Some games like chess, posses an ancestry that goes back for thousands of years. Other games like those of cards are more modest and have only been played for a few hundreds of years. But chess appeals only to the few who have a great deal of leisure to study and practice. Card games on the other hand may be easily learned, and can be played at odd times. Another great advantage of card games is that the number of players can vary and that several people can join in. This little book gives instructions in playing many games, some for two players but mostly for more. It will be assumed that little is known of cards, so that anyone reading this may be able to play though they may never have tried before.An ordinary pack of cards consists of fifty two cards arranged in a series of four suits thirteen of each .The suits are spades, clubs, diamonds, and hearts.
The best card is the ace; following which in this order come the king, queen , jack , then nine and so on, down to the deuce which has the lowest value. For some games there are additions made to the pack for other games some of the cards are taken out. For example: the poker pack has a joker, a fifty third card, added. This is the most valuable card, as it can be made to represent anything an ace or a king or an extra ten or jack or whatever is wanted. For euchre the joker is used but all the small cards, from two to seven are thrown out. Usually the various suits all have the same value no ace, for instance is worth more than any other ace, but in some games notably bridge and its variations the suits rank in the order spades, hearts diamonds, clubs.
Cards are generally dealt one by one to each player after being shuffled by one player and cut by another player. The dealer deals the first card to the player on his left and so on, clockwise the last card than falls to the dealer. The first player is generally the one who receives the first card. A trick is a round of cards in which each player plays one. The winner of the trick is the player who plays the best cards, the ace being the highest, the king the next best, and so on. The trick winner is usually the player who leads for the next trick. An important rule is that if a suit, say diamond must play diamonds.
