Be it life or playing cards, the process is simple – “Learn the rules of the game, observe your competitor and then play better than anyone else.
Considering the rich history of cards and its convention, every man should know a handful of games. The 6 below are worth learning and playing, for its popularity and inherent value; they are games that you’re likely to be invited to play by others, and if you aren’t, you should consider asking others to play them, because they’re just fabulous!
THE GIN RUMMY
One of the finest variant of Rummy, also a “draw and discard” game, in which players draw a card from either an un-dealt or discard pile, and throw out an unwanted card. When all a player’s cards are part of a meld (or as many as are needed based on the variation), they go out, and get points based on what the remaining players have in their hand. Generally, this is laid to a point number often 100.
THE HEARTS
The game of hearts falls into the trick-taking category of card games, usually played to 100 points, but the person who gets to 100 is actually the loser, and the person with the lowest points the winner (hearts being a point each, and the queen of spades being 13 points). The game was then given new life at the end of the millennium when Microsoft Windows included it as a built-in game in their operating systems starting in the 1990s
POKER (TEXAS HOLD ‘EM)
Literally the biggest war of cards, Poker is unique from any of its forerunners, specifically the betting factor. It involves skill, luck, and bit more friendly competition than many other card games. You can play for 5 or 50 or 5,000 or 500,000. It’s also an ideal card game for a large gathering. Be it a birthday bash, bachelors party, or weekend getaway, a game of Poker somewhere in garage or the basement is always perfect.
SOLITAIRE
Solitaire was actually first played with several people, either by taking turns making moves, or by each person playing with their own deck and seeing who would “win” first. FreeCell, and Spider became the most popular (on computers), as those were embedded on most machines back in the 90s. Try playing solitaire next time you are bored rather gripping your mobile phone and scrolling the feed of your Insta and FB. It would be worth an experience.
CRIBBAGE
The game of cribbage has been beloved by men for centuries. While it incorporates a board, it’s really a card game for generally 2 people. There are two parts to cribbage: pegging (numerically counting your and your opponent’s cards up to 21) and counting (making sets, runs, and 15s with your cards — see rules for more detail). It’s a game that really defies being grouped into other broader categories of games, making it especially fun and unique. Give a try once, you won’t regret.
BLACKJACK
Blackjack is unique on this list as it’s primarily a game you’d be found playing in a casino. It’s actually the most widely played casino game as it easy to learn and fast to play. The value of learning the game is that you’ll be able to walk into a casino — which can be an intimidating place — and know how to confidently play at least one game.
