Archive for the ‘playing cards’ Category

Card Playing Accessories

Monday, February 28th, 2011

Are you trying to find playing card accessories? This post will supply you with a few guidelines on choosing the best accessories.

There’s a broad range of playing card accessories available. You are able to locate every little thing from decks of cards with pictures printed onto them to enjoyable special event decor. Cards have been a useful component of planet culture for centuries, and have served as a historical almanac. Their style by way of the years can support us to comprehend politics, lifestyles and innovation. They’re also helpful teaching tools for kids. Here are some possibilities for all ages and skill levels.

For the Collector

Cards are enjoyable to collect. From offbeat themes (Beatles, fishing lures, pin-up girls, or superheroes as an example) to tarot symbology, they maintain us fascinated. You’ll be able to come across colorful decks in numerous stores. Usually they are going to have funny photographs or stunning scenery on them. Custom playing cards may also be designed on the internet by way of some businesses having a family members photo or beloved pet.

Collecting decks of cards from the distinct locations you’ve got been is often a enjoyable method to begin a collection. Get children excited about traveling by beginning them on this tradition. Attempt to discover a brand new set each and every time you go someplace they haven’t been just before.

Cards could be classified by size (mini, jumbo, poker), by era, by use, by manufacturer or by nation of origin. Should you be a collector, or know somebody who’s, it is critical to maintain all of these items in thoughts for a effectively rounded collection.

For the Residence

Playing card decor could be fantastic for a party or house casino evening. Make it straightforward on your self and purchase a pre-assembled kit, total with centerpiece, danglers and cutouts depicting the 4 suits. They may be discovered at virtually any party retailer or develop your personal for those who have the time. Also accessible are edible sugar cake decorations having a card theme. Use those on a birthday cake for that card lover within your life.

For a lot more elegant house decor playing card boxes of all varieties and supplies are accessible. A wooden or leather playing card case would make a fantastic gift.

You’ll be able to also purchase card themed Christmas stockings, designer plates, watches with card faces, votive candles, wall plaques, and also coasters. For some dollars, amateur magicians can purchase a huge set of playing cards to boost his or her magic show. Other trick cards may also be procured at party merchants.

For the Game

Youngsters adore games, but often their tiny hands cannot hold a big amount of cards for a game. Also, older persons may have arthritis concerns. Why must these people be left out from the delight of cards? They don’t have to be. Card holders are created mainly for small or frail hands allowing it to be simpler and far more enjoyable for everybody.

A playing card tray can hold your pull and discard decks, and keep them tidy. A few (blank) versions spin at the same time, making the access to the take and discard decks less difficult for everybody. Mechanical shufflers are commonly offered also inside the toy and game section of the nearby retailer. Some are battery operated and yet others you simply shake to combine the cards.

Wood made playing card holders rest on the table. Several are rounded for hassle-free browsing as well as for far better card privacy. Created from wood they’re really long lasting and simple to wash. Wooden playing card racks are excellent for game nights as well, simply because, should you desire to eat food or have a drink whilst playing both hands remain totally free.

These are just some suggestions to improve your gaming nights and enhance your decor. So when you are searching I hope it is possible to locate the ideal playing card accessories.

For more wonderful suggestions visit HandAndFootCardGame.org or read this Playing Card Accessories article.

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Know When to Stop Playing that Losing Game of Poker

Thursday, December 31st, 2009

We have all rued the day when we overstayed our welcome at those losing rounds of poker.  In hindsight, it is easy to see that we should have walked away hours earlier.  The problem is, if we did that, we would always be tormented by that jackpot that was just around the corner, awaiting a few more hands.  But no, we stay and lose right down to that last grim deal.  To make matters worse, since we have no idea why we put up with this torture in the first place, we go back and do it again and again.

One absolutely must use their powers of reasoning to logically analyze the situation to determine if they should hold or fold.  You know when to go to the airport so you won’t miss the plane for that important business meeting.  If you are hanging on in desperation waiting for that winning hand and miss your chance to get to the airport on time, you are going to get totally stressed.  You won’t play well, you missed the plane and that important meeting.  You are also harming yourself and your career.

Poker should be undertaken for amusement, not self-flagellation.  If you are not having fun, leave the game, before your play and your psyche both suffer.  Some players begin by taking up poker for R & R, only to find themselves overwhelmed by the game, yet are glued to their chair for some unknown reason.  They are overcome by some obsession to stay the course, unwilling to leave as a loser, but continue to lose and suffer.  The well-balanced player will chalk the loss up to experience, maintain their good humor and leave the game, knowing that it isn’t always like this.

