Playing Cards- Maybe one of the greatest inventions ever

[Rob Wright]

We are all here on this forum for may different reasons. We have members from all over the world. I think it is safe to say that we all have 1 thing in common. We all love playing cards.
Cards have been around for centuries, and most likely were taken by soldiers into war ever since. You can got to a dollar store, buy a cheap deck, and have hours-years of entertainment. I don't know this to be true, but I imagine there are more households around the world that have a deck of cards than computers, cellphones, landline phones. As a child- what was the first card game you learned- 52card pickup. That's a great game when you're 5. How about war or slapjack.

So why do I love "Playing Cards".
We always had a deck of cards in my home growing up. I use to watch my Father play solitaire. I would just sit there and watch. It's how I learned to play. we played so many games like Rummy, Spades, Crazy 8's(the original UNO). My parents played cards with their friends just about every weekend that I can remember. I pay a crap load for a smart phone-what game do I play- Solitaire. As an adult, I've played a lot of poker, and now play in a regular game with my kids. I say kids, but they are all adults now. As much time as I have spent on this stupid computer. I've probably spent just as much time with a deck of cards in my hand.

So my question to the forum . Why are you here? What do you love about cards? What got you hooked?

[Paul Carpenter]

When I was about 7 I stumbled upon playing cards via seeing some sleight of hand performers. I was instantly interested and spent a long time messing around. Then the NIntendo came about and I forgot all about cards.

Flash forward 20+ years and I again stumbled upon cards while reading a design blog. The Deck One from Theory 11 was the first time in decades that playing cards (and custom ones at that) entered my consciousness and I almost immediately started working on my own designs. The rest is history.

Now I have hundreds of decks, have designed a decent handful and sold 15,000 of them and can honestly say that working on cards brings me more creative joy than most of my "real" work of the last 10 years. I hope to continue doing it for a long while.

[Alex Willis]

Card houses and canasta.  I learned to do both when I was 5.  it was entertainment until I shipped off to the Army 13 years later in 1984.  Then it was spades or hearts in the red lighted GP Small tents in some desert some where for 8 long years.  I went through lots of decks including OD Green GI decks with vehicle recognition.  In 92 when I got out of the Army, i also left behind cards.  Seven years ago I married a fine lady who had an unusual collection (to me at least).  it was boxes of playing cards.  All kinds of them, very old and very new.  They were from all over the world and the art on them was intriguing.  I started buying decks for her collection, and then started one of my own.  It wasn't until i was designing a board game and looking for card samples that I realized that anybody could get decks printed with Bicycle written at the top.  Then it struck me, anybody can create a deck of cards.  They may suck, but they can be made.  And so began that journey.
Currently, I play card houses and canasta with my kids (who are still kids).  We'll see what they do with that as they get older.  

[Don Boyer]

I'm from a family of inveterate card players.  We've had Bicycle, Bee and Tally Ho decks around the house for as long as I can remember.  I especially liked when my step-father would bring me airline decks from his job at the airport.  We played everything, even made up some games or our own.  I was big on solitaire as well, like my father was.

I would say more, but I'm having trouble thinking straight now - a little hungry, a little tired, not enough caffeine.

[John B.]

We always had cards in my house. Never played many games with them. Mainly used uno cards. Only card game I really knew of was poker.Then I got interested in magic and looked up card tricks and the rest is history.

[10ofclubs]

My family has always played card games but as a kid I never took much interest in them. My love and appreciation for the art within the deck came after I was into card magic for a couple years.

[Curt]

My family played random card games as I was growing up, most of the time when we were out camping. My liking for collecting playing cards came from a combination of wanting to perform magic when I was younger and my natural want to collect things. I have always had a collection of some sort over the years and when I found myself not having the time to practice magic much I decided that a playing card collection was something that I would have fun creating. Having a card collection framed and on the walls of the house is not just a unique way to display art but also a great conversation starter. Once I started to get into collecting and found forums like this to chat with others who enjoy it as much as I do, that is when I knew I had a hobby that would last a while.

[jmrock]

Having performed magic since around age 13, I attended Tannen's Magic Camp when I was younger. I can recall one of the magicians sporting a deck of Bicycle New Fan Back playing cards. I was completely fascinated and fell in love with them.  The artistry and beauty of them; Mind you this was pre-internet, and I was unable to obtain them. Fast forward twenty years later, I was messing around online and came upon the Black Tiger Deck. How amazing! The rush fell over me, although slightly altered this time by color & box. How was this possible?  My beloved Bicycle Playing Card printed in such a wild variation while still holding true to feel and handling.  I purchased some decks and not until years later, when visiting a magic shop for my son, saw the Ghost, Raider, & Tragic Royalty decks.  Well what else is there to say?  My quest to obtain every variation of Bicycle Playing Cards had begun, only to be followed by Bee and Tally-Ho.  The closest I came to a true high was discovering a Vintage Sealed Tax Stamp deck, which I liken to the first time having seen the New Fan Back.  For years I thoroughly enjoyed collecting modern & vintage decks, but as of late my interest regarding modern decks has slowed tremendously due to the sheer amount of mediocre, kickstarter, anyone can design (and they do) decks that have flooded the market.  Aside for the occasional Federal 52 or Seasons Decks, I have switched my focus primarily towards Vintage Decks.  However at the end of the day, it is my love of playing cards which keeps me searching and collecting (and continuing to visit aether  ).

[Nurul]

I still play card games to date with my niece. Play snap, go fish and pairs. Then with the lads we play crazy 8s, bullshit and poker use to play speed with my sisters when I was young .. I then discovered bicycle cards (we use to play with crappy 50p cards from the post office) and my collection just grew and grew. In terms of magic, I had always been a fan since I was a kid, it's only in th last few years that I've really got into it.