right; if counter-clockwise, it is the player to the dealer's left. The invitation to cut is made by placing the pack, face downward, on the table near the player who is to cut: who then lifts the upper portion of the pack clear of the lower portion and places it alongside. The formerly lower portion is then replaced on top of the formerly upper portion. The dealer then deals the cards. This is done by dealer holding the pack, face-down, in one hand, and removing cards from the top of it with her other hand to distribute to the players, placing them face-down on the table in front of the players to whom they are dealt. The rules of the game will specify the details of the deal. It normally starts with the players next to the dealer in the direction of play (left in a clockwise game; right in an anticlockwise one), and continues in the same direction around the table. The cards may be dealt one at a time, or in groups. Unless the rules specify otherwise, assume that the cards are dealt one at a time. Unless the rules specify otherwise, assume that all the cards are dealt out; but in many games, some remain undealt, and are left face down in the middle of the table, forming the talon, skat, or stock. The player who received the first card from the deal may be known as eldest hand, or as forehand. A card may be taken from either the mother deck or the discarded deck upon a players turn. A card taken from the mother deck must be either replaced in the player's hand for another card, or placed on the discard deck. Cards from the discard deck may be handled without breach of the no-return rule and may be placed back. This maneuver does not count towards a turn for a player. Play as usual resumes after the player has committed to a regular move. The set of cards dealt to a player is known as his or her hand. Throughout the shuffle, cut, and deal, the dealer should arrange that the players are unable to see the faces of any of the cards. The players should not try to see any of the faces. Should a card accidentally become exposed (visible to all), then normally any player can demand a redeal - that is, all the cards are gathered up, and the shuffle, cut and deal are repeated. Should a player accidentally see a card (other than one dealt to herself) she should admit this. It is dishonest to try to see cards as they are dealt, or to take advantage of having seen a card accidentally. When the deal is complete, all players pick up their cards and hold them in such a way that the faces can be seen by the holder of the cards but not the other players. It is helpful to fan one's cards out so that (if they have corner indices) all their values can be seen at once. In most games it is also useful to sort one's hand, rearranging the cards in a way appropriate to the game. For example in a trick taking game it is easier to have all one's cards of the same suit together, whereas in a rummy game one might sort them by rank or by potential combinations. The rules A new card game starts in a small way, either as someone's invention, or as a modification of an existing game. Those playing it may agree to change the rules as they wish. The rules that they agree on become the "house rules" under which they play the game. A set of house rules may be accepted as valid by a group of players wherever they play. It may also be accepted as governing all play within a particular house, café, or club. When a game becomes sufficiently popular, so that people often play it with strangers, there is a need for a generally accepted set of rules. This is often met by a particular set of house rules becoming generally recognised. For example, when whist became popular in 18th-century England, players in the Portland Club agreed on a set of house rules for use on its premises. Players in some other clubs then agreed to follow the "Portland Club" rules, rather than go to the trouble of codifying and printing their own sets of rules. The Portland Club rules eventually became generally accepted throughout England. There is nothing "official" about this process. If you decide to play whist seriously, it would be sensible to learn the Portland Club rules, so that you can play with other people who already know these rules. But if you only play whist with your family, you are likely to ignore these rules, and just use what rules you choose. And if you play whist seriously with a group of friends, you are still perfectly free to devise your own set of rules, should you want to. It is sometimes said that the "official" or "correct" sets of rules governing a card game are those "in Hoyle". Edmond Hoyle was an 18th-century Englishman who published a number of books about card games. His books were popular, especially his treatise on how to become a good whist player. After (and even before) his death, many publishers have taken advantage of his popularity by placing his name on their books of rules. The presence of his name on a rule book has no significance at all. The rules given in the book may be no more than the opinion of the author. If there is a sense in which a card game can have an "official" set of rules, it is when that card game has an "official" governing