The first step in understanding this type of behavior is to realize that the problem does not lie in the game of poker itself.  It lies in you and your persistence in continuing to play and to lose at an “amusement” that is pointless and unproductive and at which you are not having fun.  This is avoidance and self-delusion at its finest, having no connection with poker.

This behavior is undoubtedly manifesting itself in other aspects of your life as well.  You must refocus to help you uncover the source of your problem.  Don’t waste any more time wondering dumbly why you have once again overstayed your playing time by that murderous extra hour and try to concentrate on envisioning yourself in your other day-to-day activities.  This may allow you the insight to discover incidences totally unrelated to your poker game where your behavior is the same.

Keep an open mind when doing this mental exercise, it may be anything from job dissatisfaction to suppressed anger or grief.  Once you have come to a conclusion, deal with it, and you will more easily be able to cut your losses by leaving the table.

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Other Ways to Improve Your Poker Game

Tuesday, December 22nd, 2009

What will not improve your poker game is holding on to that arrogant attitude and trust in luck.  Nor will you gain anything at the table by sticking to the small set of rules you learned from a book and never venture beyond them for fear of your safety.  First, you must realize that no matter how many hands you win, there is still room for improvement..  Poker is not just a game of luck, skill or mindreading, a good player has learned the art of introspection.  You must be very candid with yourself and define your strength and weaknesses as accurately as possible.

There are also talented players out there who do not project arrogance and do not play by a few rules they learned either from the literature or at the table.  Their roadblock to improvement is to rest on their laurels and never grow.  No inspiration here, these lazy players rely on rare strokes of brilliance to win a couple of hands..

Hardly anyone excels in every aspect of a complicated process, but to depend on just a few skills is perilous and likely to bring you down over time.  Your weaknesses must be acknowledged and tended to.  You are not alone at the table and not the only player with insight.  Your opponents will discover that you do a few things well and often, and can bypass your play with maneuvers of their own.  In the end, they will consistently apply these tactics, and take you by surprise.  Why?  Because they have taken the time and effort to improve all their poker skills and have the confidence to make a number of creative moves.

Just as there are no one-handed boxers, you have to sharpen all your skills, even the weak ones.  And you can’t make progress on improving your weak points if you do not recognize them.  This is a difficult task, but you will not improve without tackling it.

The difficulty of this task likes in two basic concepts, you must understand that the game isn’t really worth playing unless your goal is to win, and you must take on the burden of forming a disciplined habit of consistently doing that which you do not want to do.  This won’t work if you don’t understand why you are learning to form this habit.  You must engage yourself in the game and blindly following a routine that is incomprehensible to you will not lead to engagement or success.

A good golfer will have visions of where he wants the ball to go and the ideal way to put it there.  A good poker player must do the same: envision himself as more than a competent player of the game, feel the rush of excitement that leads to triumphant results, and come to the decision that this is a good thing.  If your imagination is too stifled to experience this feeling, you need to admit to yourself that you really don’t get it and explore other opportunities that will successfully engage you.  If this vision, however, stirs your passion, work on improving all your skills and the results will amaze you.  As an added bonus, achieving the discipline it takes to consistently do things that do not appeal to you and you may even fear, is in itself rewarding.

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Face Cards in a Deck of Cards: How Did They Evolve?

Saturday, December 19th, 2009

There was a card craftsman who, as a French military commander,  battled alongside Joan of Arc.  His name was Etienne de Vignolles, known as La Hire.  The courage and heroism of the legendary maid of Orleans so impressed him he removed the knight from a deck of cards and replaced it with a dame.  Decorating cards with religious motifs or those depicting humans did not raise the wrath of the Catholic church.  The king of spades was designed after King David including his sword and quiver.  Charles the Great became the king of clubs, Julius Caesar the king of diamonds, and Alexander the Great was symbolized by the king of hearts.  These four members of the monarchy came together to represent the four springboards of western civilization.

Today’s Queens and Jacks did not follow such a consistent path.  The queen of spades represented the goddess Athena, which could also have been a representation of that kindred warrior, Joan of Arc.  Rachel depicted the queen of diamonds whose husband, Jacob, waited around for 14 years to marry her.  Somewhat disturbingly, the queen of hearts represented Judith, who quite unromantically cut off the head of Holofernes.  The queen of clubs did not follow this same pattern.  She represented a collection of images that formed Argine, an abstract favorite of kings, whose name appears to be an anagram of “regina” (queen).  This also could be a possible reference again to Joan of Arc, as Charles the Great, the French Catholic major domo, was the king of clubs.

