Card Game Bibliography

Books on general and specific card games (most not already indexed in solitaire bibliography)
compiled by Michael Keller

This is for the most part a catalog of my own collection of books on card games other than solitaire. Prices were as of the time of publication.   Many of these books are now out of print.

Bridge
Encyclopedias

Francis, Henry G., editor-in-chief -- The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, Fourth Edition, 1984, Crown, 922pp., hardback, ISBN 0-517-55272-8, $24.95 (earlier editions were 1964, 1971, and 1976)
Francis, Henry, editor-in-chief -- The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, Sixth Edition, 2001, American Contract Bridge League, 886pp., hardback, ISBN 0-943855-44-6   (Fifth Edition was 1994)
Manley, Brent, editor -- The Official ACBL Encyclopedia of Bridge, Seventh Edition, 2011, American Contract Bridge league, 633pp., hardback, ISBN 978-0-939460-99-1, $54.95

I bought the 4th edition when it was originally published, during a brief period of interest in contract bridge. My copy is badly warped now due to a storage mishap, and recently I bought the newest edition, the Seventh, to replace it.   To my dismay I discovered that much material had been cut, and it is substantially shorter than earlier editions (over 200 pages shorter than the 6th, and with larger print). Space is now being taken up by photographs and even cartoons.   About its only saving grace is that it comes with two CD-ROMs: one contains a PDF of the entire printed Encyclopedia; the second is a PDF supplement with biographies and tournament results, which do not appear in the book.   What really irks me more than anything, however, is the fact that the biographical sections were cut, removing historical figures of importance in favor of tournament players. Wilbur C. Whitehead is one of the seminal figures of bridge (spanning the transition from auction to contract): author, educator, innovator, and successful tournament player.   In 1930 he donated a trophy for what is now the Whitehead Women's Pairs, a major ABCL event. He is referenced many times in the book, but there is no bibliography for him, as he is inexplicably not a member of the ACBL Hall of Fame, despite being, in 1928, the second person ever named an Honorary Member of the American Bridge League (which became the ACBL) for "long and meritorious service to the League."   He isn't included in Other Noted Personalities, either; neither are Cavendish (Henry Jones), William Pole, or Albert Ostrow.   I immediately bought the Sixth Edition, which is basically an expansion of earlier editions, in the same format. The Fourth Edition has four alphabetical sections: General Information (551pp.), Biographies (221pp., covering over 2500 people), Tournament Results (129pp.), and Bibliography (21 pages, unannotated).   The Sixth adds a short section (15 pages) on Bridge organizations, and expands the Bibliography to 60 pages.   The Seventh cut the bibliography entirely; particularly inexcusable as it could have been attached to the second PDF.

Reese, Terence -- Bridge Players' Dictionary and Quick Reference Guide, 1959, Sterling, 1960, Barnes & Noble, 253 pp., paperback, $1.25
Sachen, William -- Bridge: A Guide to the Literature, 1984, Garland, 171 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-8240-9094-2
Annotated bibliography of over 600 books.

Elementary Books and General Courses

Ibsen, Hannah -- It's Been A Pleasure, Partner!, 1976, 25 pp., self-published, paperback, $2.00
Kaplan, Edgar -- Winning Contract Bridge Complete, 1964, Bantam, 436 pp., paperback, $1.25
Kaplan, Edgar, and Alfred Sheinwold -- How To Play Winning Bridge, 1958, Fleet, 1962, Collier, 224 pp., paperback, $0.95
Sheinwold, Alfred -- First Book of Bridge, 1952, Sterling, 1963, Barnes & Noble, 159 pp., paperback, $0.95
Sheinwold, Alfred -- 5 Weeks To Winning Bridge, 1959, 1964, Pocket, 548 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-671-82023-0, $2.25
Truscott, Alan -- Basic Bridge in Three Weeks, 1987, Perigee, 224 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-399-51377-9, $8.95
Truscott, Alan -- Contract Bridge, 1959, 1982, Frederick Fell, 1983, Bantam, 111 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-553-23658-X, $2.95
Winokur, Lori Wiley -- Building Bridges to Bridge, 1990, Goodwick, 45 pp., spiralbound