body. For example, the rules of tournament bridge are governed by the World Bridge Federation, and by local bodies in various countries such as the American Contract Bridge League in the USA, and the English Bridge Union in England. The rules of skat are governed by The International Skat Players Association and in Germany by the Deutsche Skatverband which publishes the Skatordnung. The rules of French tarot are governed by the Fédération Française de Tarot. But there is no compulsion to follow the rules put out by these organisations. If you and your friends decide to play a game by a set of rules unknown to the game's official body, you are doing nothing illegal. Many widely-played card games have no official regulating body. An example is Canasta. Rule infractions An infraction is any action which is against the rules of the game, such as playing a card when it is not one's turn to play and the accidental exposure of a card. In many official sets of rules for card games, the rules specifying the penalties for various infractions occupy more pages than the rules specifying how to play correctly. This is tedious, but necessary for games that are played seriously. Players who intend to play a card game at a high level generally ensure before beginning that all agree on the penalties to be used. When playing privately, this will normally be a question of agreeing house rules. In a tournament there will probably be a tournament director who will enforce the rules when required and arbitrate in cases of doubt. If a player breaks the rules of a game deliberately, this is cheating. Most card players would refuse to play cards with a known cheat. The rest of this section is therefore about accidental infractions, caused by ignorance, clumsiness, inattention, etc. As the same game is played repeatedly among a group of players, precedents build up about how a particular infraction of the rules should be handled. For example, "Sheila just led a card when it wasn't her turn. Last week when Jo did that, we agreed ... etc.". Sets of such precedents tend to become established among groups of players, and to be regarded as part of the house rules. Sets of house rules become formalised, as described in the previous section. Therefore, for some games, there is a "proper" way of handling infractions of the rules. But for many games, without governing bodies, there is no standard way of handling infractions. In many circumstances, there is no need for special rules dealing with what happens after an infraction. As a general principle, the person who broke a rule should not benefit by it, and the other players should not lose by it. An exception to this may be made in games with fixed partnerships, in which it may be felt that the partner(s) of the person who broke a rule should also not benefit. The penalty for an accidental infraction should be as mild as reasonable, consistent with there being no possible benefit to the person responsible. Card Games Hearts Hearts is a trick-taking card game normally played by four players but it can be modified for other numbers of players. A standard deck of 52 playing cards is used. The objective is to avoid taking tricks containing the queen of spades and any heart. It has several other names, many referring to different variants; these include, including Black Lady (referring to the Queen of Spades), Joker Hearts, Super Hearts, Two Blind Bitches and Valentine Hearts. Gameplay and mechanics The basic game has an ideal four players, using playing cards and a pen and paper for scorekeeping. The dealer gives all players thirteen cards, dealing out the entire deck. In each suit, the ace is high, followed by the king, queen, jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, and 2. There is no trump suit. In the traditional variant, each player is given a certain number of chips, with the winner being the person who gets all the chips. In the Black Lady variant, the goal of all players is to have the least points of any player; usually games end when a point threshold has been reached, for example if one or more players scores 100 points or higher. Hearts is turn-based and is played in 'rounds', where the deck is shuffled and dealt, cards are passed (if a passing round in the Black Lady variant), the play of tricks, and the scorekeeping. In the traditional game play, each player will ante up the same number of chips before the round begins. Passing In the Black Lady variant, each player is able to pick three cards and pass them either to the player to the left, the right, or across from them, in the "passing" phase. They will likewise receive three cards from another player. Players must pick which cards to pass before they can see what other player's give them. The pass sequence rotates, with one of every four rounds a "hold round", where no cards are passed. The pass sequence, repeating every four rounds, is as follows:
