Cards and Hoyle – Games

A Memory

I have always played card games (well, as far back as I can remember that is).

Memories of playing card games started with my grandma. I would go to her house to spend the night. At some point in the evening, she would bring out a standard deck of “Bicycle Brand” playing cards.

She would get paper, a pen and a card shuffling machine (which as a kid I thought was just cool).

Grandma would then put two cups of English tea on the table (one for her and one for me), followed by a tin of Danish butter cookies.

At this point we settled in for a couple of hours, playing Rummy.

What a wonderful memory for a person to have. It’s my memory (maybe it’s yours too). If you want to have fun and create a memory, play a game of cards with someone.

A Deck of Standard Playing Cards

Lots of people play cards.

If you don’t already have a deck, you can purchase a standard deck of “Bicycle Brand” standard playing cards through Amazon.

The brand doesn’t have to be Bicycle, but I have found over time and use that they make a deck that lasts.

I love to save money by stocking up and quite often I find buying in quantity often saves me money. Here are two decks of standard “Bicycle Brand” playing cards. I suggest you click on the link and be amazed by the savings that buying in bulk brings you.

A standard deck of cards typically has 52 playing cards and 2 joker cards (jokers are for games that use wild cards). There are hundreds of different games that can be played with a standard deck of cards.

Special Decks and Special Boards for Playing Some Card Games

Pinochle

Unless you want to play the game Pinochle, do not buy a deck that says Pinochle on it.

A Pinochle deck can not be used to play most card games as it only has 48 cards. It has duplicates for each suit of the A, K, Q, J, 10 and 9. Also, all cards with the numbers 2 – 8 are not in the deck. This deck is specifically used to play Pinochle.

Cribbage

Be aware that the game of Cribbage uses a special board for pegging points. It is used in conjunction with a standard deck of cards.

My board (seen below), has peg tracks enough for up to three players. At the bottom of the board is a section that helps players keep track of how many games each person has won. Not all boards have this handy section.

This board also has room inside to store my pegs and one or more decks of playing cards (the entire top slides down to reveal the storage area).

The board I own is made of beautiful dark wood. It sits on one of my tables in my game room (right next to my chess set). The board itself was made of high-quality materials. I’ve owned it for over 20 years. It should last me a lifetime.

If you would like to learn how to play (or if it has been a while and you need a refresher), when you are done reading this post, read my post about “Cribbage”.

If You Don’t Already Have One, You Will Need a Board – Here are Four to Consider

“Juegoal” makes a cribbage board that is very similar to mine in color and pegging design.

This cribbage board is made by “Regal Games”. This board uses bright colors to separate the pegging tracks. This can be very helpful visually during gameplay.

This is a beautifully crafted cribbage board made by “House of Cribbage” that received very high reviews.

This is another lovely cribbage board made by “House of Cribbage”.

If you end up losing one or more of your cribbage pegs, don’t throw that board away. You can buy replacement pegs for your board.

If you are looking for a gift for someone, a cribbage board makes a great gift. If the board you buy doesn’t come with a standard deck of playing cards, I’d advise you to buy them one of those too.

Games You Can Learn and Play with a Standard Deck of Cards

If you’ve never played a game of cards, you can learn some simple games on your cell phone, tablet or computer. Many devices have simple card games already accessible to play for free. Often there are several versions of a game called Solitaire (a game you can play by yourself).

If you want a myriad of card games to choose from (and learn to play), you can get a book called “Hoyle’s Encyclopedia of Card Games”, by Walter B Gibson.

I bought my book on Amazon Prime as a paperback. Some of these types of books are sold in hard copy. I also found one of these books offered on Kindle.

Some games detailed in this book require special decks (different than a standard deck) and special boards. Some games may require more than one deck and various counts of players.

At the back of this book is an Index/Glossary. This is very helpful as it lists where in the book you will find a specific game you want to read about. It has some definitions of game terms and it will tell you if the game is a version of Solitaire or Poker when applicable.

Let’s say you have a friend who says what fun they have playing Klondike (which is cited in this book as being the most popular of American Solitaires). You can turn to the back of the book and see which page its description of play begins on and that it is a game of Solitaire.

Within a game’s description, the book also defines game-specific terminology. For example, when you look up Cribbage, it explains what “His Heels” is and how you peg points for it. It also defines what a “Crib” is (which has nothing to do with small children, in this instance).

Don’t get stuck on, “I must find this book by this author” because Hoyle’s rules are pretty much the same no matter who writes them. Find the book that fits your budget and/or liking.

Edmond Hoyle appears to have been the first person to write a book like this (hence the name Hoyle). Since then several people have written a book like this. There is R.F. Foster, Richard L Frey, Albert H. Morehead and Geoffrey Mott-Smith (which was then Revised and Updated by Philip D. Morehead). I’m sure that other people have written and then revised this kind of book too. Games listed in the books vary greatly by count sometimes, as do the prices of the books themselves.

I love owning books, but if you don’t want to own one, you can look up the rules of play for many games on one of the devices referenced above in this post.

Another thing you could do is check with your public library, to see if they have a book of Hoyle you can borrow.

Other Things You Might Like To Learn About

A Card Game Called Rummy

You should consider playing Rummy. Sit down with someone you enjoy being with, have some refreshments, some snacks and make some memories.

If you like, you can learn how to play rummy, from me. Click here to read my post about the game of “Rummy“.

The Game Of Cribbage

As stated above, If you would like to learn how to play Cribbage (or if it has been a while and you need a refresher), read my post about “Cribbage”.

Hoyle

You might be asking yourself who or what is Hoyle. Here is a link if you are interested in reading what Wikipedia has to say about Hoyle, click here.

Interesting Information About Cards

If you would like to read “The History of Playing Cards, The Evolution of the Modern Deck”, click here.

According to Wikipedia, In 1867, The United States Playing Card Company (USPC/USPCC), was established. If you would like to read what they have to say about it, click here.

On December 31, 2019, the USPC/USPCC became part of Cartamundi. At the time of this writing, Cartamundi sells more than 150 million decks of playing cards per year.

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