Card Games: Types of Decks

Spanish deck

The Spanish deck is unique in the world due to the absence of the queen and the richness of her designs. Their figures are of medieval inspiration and their sticks represent the most important estates of the time, merchants (golds), clergy (cups), nobility (swords) and servants (clubs).

It consists of a deck of 48 cards or cards, classified in 4 "suits" and numbered from 1 to 12 (in the one of 40 cards, the eights and the nines are missing). Certain decks also include 2 wild cards. The figures of the Spanish deck corresponding to the numbers 10, 11 and 12, and are called "sota", "horse" and "king" respectively and, unlike the French deck, are represented full length. It is categorized as a Latin-suited deck and has strong similarities with the Italian-suited deck and less to the French deck. Spanish-suited cards are used in Spain, southern Italy, parts of France, Hispanic America, North Africa, and the Philippines.

German deck

There are two types of deck that can be included under the generic German deck rating. On the one hand there is the deck of 52 cards, German version of the French and English decks, and on the other the deck of German symbols, which usually consists of 32 or 36 cards.

The 52-card deck consists of the familiar four clubs of clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades. Each suit is composed of 13 cards: ace (A), two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine and ten, plus the three figures, which are called Bube (B), equivalent to the French Valet and to the English Jack; Dame (D), equivalent to the French Dame and the English Queen; and König (K), equivalent to French Roi and the English King. The drawings of these figures are those that appear more elaborated in the three types of German cards. In many cases these are authentic works of art that are framed in the tradition of Germanic engravers, considered among the most prestigious in Europe.

Swiss deck

Parts of Swiss German speaking Switzerland have their own deck of playing cards. They are mostly used for Jass, the "national card game" of Switzerland. The deck is related to the various German playing cards. Within Switzerland, these decks are called German or Swiss German cards.

It is an evolution of the German deck that is characterized by the different symbology used to indicate the sticks. 스포츠토토 The Swiss deck has the same figures -König, Ober, Unter- and elements that the German deck: flag instead of ten, absence of aces and a special honorary role of the doses in the design and in the game.

However, the suits of the Swiss deck include shields or blazons instead of hearts, and flowers instead of leaves. Acorns and jingle bells are maintained.

French deck

The French deck is the immediate antecedent to the English one, that of poker, that is, the most used in the Anglo-Saxon world and a fundamental element in the operation of almost all casino games. It consists of 52 cards, divided into four suits: hearts, diamonds, spades and clubs

 Its history dates back to the fifteenth century, although theories differ when determining its geographical origin, if its creation is influenced by the Italian deck (by the artistic figures) or by the German. Poker, blackjack, baccarat, all western games make use of this deck.

One of the most distinguishing features of the French cards is the queen. Mamluk cards and their derivatives, the Latin suited and German suited cards, all have three male face cards. Queens began appearing in Italian tarot decks in the mid-15th century and some German decks replaced two kings with queens.

English deck

The English deck is a derivation of the French deck, so like this it consists of 52 cards that are grouped into four suits of 13 cards each: hearts (hearts), spades (spades), diamonds (diamonds) and clubs (clubs). Spades and clubs are black sticks, while hearts and diamonds are red sticks.

A current English deck can be seen that the king of hearts seems to hide a sword behind his head. Originally, this sword was an ax that kept raised in a threatening attitude. The figure of this king wielding the ax caused many to see in it the portrait of King Henry VIII and an allegory of his bloody history; however, the design of the figure is prior to that king. The four queens hold flowers in their hands, but that of spades (spades) also has a scepter, which seems to be a memory of the original sword. A final feature of the English figures is that the leaves that the Jack of hearts holds in his right hand derive from the hilt of the sword he held initially.