Wells

Card Games Trivia

Did you Know?

  • The oldest known card game is Karnaffel, first mentioned in Bavaria in 1426. Its rules were believed lost until researchers discovered an almost exact match, called Kaiserspiel, being played in remote areas of Switzerland.
  • It takes no less than 7 shuffles, using the riffle method, to completely scramble a pack of cards; beyond that, there's no improvement. A master magician, capable of a succession of perfect riffle shuffles, can return a pack to its original order in 8 shuffles.
  • Tarot packs were originally invented for playing games, and are still in widespread use for that purpose in continental Europe (cards from a Spanish pack are shown, along with their equivalent British suit). Fortune-telling and divination with Tarot cards only dates from the eighteenth century.
  • The maximum score for a hand in Cribbage is 29 points. Can you work out how it's achieved? See the link below for an explanation and the odds against being that lucky.

Sources and Further Information

  • The Penguin Book of Card Games, 2nd Edition, 2008 by David Parlett.
  • Simon Singh's Numbers - Another Five Numbers, The Number Seven. A BBC Radio 4 programme available on the iPlayer: The Number Seven
  • The Best Possible Cribbage Hand