A "standard" deck of playing cards consists of 52 Cards in each of the 4 suits of Spades, Hearts, Diamonds, and Clubs. Each suit contains 13 cards: Ace, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, Jack, Queen, King. Modern decks also usually include two Jokers.
Historically, this is the French or Anglo-American deck, while other regions (e.g. Germany, Italy, Spain) have their own traditional decks which vary in suits and face values.Spades suit: | Hearts suit: | Diamonds suit: | Clubs suit: |
A multitude of games can be played with a standard deck of playing cards or a modified deck of playing cards. Some of those which have an entry on BGG are listed below. A much larger list can be found included under the Traditional Playing Cards family of games, while Traditional Card Games is a placeholder for all games not in the BGG database.
The best website with a comprehensive list of traditional card games (including rules) is John McLeod's Pagat.com. You'll also find a list of articles about playing cards on BGG.
Many solitaire card games are also playable with a standard deck.
POPULAR GAMES
For an overview of the more popular and common games, see these articles:- 40+ Great Card Games For All Occasions
- The Best Two Player Games with a Standard Deck of Cards
Some examples are listed below.
Standard Deck
- Ambition
- Bridge
- Casino
- Cheat
- Cribbage
- Gin Rummy
- Go Fish
- Hearts
- Lamarckian Poker
- Mao
- Napoleon
- Oh Hell!
- Pitch
- Poker
- Rummy
- Slap Jack
- Spades
- Whist
- Big Two
- Dou Dizhu
- Werewolf
Modified Deck
- Baccarat - Eight standard decks shuffled together from a Card Shoe
- Bezique - Two standard decks with 2's through 6's removed
- Blackjack - Eight standard decks shuffled together from a Card Shoe
- Bridgette - Standard deck with 3 Colons (Jokers can be used)
- Canasta - Two full decks shuffled together with Four Jokers
- Durak - Standard deck with the 2's through 5's removed
- Écarté - use 7-A of each suit
- Euchre - Standard deck with the 2's through 8's removed
- 500 - Standard deck composition varies depending on number of players. Special 64 Card deck with 11's, 12's and 2 13's also used.
- Hand and Foot - use 4-5 full decks including jokers
- Nertz (Pounce) - one full deck per player
- Panguingue (Pan) - Eight standard decks with the 8's, 9's, and 10's removed
- Pinochle - Two standard decks with 2's through 8's removed. Double Pack also used.
- Piquet - use 7-A of each suit
- Preference - Standard deck with the 2's through 6's removed
- Skat - use 7-A of each suit
- Watten - use 7-A of each suit
- Dyad - use 2-9 of each suit
MECHANISMS
Standard Deck Playing Card games can also be categorized by the main mechanism, examples being the following:
Trick Taking
- Ambition
- Bezique
- Bridge
- Bridgette
- Écarté
- Euchre
- 500
- Hearts
- King
- Mighty
- Napoleon
- Oh Hell!
- Pinochle
- Pitch
- Piquet
- Skat
- Spades
- War
- Watten
- Whist
- Dyad
Set Collection
- Canasta
- Cribbage
- Gin Rummy
- Go Fish
- Hand and Foot
- Rummy
Going Out
- Cheat (aka Bullshit)
- Crazy Eights
- Mao
- Slap Jack
Betting/Wagering
- Baccarat
- Blackjack
- Panguingue (Pan)
- Poker
Miscellaneous
- Dueling Nobles - uses a standard deck plus some d6s and counters; plays like a CCG
- Tripoley - uses a standard deck with a special board/playing mat
- The Blackjack River - uses a standard deck with a unique card laying mechanic
- Standard Deck Dungeon - uses a standard deck to simulate a dungeon crawler
OTHER RESOURCES
Selected Books
- The Penguin Book of Card Games
- Bicycle Official Rules of Card Games
- Hoyle's Games
- Card Games Around the World
- A Gamut of Games (also includes non-card games)
Popular GeekLists
- Games that use a standard deck of cards as one of their components
- Favorite Games with Standard Playing Cards
- Traditional Card Games that Should be Played More.
- Best Games Played with a Standard Deck of Playing Cards
- Your favorite trick taking games played with a standard 52 card deck.
- The Most Amazing Decks of Playing Cards You Have Ever Seen
- Pictorial Reviews of Custom Playing Cards
- Solitaire games playable with a standard, unmodified deck of cards - Master List