The jack of spades was from a knight in Charlemagne’s court; diamonds were for Hector; for hearts we have La Hire himself and Judas Maccabeus represented clubs.  A variation on the theme had the four jacks being represented by four well-known knights: Lancelot, Ogier, Roland, and Valery.  These four were youthful, clean-shaven and longhaired warriors, all with battle axes.  All had a bloodhound-like dog at their feet except for Valery, possibly because Valery was the chief craftsman who created the deck.

Going lower on the scale, we have cards ten down to two, marked with their corresponding number and value.  The Ace which was an English word meaning “unit” had translations in French, Spanish, German and other equivalents as well, such as: as, ass, aus, etc.  The Ace was ranked lower than even the two.  This greatly upset the Catholic Church of the middle ages as God was “one” and any numeric system defining His number as lowly was blasphemous and smacked as consorting with the devil.  Should you disagree with this theory, you would undoubtedly come to see it their way on your way to the dungeon.

The Ace stands today for something almost metaphysical – the quintessence of oneness, if you will, which becomes more valuable than any one personification.  In reality, should a lone, simple card be given such mystical attributes?

This amorphous debate has been argued for centuries.  There are many countries in this world of ours that consider spirit and matter as one and as an important facet of our self-awareness.  In these modern times more than ever before, the rational, mystical, quasi-physical and sometimes, sexual elements of a deck of cards are greatly admired.  The Ace remains the essential entity of all or nothing, or something of an indeterminate element in the game of cards and life.

Back to earth – cards serve the same purpose today as they did back in the middle ages.  The rank of cards in the deck possibly reflecting back on the rank of humanity in society, from monarch to serf, with value depending upon rarity and the specific results of thousands of  combinations.

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The Evolution of a Deck of Cards: Face Cards

Thursday, December 17th, 2009

Étienne de Vignolles, called La Hire, a French military commander who faught alongside Joan of Arc, happened to be a card craftsman. He was so impressed with the legendary maid’s heroism that he replaced the knight in a deck of cards with a dame. Catholics had no objection to depicting human form on cards, decorating cards with Judeo-Christian motifs. The King of spades was King David, with the trophy sword in hand and his sling on the bottom of the card. King of clubs was Charles the Great, King of diamonds was Julius Caesar, and King of hearts was Alexander the Great. The four kings represented the four sources of western civilization.

The depiction of what we would call today Queens and Jacks was not as consistent. The queen of spades was drawn in the form of Athena, meant likewise to remind of the warlike Joan of Arc. The queen of diamonds was the beautiful Rachel that Jacob waited for 14 years before be able to take her as wife. The queen of hearts stood for Judith, the heroine who had beheaded Holofernes. While the queen of clubs was a collective image and represented a certain abstract favorite of kings, named Argine, which was apparently an anagram of “regina” (queen), or which possibly meant to suggest Joan of Arc again, since the king of clubs was Charles the Great, the distinguished French Catholic leader.

A knight from Charlemagne’s court served as prototype for the jack of spades; Hector – for diamonds; la Hire for hearts; and Judas Maccabeus for clubs. As a variation of this, the four jacks represented four famous knights, with their names printed below them on the cards: Lancelot, Ogier, Roland, and Valery. Youthful, beardless, warriors with long haircuts wielded a battle axe. All except Valery (who happened to be the chief craftsman of that deck) had a scent hound at their feet.

Still lower on the scale came the cards from 10 to 2, marked by the appropriate number of suit symbols, greatest value accorded to the greater number. The English word “Ace” first meant “unit,” and had French, Spanish, German and other equivalents: as, aas, ass, etc. The Ace stood lower on the scale than 2. However, the medieval Catholic Church viciously opposed such a classification. God was “one,” and hence any game or numeric system which defined His number as the lowest was blaspheme and Satan’s work. Anyone who would not agree had to be convinced by an array of means which were difficult to argue with down at the basement.

Today, the Ace symbolized a kind of quintessence – associated freely with anything from the exposed essence of woman to what the physicists call the “naked singularity” – which is greater in value than any single influential personage. But can a single and the simplest of the cards in the deck stand for anything at once and should one privilege its scientific baseness or metaphysical elevation?

The question remains as arguable today as it was during the middle ages. In many countries there is no clear cut distinction between spiritual and earthly values, both being essential to present-day self definition. Today perhaps more than ever, any good citizen reveres the national, the mystical, the quantum-physical, and the downright pornographic of Esquire decks. The Ace is all or nothing, depending on how you see the contemporary concoction of concepts, and symbolizes best, perhaps, a kind of postmodern rhetorical indeterminacy which can take you anywhere or nowhere.

