Are you sick of playing gin rummy but don't know any other card games? Feel like you're going to want to walk out on your spouse if you have an argument over the rules of euchre one more time? Or maybe you're just fed up with expensive, bulky board games that provide no variations? If you answered “Yes!” to any of these questions, then this book is for you. The simple pack of fifty-two cards offers entertainment for players aged eight to eighty, with single-player pastimes like Patience (and the hundreds of variations on the theme) to complex strategy games like Sheepshead. Learning to play card games will give you a sure-fire standby for those rainy days while you're on vacation and offers a far more sociable get-together with friends than watching a movie. Card games are even educational for children, teaching them addition skills, how to match, and all about recognizing suits and numbers.
Almost everybody has a favorite card game and a great mental image of playing cards in the past. Maybe you remember playing War on the floor with your sister, getting angry every time you lost an ace in a battle … or maybe you played gin rummy with your grandparents every time they visited to babysit you while your parents went out to dinner … or perhaps you played at the blackjack tables with your best friend on spring break in college … or maybe you and your husband sat side by side and played video poker on a cruise during your honeymoon. Whatever the game and whatever the source, we all have a favorite card game (or two).
In fact, there are many famous celebrities who have passions for card games. Bill Gates is an avid player of bridge, once playing a 24-hour game with Warren Buffet and their bridge partners. Other bridge fans include Charles Schultz, creator of the Peanuts comic strip, and politicians Dwight Eisenhower, Harry Truman, and Chinese premier Deng Xiao Peng. Actors Clint Eastwood, Peter Graves, and Lee Majors were also well-known bridge players. And of course there are a great many celebrity poker players. Ben Affleck, David Schwimmer, Martin Sheen, Mimi Rogers, Carrie Fisher, Hank Azaria, and many others added poker to their card-game resume when playing Celebrity Poker Showdown for their favorite charities on the Bravo television network. Speaking of charities, Dustin Hoffman, James Woods, Kevin Pollack, and Joe Pesci played in a blackjack celebrity fundraiser in Las Vegas in 2002.
But what are the rules for these and other games? Is there a particular strategy that you should follow, or is it all luck of the draw? Are there different ways of playing so that you can add variety to the game when you get bored? The Everything® Card Games Book is a great resource to teach you the rules, any history, applicable strategy, possible variations, and everything else you'll need to know about more than 100 card games. If you get stuck on some of the terminology or definitions used, make sure to visit the glossary. Otherwise, it's time to flip to one of these chapters, find a card game that looks interesting, learn the rules, break out a deck of cards, and make some new memories with your family and friends!