Today people play many games of cards all over the world. Bridge is an international game of cards. In addition to this, people in every country play various other games of cards. Card playing is an indoor game. Do you know how this game was started?
Some historians believe that the game of cards began in Egypt, but some others are of the view that it was started either in India or China. According to the written records, card playing was prevalent in Europe in the thirteenth century. It was called ‘tarots’ or picture cards. They were used for fortune telling or simple game. At that time a pack consisted of 22 cards with different kinds of pictures imprinted on them. Subsequently the number of cards in a pack was raised to 78 by adding 56 cards like aces, kings, queens, etc. Later the French reduced its number to 52. These 52 cards were separated into four divisions with four sets of 13 cards each. These were given the names of spade, heart, diamond and club. The English also adopted the same 52 cards system. Gradually the game of cards spread to the whole world.
In the beginning, the cards used to have hand-painted pictures and as such they were very costly. Naturally common people were unable to purchase these costly cards. The invention of printing led to the production of countless varieties of cheap and beautiful cards which even the common people could buy. Initially the cards used to be circular or square in size, but now they are rectangular with a standard length of 8.5 cms and breadth of 6 or 5.5 cms.
The game of cards is a very good source of entertainment. However, some people play cards for gambling which is undesirable. The gamblers not only waste time but money also.