This phase plays like most other trick-taking games; however there is no trump suit. The 2 of clubs is a round's initial lead: whoever is holding this card after passing leads off. The other players play their cards, starting to the left of the lead and going clockwise. The player who plays the highest card of the led suit takes the cards and leads off for the next set of cards. Players must play the led suit, even if it means they will take the tricks and/or points. All hearts and the queen of spades (when playing the black lady variant) are penalty cards which players avoid winning in the tricks. If a player does not have a card of the led suit, he or she may play off-suit, playing any card from another suit. If the player plays a heart in this manner, called "breaking hearts" or "breaking the ice", then this allows subsequent hands to be led off with hearts. A player can also lead off with hearts (before hearts has been broken) only if he or she has no other suits to play. Generally, no penalty cards can be played on the first trick, even if the player does not have Clubs. Once all tricks have been played and/or there are no more penalty points to give, the play round ends and the scoring phase begins. Scoring In Traditional hearts, if a player has taken no hearts he gets the pool of chips. If two players take no hearts, the pool is divided, etc. If all the players have taken hearts (called being "painted") or if one player has taken all the hearts, then the pool remains on the table. When this occurs the pool is called a "jack". If a player has won all the chips he has won the game, otherwise a new round begins. In Black Lady, penalty points are assessed according to the cards taken in tricks. Each heart gives 1 point to the person taking it, and the queen of spades carries a penalty of 13 points. Therefore, 26 points are assessed each round. However, if a player takes all the penalty cards (known as shooting the moon, gaining control, or running hearts) they take no penalty points, and the other players take 26. Alternatively, some circles will have the individual subtract 26 points from their score, "add" 26 to their score, or no scores are given to any of the players for that round. If the game-ending score is not reached, a new hand begins. Strategy Winning Hearts is dependent on several factors, in addition to sheer luck. An important element is passing- Heart's strategic element first appears in the 3-card player-to-player pass for the Black Lady variant. Intuitively, the function of this pass is to rid one's hand of undesirable cards, or to get a head start on clearing a suit. However, this is not always the best strategy; for instance, a player may pass off all his spades just to get passed the queen of spades; this will force that player in all likelihood to "eat his own queen", that is, play the queen of spades and take it himself. This means that most players want to be able to protect the queen with a buffer of three or more Spades. As most players will try and force the queen out (sometimes called "flushing" or "smoking it out"), if the player with the queen of spades is able to outlast all other players with Spades, he or she is at a great advantage to play the queen of spades off-suit. Another important aspect of Hearts is teamwork. As there is only one winner and three losers in hearts, the most advanced strategy appears when the three losing players team up to give the leader points. Playing the queen and other point cards only when the player with the lowest score can take them, passing favorable cards to trailing players, and setting up the leader all require teamwork and unselfish play. Second place is no better than fourth place, and thus it profits a player nothing to give points to the player with the highest score ending the game while sitting in second place. Knowing whether to "shoot the moon" or not is also important, as a botched attempt to shoot could end up giving the player all but one heart. The term "covering" is used to describe the common practice of passing the second highest heart (generally the 10 of hearts or lower) in order to prevent anyone else from shooting the moon. Occasionally, a player will pass a Jack or Queen as their cover card if they only have high hearts. This player is responsible for playing the higher heart to stop a player if they attempt to shoot the moon. Passing the highest heart (thus making it possible one player has all the high hearts), or not playing the cover card is called "dodging" or "ducking" and is considered poor sportsmanship normally. Passing a low heart is also a strategy often employed to prevent other players from "Shooting the Moon." E.g. If a player holds the Ace, King, and Queen of Hearts and is passed the 4 of Hearts, they will not be able to run the hand as long as one other player also has four hearts in their hand. Since the 2 of clubs is always the first card played, some players opt to pass this card as if it were a high card. The reason being that having the 2 of clubs does not enable you to play a high club on the first hand. If the game is being played with the optional restriction on playing point cards on the first trick, the first trick must be safe and the player should try to use his high clubs immediately. With this rule, the ace of clubs is considered by many a great card, and is generally not passed. Having the ace of clubs enables a player to start the next trick with