Bidding and Conventions

American Contract Bridge League -- ACBL Guide To Conventions, 1974, 24 pp., pamphlet
Baron, Randy, Ken Chapney, and Kit Woolsey -- Clobber Their Artificial Club, Revised and Expanded Second Edition, 1979, 1983, Devyn Press, 33 pp., paperback, $2.95
Crowhurst, Eric -- Acol in Competition, 1980, 1984, Pelham, 383 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-7207-1525-3, £7.95
Ewen, Robert B. -- Doubles for Takeout, Penalties and Profit in Contract Bridge, 1973, Prentice-Hall, 278 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-13-218834-1
Ewen, Robert B. -- Preemptive Bidding, 1975, Prentice-Hall, 162 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-13-218834-1, $7.95
Goren, Charles H., and Ronald P. Von Der Porten -- Introduction to Competitive Bidding, 1967, Doubleday, 179 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-385-18892-7, $7.95
Horton, Mark -- Bridge Conventions, Defences To A Strong Club, 1982, Probray Press, 32 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-946236-02-X,
Kantar, Edwin B. -- Bridge Conventions, 1972, Wilshire, 133 pp. (typewritten, double spaced), paperback, ISBN 0-87980-013-5, $7.00
Kearse, Amalya -- Bridge Conventions Complete, Revised and Expanded, 1984, Devyn Press, 829 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-910791-07-4, $17.95
Kleinman, Danny -- Understanding Bidding, Volume 1: Foundations, 1981, self-published, 177 pp., paperback
Kleinman, Danny -- Understanding Bidding, Volume 2: Ramifications, 1981, self-published, 149 pp., paperback
Klinger, Ron -- 5-Card Majors, 1992, Houghton Mifflin, 126 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-395-62848-9, $9.95
Lawrence, Mike -- The Complete Book on Overcalls in Contract Bridge, 1980, 1984, Max Hardy, 202 pp. paperback, ISBN 0-939460-07-6, $8.95
Lawrence, Mike -- Partnership Understandings, 1983, Devyn Press, 56 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-910791-08-2, $2.95
Marchione, Richard V. -- Filling Out Your Conventuon Card, 1980, self-published, 15 pp., pamphlet, $1.00
Rosenkranz, Dr. George, and Alan Truscott -- Modern Ideas in Bidding, 1982, Devyn Press, 236 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-910791-02-3, $9.95
de Satnick, Shelly -- Everyone's Introduction to Bridge Conventions, 1984, Avon, 137 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-380-89318-5, $6.95
Squire, Norman -- The Theory of Bidding, Second Edition, 1957, 1979, Duckworth, 233 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-7156-1265-4, $10.95

Bidding Systems

Goldman, Bobby -- Aces Scientific, 1978, 1983, Max Hardy, 169 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-939460-03-3, $6.95
Kaplan, Edgar, and Alfred Sheinwold -- The Kaplan-Sheinwold System of Winning Bridge, 1963, 1983 Second Edition, Signet, 283 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-451-12459-6, $3.95
Marchione, Richard V. -- Power Precision Updated and Expanded, 1982, self-published, 138 pp., paperback,
Nail, G.R., and Robert Stucker -- Revolution in Bridge, Featuring The Big Diamond and the Fantastic No-Trump, 1965, Naylor, 325 pp., hardback, $5.95
Rosenkranz, George -- The Romex System of Bidding, 1970, World Publishing, 327 pp., hardback, $7.95
Rosenkranz, George -- Win With Romex, Key To Accurate Bidding, 1975, Chancellor Hall, 402 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-517-524457,
Schenken, Howard -- Howard Schenken's "Big Club", 1968, 1972, Cornerstone, 192 pp., paperback, $1.45
Sontag, Alan -- Power Precision, 1979, William Morrow, 320 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-688-03472-1, $10.95

Declarer Play

Blackwood, Easley -- Play Of The Hand With Blackwood, 1978, Pinnacle, 458 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-523-41316-5, $11.95
Coffin, George -- Endplays In Bridge; Eliminations, Squeezes and Coups, 1932, 1975, Sixth Master Edition, 1981, Dover, 211 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-486-24230-7, $4.50
Coffin, George S. -- Bridge Play from A to Z, 1954, 1961 Third Edition, 1979, Dover, 350 pp. paperback, ISBN 0-486-23891-1, $5.00
Goren, Charles H. -- Goren on Play and Defense, 1974, Chancellor Hall, 489 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-385-01503-8, $9.95
Karpin, Fred -- Bridge Strategy At Trick One, 1964, 1976, Dover, 288 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-486-23296-4, $4.00
Reese, Terence -- Reese on Play, An introduction to good bridge, 1968, Cornerstone, 186 pp., paperback, $1.00
Reese, Terence, and Patrick Jourdan -- Squeeze Play Made Easy, 1980, Cornerstone, 145 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-346-12531-6, $7.95
Watson, Louis H., new edition by Sam Fry, Jr. -- The Play of the Hand at Bridge, 1934, Lewis Copeland, 1958, Sterling, 1959 Barnes & Noble, 475 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-06-463209-1, $5.25
White, Travis -- Odd Tricks, 1934, 1978, GBC Press, 141 pp., paperback, $3.95

