Inside Straight Draw – origins of playing cards

With the steadily increasing amount of people being turned onto poker (nearly 9000 entrants at this year’s World Series of Poker) and those already in the thick of it, as well as other card game players, most people probably don’t know the origin of playing cards or the history surrounding them. Playing cards, with origins in China around the 1300s, were responsible for the increase in literacy among peasants when the cards made their way to Europe.

I have loved playing cards since I was young and have been playing poker for the past few years, Texas Hold ‘Em being my game of choice, but I am also an avid Hearts and Gin player.

There are some good images on the Wikipedia article on playing cards, but even better pictures of much older decks on other sites. Most of the links find their origin at the World of Playing Cards which incorporates decks from all over the world; the oldest and most interesting being German. Some other ancient card images and history are over at Trionfi.com – Master of the Playing Cards and Master E.S. deck. Tracy Roos has some modern artist renditions of a deck of cards, each with their own flair and personality.

Sources: Wikipedia, Trionfi, World of Playing Cards, Tracy Roos Studios