whatever suit they desire. This can be especially useful if the player only has one card in a suit left. Passing a high club is generally considered foolish, because it will just be played on the first hand. The most dangerous clubs are the 9, 10 and J, as the 2, Q, K, and A generally see play on the first hand, thus making those three the highest three cards left. When point cards are allowed on the first trick, however, many players adopt aggressive passing strategies to void themselves in clubs so as to play high hearts or the queen of spades on unsuspecting players following the strategies outlined in the previous paragraph. Under these rules, it is sometimes advisable to keep the two of clubs and pass higher clubs to cover the initial trick. When a player has all high clubs, it is advisable to pass them, especially if it is possible to get rid of all of them through passing and then begin laying points immediately. Diamonds are generally passed in an attempt to short them. Generally passing all of the highest diamonds is the preferred strategy of most players as there is very little risk in shorting Diamonds. In some variations of the game, the 10 or J of Diamonds subtracts points, in which case high Diamonds are preferred. Note that having a balanced hand (that is, a 4-3-3-3 or 4-4-3-2 suit split) are undesirable because they make it difficult to "clear" a suit, so that potentially dangerous cards can be ruffed to future tricks of that suit. One or two cards in a suit are relatively easy to clear; while a 3- or 4-card suit can be cleared, doing so may exhaust most or all of the cards in that suit, making the clearing useless. Shooting the moon The above criteria of desirability only apply to a player not desiring to "shoot the moon". Otherwise, many of these criteria are reversed. A hand that appears doomed (by virtue of being capable of winning almost all the tricks) may be excellent for the purpose of moon-shooting. The element of risk involved in shooting the moon is one of the appeals of the game, since a player may attempt to get all 26 points and fail by only getting 24 or 25, in which case the player suffers a massive penalty. This element provides much of the appeal of the game, along with the cutthroat aspect associated with a player holding the queen of spades possibly having the option of dropping it on another player's trick (sometimes called Q-bombing or 'Impregnating' in slang). Often the player who has the fewest points (and is thus leading) is the one people try to give the queen to; however, there is always the risk of giving it to a player who then uses it as part of shooting the moon. Players must always be on the lookout for another player trying to shoot the moon, in the hopes that they can stop it, or weigh the advantages of stopping it versus taking many points to stop it. In addition, the element of passing cards allows players to attempt to control their destiny and influence that of their fellow players. Generally, the player attempting to shoot will keep high cards, and keep a long suit, so that they may keep playing that suit when others have run out. In order to make sure that a player does not save a card specifically to foil a moon shot, most players must deceive their opponents as to their intentions, for example playing lower cards until they are confident they can take and hold possession of the lead. This is important, especially during pass rounds, as players receiving a pass of low cards is a red flag that the other player is attempting to shoot the moon. Usually it is in a player's best interest to stop the other person from shooting, as they will take 26 points, but that must be weighed against the potential consequences of stopping the shooter, which may include taking many points. An advanced player holding the queen of spades and other high cards, but aware that others will prevent them from shooting, may clear out their other suits by playing high cards and then pass the lead to someone else with a low card played late in the hand, hoping that they will then be able to discard the queen on a trick in the suit they have created a void in. Other players, fearing the moon shot, will keep high cards to prevent it, which may garner them the queen on the last few tricks if the Queen was not smoked out earlier. The player in second place may be wary of preventing a moon shot by a higher player, since if the higher player successfully shoots the second-place player may still be in second place (or nearly) since both their score and that of the leader increases by 26 points, whereas if the second-place player stops the moonshot they may take many (13+) points for their pains, putting them further out of reach of first place. Players with "long suits" (five or more of a single suit) have a high advantage to shoot the moon; similarly, those without hearts also have a higher chance of being successful in a moon shoot. A long suit allows the player to force others to play their highest of that suit, then switch to another suit before the leading player has run out of that suit; this means that even low cards, if other players do not have that suit, can be used to shoot the moon. Successful shooting often requires players to count cards, seeing which cards have been played to see if a moon shot is possible or which player has which card. A player leading off with ace of clubs either means he or she is shooting the moon, or has the queen of spades and is not afraid to retain possession. Generally, if a player has a long suit including low cards, it is important to count cards in that suit as they are played, since their low cards may cease to be exits once the rest of the suit is exhausted. It is entirely possible to lead a two in a long suit and receive the queen of spades when no one else has that suit anymore. Crazy Eights Crazy Eights is a card game for two or more players. