In addition, tarot cards are required for games such as French Tarot (78 cards), which is widely played in France, and the Tarock family of games (42 or 54 cards) played in countries like Austria and Hungary. For example, 40- or 48-card Italian-suited packs are common in Italy 40- and 48-card Spanish-suited packs on the Iberian peninsula and 36-card German-suited packs are very common in Bavaria and Austria.

Today, while single headed patterns of German-suited and Latin-suited cards still exist, modern French-suited cards are invariably double headed.Īlthough French-suited, 52-card packs are the most common playing cards used internationally, there are many countries or regions where the traditional pack size is only 36 (Russia, Bavaria) or 32 (north and central Germany, Austria) or where regional cards with smaller packs are preferred for many games. In the case of court cards, this entailed cutting off the lower half of the image and replacing it with an inverted copy of the top half usually, but not always, with a horizontal or sloping dividing line between the two halves. During the 19th century, card manufacturers began designing double-headed cards so that the cards could be readily identified whichever way up they were. Germany uses A, K, D and B ( Ass, König, Dame and Bube) Russia uses the Cyrillic letters Т, К, Д and В ( Tuz, Korol, Dama and Valet) Sweden uses E, K, D and Kn ( Ess, Kung, Dam and Knekt) and France uses 1, R, D, V ( As, Roi, Dame, and Valet).Īll early playing cards were single headed (also called single ended). In other countries the letters may vary, although the English versions are also sometimes used. In English-speaking countries they are lettered A, K, Q and J for Ace, King, Queen and Jack. For the Ace and court cards, this label is the initial letter or letters of the name of that card. Modern playing cards carry index labels on opposite corners or in all four corners to facilitate identifying the cards when they overlap and so that they appear identical for players on opposite sides. There are also numerous others such as the Berlin pattern, Nordic pattern, Dondorf Rhineland pattern (pictured right) and the variants of the European pattern. The second most common is the Belgian-Genoese pattern, which was designed in France for export and spread to Spain, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans and much of North Africa and the Middle East. The most popular standard pattern of the French deck is the English pattern (pictured above), sometimes referred to as the International pattern or Anglo-American pattern. Main article: French-suited playing cards The English pattern is also known as the Anglo-American or International pattern.ĭesign Dondorf Rhineland pattern The Jokers can also be used as replacements for lost or damaged cards.Įnglish pattern pack by Piatnik of Austria. The Jokers are often distinguishable from one another, either in design or colour, as some card games require these extra cards. In addition, commercial decks often include from one to six Jokers most commonly two or three since the mid-20th century. Each pip card displays the number of pips (symbols of the suit) corresponding to its number, as well as the appropriate numeral (except 'A' for the Ace) in at least two corners. The card with one pip is known as an Ace. Each suit also includes ten numeral cards or pip cards, from one (Ace) to ten. Each suit includes three court cards (face cards), King, Queen and Jack, with reversible (i.e.

In other regions, such as Spain and Switzerland, the traditional standard pack comprises 36, 40 or 48 cards.Ī standard 52-card French-suited deck comprises 13 ranks in each of the four suits: clubs ( ♣), diamonds ( ♦), hearts ( ♥) and spades ( ♠). In addition to those, there are other major international and regional patterns including standard 52-card packs, for example, in Italy that use Italian-suited cards. The second most common is the Belgian-Genoese pattern, designed in France, but whose use spread to Spain, Italy, the Ottoman Empire, the Balkans and much of North Africa and the Middle East. The most common pattern of French-suited cards worldwide and the only one commonly available in English-speaking countries is the English pattern pack. In English-speaking countries it is the only traditional pack used for playing cards in many countries of the world, however, it is used alongside other traditional, often older, standard packs with different suit systems such as those with German-, Italian-, Spanish- or Swiss suits. The standard 52-card deck of French-suited playing cards is the most common pack of playing cards used today. Playing card deck used in English-speaking countries Cards from a standard, English or Anglo-American pattern, deck

Ace of hearts playing card