Playing card games make up most table games, with baccarat, blackjack, and poker being the firm favourites of gamblers.
Playing card games have been a staple of family gatherings, as well as the standard fare at all casinos. Games like poker and blackjack have always been all-time favourites at casinos, while Go Fish and Casino War are perfect picks for a game night with friends and family.
Playing cards games are, in fact, so popular that they have a day dedicated to them in the US – National Card Playing Day, which falls on 28 December. Many players throughout the country take to the casinos on this day to enjoy their favourite card games.
However, have you ever wondered where cards come from and how they are made?
5 Facts About Playing Card Games
Here are a few interesting facts about cards that you might find interesting:
Perfect for Mental Heath
Gambling and playing games are not only done in pursuit of money or for fun. Card games are believed to boost your mental health by stimulating memory and other cognitive functions. Playing card games also help you develop problem-solving skills. Mind games like blackjack have an added numerical element that could help you understand numbers better.
King Cards
Every pack consists of face cards, namely J, Q and K. And these cards have faces of people displayed on them. But have you ever wondered who these faces belong to? The faces you see are images of famous people from history. Here’s the list of the face owners on the standard king cards:
- King of Hearts -Charlemagne
- King of Diamonds – Julius Caesar
- King of Clubs – Alexander the Great
- King of Spades – King David
Queen of Hearts
Many players mistakenly believe the queen of hearts in a deck of cards represents Queen Elizabeth I. But if you think about it, Queen Elizabeth I ruled in the 16th century, while the queen playing card was invented long before that, which makes it an unlikely correlation.
Additional research revealed that the queen of hearts is named after a female character from the bible called Judith and that other queens in the pack (i.e., queen of spades, diamonds, or clubs) are connected to similarly powerful women.
Playing Cards in Vegas
Las Vegas is one of the liveliest gambling destinations on Earth, which makes our following fact understandable. In Sin City casinos, a deck of cards is replaced by a fresh one every hour when playing card games.
Tables are jam-packed in Vegas, and cards often become exposed to wear and tear due to their frequent use. Older playing cards also become dented or have marks that players can use to their advantage. Many Vegas casinos replace these cards every hour to shield themselves from fraud and keep the playing cards in a mint state.
150 Production Milestone
Playing cards have been mass-produced for over 150 years. The US Playing Card Company remains the biggest supplier of playing cards in the US and is responsible for brands like Aviator, Bee, Bicycle, and Hoyle. The company produces over 100 million decks of playing cards annually.
