French playing cards

French playing cards (jeu de cartes) are playing cards that use the French suits:

• Trèfles (clovers or clubs♣)
• Carreaux (tiles or diamonds♦)
• Cœurs (hearts♥)
• Piques (pikes or spades♠).

Description

Each suit contains three face cards:

• The Valet (Knave or Jack)
• The Dame (Lady or Queen)
• The Roi (King)

Aside from these aspects, decks can include a wide variety of regional and national patterns which often have different deck sizes.

History

In comparison to Spanish, Italian, German, and Swiss playing cards, French cards are the most widespread due to the geopolitical, commercial, and cultural influence of France and the United Kingdom in the past two centuries.

Another reason for their expansion was the simplicity of the suit insignia which simplifies mass production and the popularity of Whist, Contract Bridge, and the recent Poker boom.

See also

• Card game
• Cartomancy
• Playing card
• Tarot card game
• Trump

External links

• French playing cards @ Wikipedia