Otherwise, the cards serve us pretty much as they served any specific class or a mixture of class during the middle ages or the Renaissance. The basic hierarchy of the deck from King to lowest number, and the 2.598.960 possible combinations of varying value, the value of combinations decided by their rarity, allow ample possibility to project anybody’s social and spiritual aspirations.

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A History of a Deck of Cards and Its Suits

Monday, November 30th, 2009

Cards were not introduced into Medieval Europe until the second half of the 14th century.  At this time they were referred to as “Saracen Cards,” and were brought to Europe by merchants.  Cities were burgeoning with rural folk who had survived the Plague and moved to the urban centers.  Here, they became a new group of middle class merchants and craftspeople.  With the easing of the poverty and ignorance that marked the middle ages, new trade groups, guilds, and universities began to emerge once again, and science was no longer relegated to sorcerers.  There was more time for the pursuit of pleasure, leisure, and play.

Books, cards, and prints were produced by hand during the early Renaissance period.  Artists and scientists came together and became the moving force behind the spread of card games throughout Italy.  Many illustrated card-manual manuscripts began to show up in a number of major cities including Viterbo near Rome in Italy, Paris and Barcelona by the late 14th century. Traveling scholars and artists were responsible for card games gaining in popularity and becoming more widespread.  Where once a single craftsman in early 15th century could satisfy the demand for cards in a city, by the mid 15th century, many shops worked full time to fulfill the need.

Because this was a somewhat foreign form of amusement, not everybody embraced it.  Some felt it threatened the fabric of society’s mores and morals.  They saw it as a game where gamblers and bettors were in cahoots with the devil.  During the protestant Reformation cards were rather dramatically referred to as “devil pictures.”

No matter or because of this devilish image, card playing stood its ground.  The English queen, Mary, Queen of Scots not only bet big, but bet on Sunday!  The Compleat Gamester was published in London in the late 17th century, with descriptions of over a dozen types of card games and the winning strategies involved in their play.   In Venice, specific types of facilities called casini allowed admittance of aristocrats and courtesans to indulge in games of cards.  It was here that a game called primero was invented and spread throughout the continent to later morph into poker.

In time, women as well as men, farmers and merchants as well as courtesans and nobles were able to enter the games and found symbols of themselves represented in the cards.  A Swedish deck that became very much the rage, was comprised of these suits in order of ranking: sun, king, queen, knight, dame, valet and maid.  Those ribald Florentines played with cards that pictured nude dames and dancers, with the dancers being the low suit.

There was no standard number of cards or designs in a deck at that time.  The number of cards could vary from 36 to 40 to 52.  The suits of the time were symbolic of wealth, tasty victuals, military defense, and sports popular with the court.  These were coins, cups, sabers, and clubs.  Signs familiar to us were in use in France in the 15th century: in red, Couers (Hearts) stood for the church, carreaux (a rectangular floor tile) represented the merchant class; in black, there were piques (spear and arrow heads) depicting state authority, and trefles (trefoil clover leaf) as a sign of the farmers.  Some brave soul at one point along the way ditched the vice-royals for queens.

After a period of time, the deck of cards that we know today took form.  52 cards with 13 ranks comprising 4 distinct suits.  The suits include Spades, Diamonds, Hearts, and Clubs with  the Ace, King, Queen, and Jack counting for ten and the rest of the cards, 2 through 10, being counted at their face value.

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How Playing Cards and Suits Came to Be

Saturday, November 28th, 2009

Cards, known as Saracen cards, were introduced to Europe in the second half of the 14th century.  The people in more rural areas, having survived the “Black Death” were moving to the cities.  Here they began a class of merchants and artisans who became middle class urbanities.  Coming out of the dark ages with its superstition, ignorance and poverty, guilds and universities made a reappearance, scientific experimentation was once again allowed and thrived, and the populace now had time for leisure and play.

In the early days of the Renaissance, books, cards and prints were created by hand.  Card games were spread across Italy by a society of art appreciators formed at this time.  At the end of the 14th century many key cities in Europe including Viterbo near Rome, Paris and Barcelona, were able to obtain illuminated manuscripts of card manuals.   Traveling artists and scholars spread these manuscripts across the continent and their popularity flourished.  Early in the 15th century, a lone artisan was enough to satisfy the demand of a city.  By mid-century, however, there became a need for several shops devoted to their creation.

