A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific.
Pai gow poker is a version of pai gow that is played with playing cards, instead of traditional pai gow's Chinese dominoes. The game of pai gow poker was created in 1985 in the United States by Sam Torosian, owner of the Bell Card Club.
Baccarat or baccara is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup has three possible outcomes: "player", "banker", and "tie". There are three popular variants of the game: punto banco, baccarat chemin de fer, and baccarat banque. In punto banco, each player's moves are forced by the cards the player is dealt. In baccarat chemin de fer and baccarat banque, by contrast, both players can make choices. The winning odds are in favour of the bank, with a house edge no lower than around 1 percent.
Texas hold 'em is a variation of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in three stages. The stages consist of a series of three cards, later an additional single card, and a final card. Each player seeks the best five card poker hand from any combination of the seven cards of the five community cards and their two hole cards. Players have betting options to check, call, raise, or fold. Rounds of betting take place before the flop is dealt and after each subsequent deal. The player who has the best hand and has not folded by the end of all betting rounds wins all of the money bet for the hand, known as the pot.
Card counting is a casino card game strategy used primarily in the blackjack family of casino games to determine whether the next hand is likely to give a probable advantage to the player or to the dealer. Card counters are a class of advantage players, who attempt to decrease the inherent casino house edge by keeping a running tally of all high and low valued cards seen by the player. Card counting allows players to bet more with less risk when the count gives an advantage as well as minimize losses during an unfavorable count. Card counting also provides the ability to alter playing decisions based on the composition of remaining cards.
Spanish 21 is a blackjack variant owned by Masque Publishing Inc., a gaming publishing company based in Colorado. Unlicensed, but equivalent, versions may be called Spanish blackjack. In Australia and Malaysia, an unlicensed version of the game, with no dealer hole card and significant rule differences, is played in casinos under the name "Pontoon". It was first introduced about 1995.
Pedreaux is an American trick-taking card game of the All Fours family based on Auction Pitch. Its most popular variant is known as Cinch, Double Pedro or High Five. Developed in Denver, Colorado, in the 1880s, it was soon regarded as the most important member of the All Fours family. Although it went out of fashion with the rise of Auction Bridge, it is still widely played on the western coast of the United States and in its southern states, being the dominant game in some locations in Louisiana. Forms of the game have been reported from Nicaragua, the Azores, Italy and Finland. The game is primarily played by four players in fixed partnerships, but can also be played by 2–6 individual players.
Pitch is an American trick-taking card game derived from the English game of All Fours. Historically, Pitch started as "Blind All Fours", a very simple All Fours variant that is still played in England as a pub game. The modern game involving a bidding phase and setting back a party's score if the bid is not reached came up in the middle of the 19th century and is more precisely known as Auction Pitch or Setback. Whereas All Fours started as a two-player game, Pitch is most popular for three to five players. Four can play individually or in fixed partnerships, depending in part on regional preferences. Auction Pitch is played in numerous variations that vary the deck used, provide methods for improving players hands, or expand the scoring system. Some of these variants gave rise to a new game known as Pedro or Cinch.
Double Attack Blackjack is dealt primarily in Atlantic City casinos. The game is a variation of Spanish 21 that pays even money on a blackjack and gives the player the opportunity to double their initial wager after seeing the dealer's upcard. The game also offers a bonus side bet on whether or not the dealer will bust on the third card. This side bet must be made before the dealer's upcard is dealt, and pays out based on the rank of the card dealt. The bet only pays off if the dealer busts on the third card, and the payoffs are as follows:
Chinese Blackjack is also known as 21-point, or ban-luck (Hokkien) or ban-nag (Cantonese). The game is played in South East Asia which bears similarity to conventional Blackjack. In Malaysia, this variant is known as Kampung (Village) Blackjack, to differentiate from the standard Casino Blackjack, and it grew from the game played in the old days in villages.
Super Fun 21 is a variation of blackjack. The game is played using a standard 52 card deck. Aces can be counted as either a one or eleven depending on which value would best benefit the player's hand. All the face cards in the deck each count as ten. The remaining cards are taken at face value. The player must first place a bet and is then dealt two cards face up. The dealer is dealt two cards as well, but one is face up and one face down. The player then has the option to either "hit", or "stand". The player's hand must beat the dealer's by coming closer to 21 without "busting". A winning hand with a total of 21 is called a blackjack, or natural.
Blackjack Switch is a casino gambling game invented by Geoff Hall and patented in 2009. It is based on blackjack, but differs in that two hands, rather than one, are dealt to each playing position, and the player is initially allowed to exchange ("switch") the top two cards between hands. Natural blackjacks are paid 1:1 instead of the standard 3:2, and a dealer hard 22 pushes all player hands except a natural.
Basra is a popular fishing card game similar to cassino, and very popular in Cyprus. The game is also popular in Egypt, Lebanon, and other Middle Eastern countries. The name is a Greek borrowing from the Arabic word basra. In Turkey, the game is known as pişti or paşta.
Pontoon is a name shared by two distinct card games, both relatives of blackjack and, like the latter, descendants of Twenty-One. For those in Australia, Malaysia and Singapore, pontoon is a card game similar to match play 21 or Spanish 21, while in the UK, a game of pontoon holds closer to the traditional Twenty-One rules, but can be quickly distinguished by the verbal usage of the terms "twist" and "stick".
Sette e mezzo is an Italian comparing card game similar to blackjack. In Spanish it is known as Siete y Media. It is traditionally played in Italy during Christmas holidays. The game is also known in English as Seven and a half.
Power Blackjack is a variant of the card gambling game Blackjack, modified by certain doubling and splitting rules, called "Power Double" and "Power Split," that are advantageous to the player, offset by the rule that, when the dealer makes a total of twenty two, any active player hands push rather than winning.
Splitting aces and eights is part of blackjack basic strategy. Rules vary across gambling establishments regarding resplitting, doubling, multiple card draws, and the payout for blackjack, and there are conditional strategic responses that depend upon the number of decks used, the frequency of shuffling and dealer's cards. However, regardless of the various situations, the common strategic wisdom in the blackjack community is to "Always split aces and eights" when dealt either pair as initial cards. This is generally the first rule of any splitting strategy.
The following is a glossary of terms used in the card game blackjack. This is not intended to be a formal dictionary; precise usage details and multiple closely related senses are omitted here in favor of concise treatment of the basics.
Twenty-One is an ancient card game of the gambling family, first recorded in Spain in the early 17th century, that has developed into several regional variants still popular today, including the casino games of Blackjack and Pontoon. Despite appearing to originate in Spain, the game rose to prominence in France in the 18th century and spread from there to Europe and America, developing into Pontoon in Britain after the First World War and Blackjack in the United States in the early 19th century, where the legalisation of gambling led to its popularity.