Defense, Opening Leads, and Signaling

Blackwood, Easley -- The Complete Book of Opening Leads, 1983, Devyn Press, 475 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-910791-05-8, $12.95
Ewen, Robert B. -- Opening Leads, 1970, Prentice-Hall, 226 pp., paperback, ISBN 13-637363-4, $5.95
Kantar, Edwin B. -- Defensive Bridge Play Complete, 1974, Wilshire, 528 pp. (typewritten, double spaced), paperback, ISBN 0-87980-287-1, $10.00
Lavinthal, Hy -- Defense Strategy in Bridge, 1963, 1974, Dover, 192 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-486-23010-4, $3.00
Love, Clyde E. -- Bridge Squeezes Complete, or Winning End Play Strategy, 1959, 1968, Dover, 260 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-486-21968-2, $3.50
Mallon, John -- Opening Leads and Signals in Contract Bridge, 1964, Abelard-Schuman, 1969, Collier, 158 pp., paperback, $1.50
Rosler, Lawrence, and Jeff Rubens -- Journalist Leads, 1988, Pando, 198 pp., paperback, ISBN 9-944-705-02-2, $8.95
Vinje, Helge -- New Ideas in Defensive Play in Bridge, 1980, Sterling, Cornerstone, 192 pp., paperback, 0-346-12494-8, $6.95
Woolsey, Kit -- Modern Defensive Signaling in Contract Bridge, 1981, Barclay Bridge, 64 pp., paperback, $2.95

Advanced Play (General)

Flint, Jeremy -- Tiger Bridge, 1970, Simon and Schuster, 191 pp., hardback, ISBN 671-20495-5, $5.95
Rubens, Jeff -- The Secrets of Winning Bridge, 1969, 1971, Grosset & Dunlap, 241 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-448-02094-7, $1.95 [1980, Dover, paperback, ISBN 0-486-24076-2, $4.00]

Mathematics

Borel, Emile, and Andre Cheron, translated by Alec Traub -- The Mathematical Theory of Bridge, 1940, 1954, Monna Lisa Precision, 434 pp., paperback
Frost, Frederick H. -- Bridge Odds Complete, 1963, 1971, 1976 Third Edition, Aegean Park Press, 96 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-89412-008-5,
Kelsey, Hugh, and Michael Glaubert -- Bridge Odds For Practical Players, 1980, 1984, Gollancz, 125 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-575-02799-1, £4.95
Traub, Alexander A., and G.R. Desai -- The Role of Combinations In Contract Bridge Vis-a-vis Point Count Distribution, or Foundation of Mathematical Analysis of Contract Bridge, 1990, Ravindra C. Mehta, 274xxxii, paperback, 160 Rupees

Fiction

Quinn, Terry -- The Great Bridge Conspiracy, 1979, St. Martin's Press, 196 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-312-34496-1, $9.95
Thomas, Frank, and George Gooden -- Sherlock Holmes, Bridge Detective, 1973, 1976, Robert Hale, 175 pp., hardback, ISBN 0-7091-5846-7

__________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Canasta
Canasta was, for a short time, one of the biggest game or puzzle crazes of the 20th century.   The books listed below were published in a three-year span from 1949 to 1951, when the craze was at its height. Several of the books made the best seller lists (a feat which was duplicated three decades later by books on Rubik's Cube).

Culbertson, Ely -- Culbertson on Canasta, 1949, 1950, John C. Winston, 90pp., plasticbound
Drake, Alfred -- Anyone Can Win at Gin Rummy and Canasta, 1949, Avon Publishing Company, 125pp., paperback
Reilly, Ottilie H. -- Canasta, the Argentine Rummy Game, 1949, revised edition, [New York] Ives Washburn, 64pp., wirebound, $1.00
Goren, Charles H. -- Goren's Canasta Up-to-Date, 1950, Permabooks, 167pp., hardback, $0.35
Goren, Charles H. -- The New Canasta and Samba, 1951, Simon and Schuster, 115pp., paperback, $1.00
Jacoby, Oswald -- How To Win At Canasta, 1949, Doubleday, 63pp., wirebound, $1.00
Jacoby, Oswald -- Oswald Jacoby's Complete Canasta, 1950, Doubleday, 160pp., hardback
Michaels, Ralph, and Charles H. Goren -- The Complete Canasta, 1949, [New York] Pellegrini and Cudahy, 140pp., hardback
Morehead, Albert H., and Geoffrey Mott-Smith, -- Canasta Made Easy, 1949, Greystone Press, 63pp., $0.25