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards to a discard pile. There are a number of variations of the basic game, and a number of different names including Crates, Finlander's Uno, Last One, Mau-Mau, Pesten, Rockaway, Spoons, Swedish Rummy, Switch and Tchausepp. In Britain it is often referred to as Black Jack (not to be confused with Blackjack). Bartok, Mao and UNO are more extreme variations, containing elements not covered in this entry. Generally, a standard 52-card pack is used, although some variations may use jokers as wild, and others may use more than one pack. Each player is (usually) dealt seven or eight cards, with the rest of the deck being placed face down at the centre of the table. The top card is then turned face up to start the discard pile. Players discard their cards by matching rank or suit with the top card of the discard pile. Generally, any number of cards of the same rank may be played consecutively. Runs are occasionally permitted. If a player is unable to match the rank or suit of the top card of the discard pile and they don't have an 8, they draw cards from the stock pile until they draw a card that they are able to play (alternatively they may pass after drawing one card—the rules over passing vary). If the stock pile runs out of cards, the top card of the discard pile is removed and the remaining cards in the discard pile are reshuffled and serves as the new stock pile. The first player to get rid of all their cards is the winner. War War is a card game for two players. It uses a standard Western fifty-two-playing card deck. It is most often played as a children's game, because of its simplicity. How to play Each player is dealt half the deck, and both players play simultaneously. Each player shows one card, and whoever has the highest card takes both cards shown and places them at the bottom of its deck. Aces can be high or low, which should be decided before the game begins. In case of a tie, both players play three face-down cards and one face-up card, and these face-up cards decide who will receive all the cards. If there is another tie, the process is repeated, et cetera. In all cases of ties, face-down cards are exposed before being collected. In some variations, smaller numbers of face-down cards are played (for example, one card is placed face down, while the second is played face up). In one blood-thirsty variation, the number of face-down cards equals the pip value of the cards, with face cards being ten and ace eleven. Whichever player has no card to play when it is required to play one is the winner. In one variation, a set number of ties won will decide the winner of the game. This is commonly either three or five. Some variations will have the winner being the one who is able to get rid of all its cards last, or any combination of these variations. Strategy War seems to be a game of chance. However, a player with an excellent memory can improve upon its chances of winning by ordering the cards that the player wins in rounds. This is best demonstrated with an example – suppose Alice is playing to beat Bob. The game begins with Bob beating Alice's six with a ten. Alice notices that Bob collects the two cards and puts them on the bottom of his deck with the ten on top of the six. In the next round, Alice beats Bob's eight with a jack. Alice now collects the two cards and places them at the bottom of her deck with the jack on top of the eight so that the next pass through the deck will begin jack beats ten (Alice collects), eight beats six (Alice collects again). If Alice had instead placed the eight over the jack, the next pass through the deck would go ten beats eight (Bob collects), jack beats six (Alice collects), which is not as beneficial to Alice. However, over the long-term, as the deck sizes change (as both players collect cards) and as more and more cards are revealed, it becomes extremely difficult—indeed, nearly impossible—to implement this strategy. Only a player with an extremely good memory and the ability to visualize extremely quickly card positions in both decks will be able to consistently implement this strategy over the course of a game. Something analogous to genetic selection occurs in war: if you have fewer cards they tend to be of higher quality. Conversely, as you accumulate cards, they become weaker. The rule for handling ties mitigates against this problem somewhat, however. 
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