Parlett's Historic Card Games: Index

Book details	You'll never guess what your ancestors did over the card table	Site map
Book details	HISTORIC CARD GAMES described by David Parlett	Site map
	These pages present (a) histories of classic games such as Poker and Euchre and (b) details of historic games, such as Gleek and Quadrille, that are now only museum pieces. This project was started at the suggestion of John McLeod, who tells me that visitors to his award-winning Pagat website for the rules of card games often inquire after the play of some old game that they have come across in period novels or films or readings in cultural history. Some of the descriptions first appeared in my Oxford Guide to Card Games (1990, republished as A History of Card Games in 1991), but I've since been revising them in the light of further research and discoveries. If you have any comments, queries, or suggestions for additional entries, do let me know.
	Costly Colours The colourful cousin of Crib, for 2 or 4 players Euchre A classic American game of European origin, for 2 or 4 players Gin Rummy The great game of Hollywood and Broadway, for 2 players Gleek An old English of tricks and bluff, for 3 players Laugh & lie down An ancient but hilarious pairing-off game for 5 players (or 4) Loo A once notorious trick-taking gambling game, best for at least 5 players Losing Lodam The Gargantuan ancestor of Hearts, for 3 or more players Maw The five-fingered game of the Gaels, for 2 to 10 players (5 best) Noddy The knavish ancestor of Cribbage, for 2 or 4 players Patience Origins and history of card solitaires Penneech The game that changes trump from trick to trick, for 2 players Poker Origins and history of the great American pastime Pope Joan Introducing "the Curse of Scotland" for 3 to 7 players Quadrille The courtly ladies' game of 18th century France, for 4 players Reversis The 16th-century ancestor of Hearts, for 4 players Speculation As played by Jane Austen and the denizens of Mansfield Park, for 3 to 7 players	Interested in the history of cards? Creditors are interested in your card history too. Find the credit card offer that bests fits your credit history. More than that, find gas cards or investigate getting a small business credit card for your company.
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HISTORIC CARD GAMES

described by David Parlett