A Potted History Of Playing Cards

The history of playing cards is more interesting than you might think.

People have been looking for ways to entertain themselves since time began. In this pursuit of entertainment, it turns out playing cards were developed a heck of a lot earlier than you might imagine.

A lot like the casino chip, playing cards might well be items you don’t think about all too deeply. But trust us, once you learn more about them, they’ll begin to fascinate you.

And not just because they are crucial to your gaming, whether your a 3-card brag fan, a baccarat nut or a blackjack devotee. Whether you play online at bet365 (bonus code) or in a fancy casino abroad or you’re throwing a DIY casino party, cards are all around us.

So let’s dive into their rich history and learn a whole lot more about the ever-present deck of cards.

Let’s start in China

The first recorded use of playing cards was in China in 1000 AD. From there, they spread slowly around the world. A few hundred years later, they were relatively commonplace in Egypt’s Islamic Mamluk dynasty.

History of playing cards in Europe

Trends took a while to catch on worldwide way back when, so it wasn’t until the 1370s that the Europeans caught on to playing card games. Experts reckon that Europe cottoned on to card games via trading with Egyptian merchants.

The first real reports of playing cards in Europe were in France in 1377, however it’s more likely that they first arrived in Italy and Spain, as these countries were more frequent direct traders with Egypt.

The start of the suits

It’s hard to think of a traditional deck of cards without a suit, but back in the pre-Europe days, they weren’t suited up. In and around 1480, however, suits were introduced. In France, we see hearts, spades, clubs and diamonds, just as we’d recognise today. Meanwhile in other countries, there were variations. For example, in the history of playing cards in Germany, you were more likely to get hearts, bells, acorns and leaves as suits.

France introduces queens into the mix

The Mamluk, Latin and German cards all had three male face cards. And that’s the way it was for hundreds of years. However, it was France who thought there should be a queen in the family too.

England gets a look in too

From 1516, English pattern cards came on the scene. These were based on the French suits and royals (including our beloved queens), but visually they look way more familiar to modern cards. And that’s basically the type and style we still play with today.

King James I lasting impact on the ace of spades

Did you ever notice the way that the ace of spades often is pretty elaborately decorated? Meanwhile the rest of the suits’ ace look fairly run of the mill.

It’s kind of confusing if you think about it, right? Well there’s actually a story behind it. In the 1600s, James I of England introduced a tax on each deck of cards produced. Every designer had to show their logo and prove they paid the tax. This was always done on the ace of spades.

Incredibly, that was still the case up until the 1960s!