Games' Most Wanted: The Top 10 Book of Players, Pawns, and Power-Ups

7. It’s in the Cards

49 7 It’s in the Cards Though we all accept and enjoy the standard deck of fifty-two playing cards with little question, the history of playing cards and how they came into being is long and filled with mystery. It is commonly believed that cards originated in China, slowly migrating westward, but several other theories exist—that they are an offspring of the tarot cards, that they were first played in the Lost City of Atlantis, or that they are a symbolic representation of our calendar year. Interesting to note, numerically, the cards of a standard deck do have parallels in our calendar: fifty-two weeks in a year (whole deck), four seasons (suits), thirteen per suit cards (full/new moon lunar cycles). Regardless of their origin or symbolism, playing cards have proven infinitely versatile when it comes to creating games to play, whether single-player, two-person, or multiplayer . The following list includes ten of the more well-known or interesting card games to play. 1. POKER Easily one of the most popular card games of the last thirty years, poker has been around in various incarnations since the 1800s. The game became truly popular at the beginning of this century when smaller cameras allowed spectators to view cards held by players, giving them insight into the 50 Games’ Most Wanted™ players’ point of view and strategy. This gave rise to the various “poker tours.” The game is based around players forming a hand from the cards dealt them. Various combinations can create higher-ranking hands. The addition of betting allows players to add an element of mind games on top of the card game being played. Bluffing your hand to force other players out (who may have a better hand than you) is a tried and true strategy within the game. As mentioned, poker can be played in a variety of ways. The four most common groupings are straight, stud, draw, and flop. Straight poker is the simplest form of the game, with a single hand being dealt and simple betting. Stud poker has the cards dealt in a prearranged pattern of facedown and faceup cards, with the players making the best hand possible . Betting occurs between each rotation of dealt cards, as parts of the hands are revealed. Draw poker allows players to discard some cards in an effort to build the best hand. All cards in this game are dealt facedown. Flop poker is the Many card games are easy for kids to play and have a strong secondary market for collectors. Erin McCann It’s in the Cards 51 category that includes the very popular game of Texas hold ’em. In this version of poker, community cards are dealt that all players may build their hands from. Items used to bet vary from table to table. Chips, pennies , hard cash, and—in some racier versions of poker— clothing can be used. Former president Richard Nixon funded his first political campaign with $6,000 in poker winnings he amassed while serving in World War II—and, for the record, he won that election. 2. BRIDGE A game often associated with women’s groups on sitcoms from the 1950s through the 1970s, bridge is derived from a game of Russian origin called whist, which dates back to the 1700s, and had many fans, including President George Washington. As with most card games, bridge went through a number of variations before finally settling on the version technically known as contract bridge in the late 1920s. The game is partner based, with the goal being to secure as many “tricks” as possible. This is facilitated through the auction or bidding process, which is the hallmark of the game. Bidding in bridge can be very complicated, challenging , and nuanced, and beginning players will have a bit of a learning curve when first starting out. To add a further wrinkle , because the game involves partners who cannot see each other’s cards, they must communicate through the use of bids. Bridge also employs an impressive list of terms that help to speed up play. Again, this can overwhelm new players, but because of the various layers of strategy, bridge becomes a game that any player can enjoy for a lifetime. 3. GO FISH Usually one of the very first card games learned by children, go fish is also one of the simplest card-matching games 52 Games...