A standard deck of cards has been around for hundreds of years and has served many purposes. Commonly used in card games, as well as magic tricks, cards have been a source of entertainment and fun for many generations.
In this post, we will look at a standard deck of cards in detail, including how it is arranged and divided, how many different types of cards there are, what are the best games to play use with a deck of cards and more.
A standard deck of cards consists of 52 playing cards. These cards are divided into 4 suits. The 4 suits are the Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades. Each of the suits has 13 cards, which are the Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, and King.
We’ll look into further details further down.
A Standard Deck of Cards
Best Card Games With a Standard Deck
One of the most common uses for a standard deck of cards throughout history has been for playing various card games for entertainment.
Poker is probably the most played card game with a standard deck of cards of all time. There are many variations of poker including the most popular Texas Hold ‘Em variation as seen on TV and in tournaments.
Here’s a list of some of the top card games that can be played with a standard deck of cards.
Poker
Blackjack
Solitaire
Gin Rummy
Cribbage
Hearts
Bridge
President
Spades
Crazy Eights
Go Fish
Rummy
Pinochle
Old Maid
Canasta
Cheat
War
Slapjack
Egyptian Ratscrew
52 Playing Cards Details
Here are some common details about the 52 playing cards and the way they are arranged.
The standard deck of 52 cards
Suits
The 4 suits are the Hearts, Diamonds, Clubs and Spades. The Hearts and Diamonds are the red suits, as known by their red coloring, and the black suits are the Clubs and Spades.
Each of the 4 suits has 13 cards. These are the same 13 cards for each suit, and they consist of the Ace through the King. Each suit gets one of each card that includes the Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, and King.
Face Cards
The Jack, Queen and King are referred to as the face cards. This is because these cards all have pictures of persons (royalty) on them, in which you can see a face.
The cards that are not the face cards are the number cards. These are the cards Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, and 10. Although the Ace seems like a unique card, it took the place of the number 1 in French decks in playing card history.
Colors
The suits are divided into two colors, reds and blacks. The Hearts and Diamonds are the red suits, as known by their red coloring, and the black suits are the Clubs and Spades.
All Hearts and Diamond cards are knowns as the red cards in the deck. All Spades and Clubs are referred to as the black cards.
Card Names
Playing cards are all named the same way. First the value of the card, such as “2” followed by the word “of” and then the suit. For example, the “2 of Hearts” is the name for the 2 card that is in the Hearts suit.
The following are the names of all the 52 cards in a deck:
Spades
Ace of Spades
2 of Spades
3 of Spades
4 of Spades
5 of Spades
6 of Spades
7 of Spades
8 of Spades
9 of Spades
10 of Spades
Jack of Spades
Queen of Spades
King of Spades
Clubs
Ace of Clubs
2 of Clubs
3 of Clubs
4 of Clubs
5 of Clubs
6 of Clubs
7 of Clubs
8 of Clubs
9 of Clubs
10 of Clubs
Jack of Clubs
Queen of Clubs
King of Clubs
Hearts
Ace of Hearts
2 of Hearts
3 of Hearts
4 of Hearts
5 of Hearts
6 of Hearts
7 of Hearts
8 of Hearts
9 of Hearts
10 of Hearts
Jack of Hearts
Queen of Hearts
King of Hearts
Diamonds
Ace of Diamonds
2 of Diamonds
3 of Diamonds
4 of Diamonds
5 of Diamonds
6 of Diamonds
7 of Diamonds
8 of Diamonds
9 of Diamonds
10 of Diamonds
Jack of Diamonds
Queen of Diamonds
King of Diamonds
Understanding Playing Cards
Here are two videos that teach how playing cards work.
Understanding Playing Cards
An Introduction to Playing Cards
How Many Cards Are In a Deck?
In a standard deck of cards, the number of cards in a deck of cards is 52. This is without the jokers.
This is because there are 4 suits in a deck (Hearts, Clubs, Diamonds and Spades). Each of the 4 suits gets exactly 13 cards. This means that 13×4 gives us a total of 52 cards.
There are 4 Aces in a deck of cards. This is because there are 4 suits in a deck, and each suit gets one Ace. The 4 Aces are the Ace of Spades, Ace of Hearts, Ace of Diamonds and Ace of Clubs.
There are 13 hearts in a deck of cards. Each suit gets one card of each of the 13 cards. This is the Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King.
There are 13 spades in a deck of cards. Each suit gets one card of each of the 13 cards. This is the Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King.
There are 13 diamonds in a deck of cards. Each suit gets one card of each of the 13 cards. This is the Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King.
There are 13 clubs in a deck of cards. Each suit gets one card of each of the 13 cards. This is the Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen and King.
There are 26 red cards in a deck. This is because there are two red suits, which are Hearts and Diamonds. Each suit in the deck has 13 value cards that go with it.
Since there are two red suits, and each suit has 13 cards each, then, 13×2 gives us the total number of red cards being 26.
There are 26 black cards in a deck of cards. This is because there are two black suits, the Spades and the Clubs. Each suit in a deck has 13 value cards that go with the suit.
The magician started magic as a kid and has learned from some of the greats. He loves to share his knowledge with others and help out with the subtleties he’s learned along the way.
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