Playing Cards

Shuffle, deal, shuffle, deal.

Playing cards are generally small enough to fit in your hand and have a thin plastic coating on thin cardboard and are used in card games.
Beside games, playing cards are sometimes used in magic tricks, cardistry or card structures.
A complete set of playing cards is called a ‘pack’ or a ‘deck’, and a bunch of cards in one’s hand is called a ‘hand’.
The front of playing cards have a picture or a number, and the back of the cards have a pattern that is the same on every other card in the deck.
Playing cards were invented in the 800’s in Ancient China.

Playing cards were brought to England in the 1300s with suits such as swords and coins.
Playing cards were originally hand made and hand printed or painted.
A deck of playing cards consists of 52 cards, and is said to be symbolic of the 52 weeks in a year.
Modern playing card suits are typically French, and are clubs, diamonds, hearts and spades.
Playing card sizes are generally B8 paper size or 63 by 88 mm (2.5 by 3.5 inches).