Card manuscripts were not loved by everyone.  Indeed many were threatened by this foreign entertainment and saw it as a force to promote gambling and as an immoral and counter cultural product of the devil.  At the time of the protestant Reformation, the cards were referred to as “Devil Pictures.”

In spite of or because of this, the popularity of cards persisted.  Even Mary, Queen of Scots was a major bettor and enjoyed the game, shockingly, even on Sunday.  The compleat Gamester was published in the late 17th century in London, relating details of more than a dozen games and their basic strategies.  Particular facilities – casini – were established in Venice for aristocrats and courtesans especially for card games.  From these Venice casini, a game called primero found its way all over Europe and was transformed into poker some time later.

After a while, the game was played and enjoyed by women as well as men, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants as well as courtesans and aristocrats.  The suits at the time from a popular Swedish deck were in order of rank: sun, king, queen, knight, dame, valet and maid.  In Florence, cards were depicted as nude dames and dancers, with dancers being the lowest rank.

Interestingly, the number of cards in a deck at the time was not standard, consisting of 30-40 or 52 cards.  The designs also varied considerably.  The suits most preferred were symbolic of wealth, food, military security as well as popular sports of the court:, coins, cups, sabers and clubs.  Some of the symbols familiar to us today were typical of those in France:  in red, Coeurs (hearts) stood for the church, and correaux (a rectangular floor tile) was a sign of the merchant class; in black, piques (spear and arrow heads) represented state authority, and trefles (trefoil clover leaf) denoted farmers.  Somewhere along the line, a brave artisan exchanged the vice-royals symbol with queens.

Time passed and the deck of cards we recognize today was formed, whereby a deck of 52 cards with 13 various rankings compiled 4 different suits.  The familiar Clubs, Spades, Diamonds and Hearts are the suits with Aces, Kings, Queens and Jacks usually weighing in at a value of 10.  The non-face cards, 2 through 10 are each counted at face value.

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The Evolution of a Deck of Cards: Suits

Thursday, November 26th, 2009

In the second half of the 14th century merchants introduced what was then commonly called “Saracen cards” into medieval Europe. Those who had survived the bubonic plague moved to cities, where they formed a new class of merchants and craftsmen – the urban bourgeois. Once the poverty and prejudice of the dark era eased, trade, guilds, and universities began to revive, and new scientific perspectives were discovered along with the time for leisure, play, and pleasure.

During the early Renaissance, books, cards, and paintings were manufactured by hand. A community of art and science appreciators formed and became the primary factor in the spread of card games across Italy. By late 14th century many illustrated card-manual manuscripts had appeared in a number of key cities in several countries, including Viterbo near Rome in Italy, in Paris, and in Barcelona. Thanks to traveling artists and scholars, the popularity of the game steadily grew: in the early 15th century a single craftsman sufficed to satisfy the card requirements of a city; but by mid century there was need in multiple fulltime shops.

Not everybody welcomed the innovation: the foreign form of entertainment contained a threat to more and morality; gamblers and betters consorted with the devil and during the protestant Reformation the cards were called “devil pictures.”

Nonetheless, the fashion persisted. Mary, Queen of Scots liked to bet big even on Sundays and by late 17th century London published The Compleat Gamester, describing over a dozen game types and the basic strategies for all of them. In Venice, special facilities – casini – admitted privileged aristocrats for card games and courtesans. From there, a game called primero spread to Europe and later transformed into poker.

In fact, soon not only the male court enjoyed cards, but also women, farmers, craftsmen, and merchants gained access to the game and found their realities symbolically reflected there. A popular Swedish deck had these suits in order of significance: sun, king, queen, knight, dame, valet, and maid. Florentine cards depicted nude dames and dancers (the latter being lowest).

The design and number of cards in a deck was not uniform at the time, varying from 36 to 40 or 52 cards. Popular suits were symbols of wealth, victuals, military security, and popular court sports: coins, cups, sabers, and clubs. Already in the 15ht century signs familiar to us were used in France: in red, Coeurs (hearts) symbolized the church, and carreaux (a rectangle floor tile) symbolized the merchant class; in black, piques (spear and arrow heads) standing for state authority, and trefles (trefoil clover leaf) symbolizing farmers. At some point, a daring artisan substituted the precedent vice-royals with queens.

Eventually a deck of cards made it to the form that we all recognize and understand today.  52 cards of 13 different ranks make up 4 different suits.  Clubs, Spades, Diamonds and Hearts make up the suits, while Ace, King, Queen, and Jack make up the card ranks rounded out by ten through two.

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