- Home
- Knowledge base
Knowledge base
Everything around the game: where cards come from, what the words mean, how to shuffle, which deck to buy, and every game we know about.
- Basics
Anatomy of a deck
Fifty-two cards, four suits, thirteen ranks and a couple of jokers. What everything is called, and a few details you have probably never noticed.
- Basics
How to shuffle and deal
Three ways to shuffle, how many shuffles you really need, and the small table manners of cutting and dealing.
- Story
A short history of playing cards
How a pack of painted paper travelled from China through Egypt to Europe, lost its cups and swords, gained a joker, and ended up in almost every home.
- Reference
Which deck for which game
How many cards each game on Pips uses, and the deck we would reach for.
- Reference
Glossary
Every card game word used on Pips, in plain English.
- Buying guide
Choosing a deck
Plastic or paper, poker or bridge size, standard or jumbo index, and how many decks you actually need.
The library
20 guides · 24 coming soon| What it is | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Belote | Trick-taking | 4, in partnerships | France’s popular trick game with 32 cards and melds announced during play. | Guide soon |
| Big Two | Shedding | 4 | A climbing game from East Asia where the 2 is the highest card. | Guide soon |
| Blackjack | Comparing | 2 to 7 | Get closer to 21 than the dealer without going over. | Learn it |
| Bridge | Trick-taking | 4, in partnerships | The great partnership game: an auction for the contract, then 13 tricks. | Guide soon |
| Briscola | Trick-taking | 2 to 4 | A quick Italian trick game with a 40-card deck and a trump suit. | Guide soon |
| Canasta | Rummy | 4 | Two decks, four jokers, and melds that grow into canastas. | Learn it |
| Cassino | Fishing | 2 to 4 | Capture and build combinations from the cards laid out on the table. | Guide soon |
| Cheat | Shedding | 3 to 8 | Play cards face down, claim what they are, and call out the liars. | Learn it |
| Crazy Eights | Shedding | 2 to 5 | Match the pile, play an 8 when stuck, empty your hand first. | Learn it |
| Cribbage | Adding up | 2 | Count to 31, score fifteens and pairs, peg your way round the board. | Learn it |
| Durak | Shedding | 2 to 6 | A Russian favourite: attack and defend, and don’t be the fool left holding cards. | Guide soon |
| Egyptian Ratscrew | Slapping | 2 to 6 | Flip cards onto a pile and slap doubles and sandwiches to win it. | Guide soon |
| Euchre | Trick-taking | 4 | A fast partnership game with 24 cards and two powerful jacks. | Learn it |
| Five Hundred | Trick-taking | 2 to 6 | Bid for tricks with a joker as the highest trump. The national card game of Australia. | Guide soon |
| FreeCell | Patience | 1 | Solitaire with every card face up and four free cells: almost every deal can be won. | Guide soon |
| Gin Rummy | Rummy | 2 | Two players, ten cards, knock when you are ready. | Learn it |
| Go Fish | Collecting sets | 2 to 6 | Ask for cards and collect sets of four. | Learn it |
| Golf | Patience | 1 | A solitaire where you clear seven columns by playing one higher or lower. | Guide soon |
| Hand and Foot | Rummy | 2 or more | A Canasta relative played with many decks and two hands each. | Guide soon |
| Hearts | Trick-taking | 4 | Avoid the hearts and dodge the queen of spades. | Learn it |
| Kings in the Corner | Patience | 2 to 4 | A shared solitaire: build down in alternating colours around a cross of cards. | Guide soon |
| Klaverjassen | Trick-taking | 4, in partnerships | The Netherlands’ café classic, played with 32 cards and a jack of trumps on top. | Guide soon |
| Klondike Solitaire | Patience | 1 | The one-player classic: build four piles from ace to king. | Learn it |
| Nertz | Patience | 2 or more | Competitive solitaire: everyone plays at once onto shared foundations. | Guide soon |
| Oh Hell | Trick-taking | 3 to 7 | Bid exactly how many tricks you will take. Not one more, not one less. | Learn it |
| Old Maid | Collecting sets | 2 to 6 | Pair up your cards and don’t be the one left holding the odd queen. | Learn it |
| Omaha Hold’em | Poker | 2 to 10 | Like Texas Hold’em, but four hole cards, and you must use exactly two. | Guide soon |
| Pesten | Shedding | 2 to 8 | The Dutch cousin of Crazy Eights, with extra cards that make the next player draw. | Guide soon |
| Pinochle | Trick-taking | 2 to 4 | Melds and tricks with a 48-card deck of two of each card from 9 to ace. | Guide soon |
| President | Shedding | 4 to 7 | Beat the last play, empty your hand, climb from beggar to president. | Learn it |
| Pyramid | Patience | 1 | Remove pairs of cards that add up to 13 from a pyramid of 28. | Guide soon |
| Rummy | Rummy | 2 to 6 | Draw, discard and lay down sets and runs. | Learn it |
| Rummy 500 | Rummy | 2 to 8 | Rummy where you score your melds and can take deep into the discard pile. | Guide soon |
| Scopa | Fishing | 2 or 4 | An Italian classic: capture cards from the table by matching their value. | Guide soon |
| Seven-Card Stud | Poker | 2 to 8 | Seven cards each, some face down and some face up, and no shared cards. | Guide soon |
| Skat | Trick-taking | 3 | Germany’s national card game, with 32 cards, bidding and a two-card skat. | Guide soon |
| Slapjack | Slapping | 2 to 8 | Be the first to slap every jack that turns up. Loud, fast and good for kids. | Guide soon |
| Spades | Trick-taking | 4 | Bid your tricks with a partner. Spades beat everything. | Learn it |
| Speed | Shedding | 2 | No turns: play one higher or lower as fast as your hands can move. | Learn it |
| Spider Solitaire | Patience | 1 | Two decks, ten columns: build eight runs from king down to ace. | Learn it |
| Spoons | Collecting sets | 3 to 13 | Pass cards round, collect four of a kind and grab a spoon before they run out. | Guide soon |
| Texas Hold’em | Poker | 2 to 10 | Two cards of your own, five shared, one best hand. | Learn it |
| War | Comparing | 2 | Flip, compare, the higher card takes both. | Learn it |
| Whist | Trick-taking | 4 | The classic partnership trick game. Win the most tricks with your partner. | Learn it |
No game matches. Try another word.
More guides are on the way.