By Ruben Gonzalez

Playing cards are flat, rectangular pieces of layered pasteboard typically used for playing a variety of games of skill or chance. They are thought to be created during the twelfth century from divination implements or as a derivative of chess. Cards today are created by the modern printing processes of lithography, photolithography, or gravure.

The exact story about the playing emergence can be debated. Some believe it originated in India and derived from the game of chess. Others believe it came from Egypt and were developed as implements for magic and fortune telling. The first written record of the use of playing cards comes from the Orient, dating back to the twelfth century. Playing cards were introduced to Europe during the thirteenth century from the Middle East. Evidence suggests that they first arrived in Italy or Spain and were quickly spread throughout the continent. Some of these early playing cards were very similar to our modern day cards.

Decks consisted of 52 cards with four suits including swords, cups, coins, and polo-sticks. They also had numerals from one to ten and face cards, which included a king, deputy king and second deputy king. In the latter part of the fifteenth century, standardized versions of cards began to appear. The modern day system of spades, hearts, diamonds, and clubs first appeared in France around 1480.

A standard deck of playing cards consists of 52 cards which have a rectangular shape, dimensions of about 2.5 x 3.5 in (6.35 x 9 cm), and rounded corners. The cards are made up of layers of paper and are often called pasteboards. The faces of these cards are typically decorated with two colors, red and black, and four suits including clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. Each suit has thirteen cards consisting of three face cards (king, queen, jack) and number cards from one (ace) to ten. The face cards are double ended, which means the same design is on both halves of the card. This eliminates the need to orient these cards in a hand as both ends will automatically be positioned correctly. In the upper left corner of most cards are index numbers and symbols, which make the card value clearly visible when held in a fan position. This is the position most often used during a card game. Two jokers are also typically included with a new pack of cards. The cards used to be made from wood, but now are made by plastic.