King (playing card)

King (playing card)

The king is a playing card with a picture of a king on it. The usual rank of a king is as if it were a 13, that is, above the queen. In some games, the king is the highest-ranked card; in others, the ace is higher. In pinochle, both the ace and the 10 rank higher than the king.

In the standard English playing card deck, the king and the other face cards represent no one in particular (though the king of hearts is sometimes referred to as the "suicide king" due to the fact that he appears to be sticking his sword into his head). However, the court cards in a French deck do have names. Because the manufacture of playing cards was illegal in the UK during the Interregnum, when the English Restoration came and the court began playing card games, the suits in an English deck came from the French deck, but without all of the lore.

For a period, starting in the 15th century, French playing-card manufacturers assigned to each of the court cards names taken from history or mythology. This practice had largely disappeared by the 19th century. [ [http://www.snopes.com/history/world/cardking.asp "The Four King Truth"] at the Urban Legends Reference Pages] The most common names for the kings were: [ [http://www.madore.org/~david/misc/cards.html "Courts on playing cards"] , by David Madore, with illustrations of the Anglo-American and French court cards]

*King of Spades: David (a biblical king)
*King of Hearts: Charles (presumably after Charlemagne)
*King of Diamonds: Caesar (presumably after Julius Caesar, dictator of the Roman Republic)
*King of Clubs: Alexander (king of Macedon)

ee Also

* List of poker hand nicknames
* The King of Hearts, a character from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland"
* "King of Clubs", Paul Gilbert's 1998 album
* "King of Clubs", a golf-based video game
* "King of Hearts", a 1936 film directed by Oswald Mitchell and Walter Tennyson
* "King of Hearts, also known as "Le Roi de coeur", a 1966 French film directed by Philippe de Broca
* King of Hearts, the title used by Domon Kasshu and Master Asia in the 1994 anime "Mobile Fighter G Gundam"
*"King of Hearts", a 1992 album by Roy Orbison

References


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать реферат

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Playing card — Blue Rider back Bicycle Playing Cards by USPCC …   Wikipedia

  • playing card — 1. one of the conventional set of 52 cards in four suits, as diamonds, hearts, spades, and clubs, used in playing various games of chance and skill. 2. one of any set or pack of cards used in playing games. [1535 45] * * * Introduction  one of a… …   Universalium

  • Jack (playing card) — A jack or knave is a playing card with a picture of a young man on it. The usual rank of a jack, within its suit, is as if it were an 11 (that is, between the queen and the 10).As the lowest face (or court ) card, the jack often represents a… …   Wikipedia

  • Queen (playing card) — The queen is a playing card with a picture of a queen on it. The usual rank of a queen is as if it were 12 (that is, between the king and the jack).In the standard English playing card deck, the Queen and the other face cards represent no one in… …   Wikipedia

  • List of playing-card nicknames — This list of playing card nicknames has the common nicknames for the playing cards in a 52 card deck, as used in some common card games, such as poker. Contents 1 Single cards 1.1 One eyed Royals 2 Texas hold em pocket card nicknames …   Wikipedia

  • King (disambiguation) — A king is a male monarch or a head of state, or, otherwise, the male consort to a female monarch (Queen); (see Germanic king for the origins of the word king and for the traditional kings of Germanic countries).King may also refer to: * King… …   Wikipedia

  • King of Clubs — This article is about the album. For the video game, see King of Clubs (video game). For the playing card, see King (playing card). Infobox Album Name = King of Clubs Type = studio Artist = Paul Gilbert Released = 1998 Recorded = Genre = Heavy… …   Wikipedia

  • King Kong — noun a) a fictional giant ape; the eponymous star of several movies b) A king (playing card) …   Wiktionary

  • King card — King King, n. [AS. cyng, cyning; akin to OS. kuning, D. koning, OHG. kuning, G. k[ o]nig, Icel. konungr, Sw. konung, Dan. konge; formed with a patronymic ending, and fr. the root of E. kin; cf. Icel. konr a man of noble birth. [root]44. See {Kin} …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • King — King, n. [AS. cyng, cyning; akin to OS. kuning, D. koning, OHG. kuning, G. k[ o]nig, Icel. konungr, Sw. konung, Dan. konge; formed with a patronymic ending, and fr. the root of E. kin; cf. Icel. konr a man of noble birth. [root]44. See {Kin}.] 1 …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”