You might not know this, but there are millions of different card games people play around the world and even more variations on those games. But we are not a top 1 million blog, this is a top 10 blog, so I thought it would be fun to look at ten of the most popular card games worldwide and a little bit about how each one was started…
Spades
This first one might well shock a lot of people, but it really is the worlds most popular card game. It was devised in the United States in the 1930s and can be played as either a partnership or solo/”cutthroat” game. Because this game was often played by soldiers during WW2 the popularity of it went worldwide with the troops teaching people all around the world how to play it and in turn, they taught their siblings and other family members.
Poker
With the increase of big money poker tournaments both online and in real casinos, more and more people are playing this classic casino game. While its original origins are lost in time, it is thought Poker was developed sometime during the early 19th century in the United States. Since those early beginnings, the game has grown to become an extremely popular pastime worldwide.
War
Here in the UK we call this battle and it is a card game where you literally have to try and win all the cards. It was invented by game designer Greg Costikyan in the 1970s as a way to combine a classic board game with traditional card games and still today it is a traditional strategy game played all over the world.
Rummy
Rummy is a group of matching-card games notable for similar gameplay based on matching cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. With so many variations on this card game its original origins are lost, but game rules show it relates mostly to Chinese card games at least in the early 19th century, and perhaps as early as the 18th century.
Gin Rummy
Gin rummy, or simply gin, is a two-player card game created in 1909 by Elwood T. Baker and his son C. Graham Baker. It is thought to have evolved from 19th-century whiskey poker as the ranking goes from high to low with the ace cards being the lowest value.
Hearts
Hearts is an “evasion-type” trick-taking playing card game for four players, although most variations can accommodate between three and six players. This card game is pretty old and was still popular way back in Spain during the 1750s. But its original origins have been lost to time with some Spanish families claiming their parents were playing it back in the 1600s.
Blackjack
Many fans of this game will be surprised to see it so far down this list as it has been played in casinos since the wild-west days. In fact, it still is the most widely played casino banking game in the world. But it is not a game a lot of people will play at home which is where most of the stats come from in this list. The first rule book for this classic casino card game was written in 1602 and back then it was called Rinconete y Cortadillo.
Crazy Eights
Crazy Eights is a shedding-type card game for two to seven players. The object of the game is to be the first player to discard all of their cards. The game first appeared in the US during the 1930s, but these days it is mostly played in Venezuela where people will often claim the game was invented even if no actual evidence shows this to be true.
Euchre
What? You have never even heard of this game? What about its other name “Whist”? Yes, they are pretty much the same game, but unlike most western countries it is known as Euchre everywhere else. The game’s origin can be traced all the way back to Pennsylvania in the early 1820s, but it was also named the national card game of the United States in the late 19th century.
Sergeant Major
While this card game is little more than a slight variation on the classic Whist, it is one that a lot of people still play. The main difference with the rest of the popular card games is that Sergeant Major is played by 3 players. While it is one of the youngest games on this list its family game style is what makes it so popular even today.
Do you play any of the card games I have listed here? If so why not leave a comment with your player tips so we can all become better at playing it.