Cribbage
Barlow, Dan -- Cribbage For Experts*, *and Future Experts, n.d., self-published, 88pp., paperback, $6.00 [revised edition, 2004, CribbageBooks.com, 96pp., ISBN 097062258-9]
Best, J.T. -- Cribbage Simplified, Beginner to Expert, 2007, Jaala, 158pp., ISBN 978-0-9803875-1-3
Chambers, John E. -- Cribbage, A New Concept, n.d. [1983?], self-published, dot matrix printed, 203pp., [revised edition 1992, 174pp., (professionally printed)]
Colvert, DeLynn -- Play Winning Cribbage, 1980, Starr Studios, 128pp., paperback [2nd edition, 1993, 154pp., ISBN 0-9612548-0-7
Jarvis, Allen J. -- Cribbage, As I Think It Should Be Played, 1948, [Boston] Branden Press, 15pp., $1.00
Louder, Richard -- Cribbage is the Name of the Game, 1974, Barnes and Noble, 60pp., paperback, ISBN 06-463402-7, $2.50
Wergin, Joseph Petrus -- How to Win at Cribbage, 1980, Winchester Press, 225 pages, hardback, ISBN 0-87691-304-41980

Euchre
Bumppo, Natty, pseud. -- The Columbis Book of Euchre, 1982, [Brownsville, KY] Borf Books, 71pp., paperback, ISBN 0-9604894-2-8
Ellis, John -- Euchre the Grandpa Lou Way, 1996, [Kleinburg, Ontario] Wednesday Morning Productions, 68pp., paperback, ISBN 0-9680842-0-6, $8.95
Martin, Gary -- Euchre, How To Play and Win, 1982, [Fort Wayne, Indiana] Martin Publishing Company, 56pp., paperback, ISBN 0-9605068-1-0, $4.95
Wergin, Joseph Petrus -- Euchre According To Wergin, 1990, Huron Press, 125pp., paperback, ISBN 0-9618966-2-0, $10.20

Gin Rummy
Culbertson, Ely -- Culbertson System of playing Gin Rummy, 1942, King Features Syndicate, 60pp., hardback, $0.50
Drake, Alfred -- Anyone Can Win at Gin Rummy and Canasta, 1949, Avon Publishing Company, 125pp., paperback
Fry, Sam -- Gin Rummy, How to Play and Win, 1960, King Features Syndicate, (1978, Dover), 59pp., paperback, ISBN 0-486-23630-7, $1.75
Hart, Harold -- How To Win At Gin Rummy, 1975, Gambler's Book Club Press, 64pp., paperback, ISBN 0-89650-528-6, $2.00
Shankar, Ph.D., Pramod -- How To Win at Gin Rummy, Playing For Fun and Profit, 1994, 1997, Lyle Stuart (Carol Publishing Group), 104pp., paperback, ISBN 0-8184, 0586-4
Steig, Irwin -- Play Gin to Win, 1965, 1971, Cornerstone, 144pp., paperback
Wander, Chet -- How To Play and Win at Gin Rummy, 1974, 1978, Holloway House Publishing Company, 224pp., paperback,

Hearts
Andrews, Joseph D., and George Sturgis Coffin -- Win at Hearts, 1983, Dover, 102pp., ISBN 0-486-24406-7, $2.95

Mah Jongg
Gelbman, Alain -- Mah Jong : One Step at a Time, 1990,1991, Ishi Press, 47 pp.[P], ISBN 0-923891-35-8
Kanai, Shozo, and Margaret Farrell -- Mah Jong For Beginners, 1952, 1955 (39th pr.), Tuttle, 64 pp.[H], ISBN 0-8048-0391-9, $9.95
Kohnen, Dieter -- Mah-Jongg, Basic Rules & Strategies, 1998, Sterling, 64pp., paperback, ISBN 0-8069-0752-5, $7.95 (translation of Mah-Jongg: Regeln, Techniken, Übungen)
Li, David H. -- The Happy Game of Mah-Jong, 1994, Premier, 136 pp.[P], ISBN 0-9637852-3-0, $9.95
Meyerson, Dorothy S. -- "That's It", How To Play Mah Jongg with Playing Cards and Chinese Tiles, 1937, 1952 (13th Revised Edition), National Mah Jongg League, 26pp., paperback
Millington, A.D. -- The Complete Book of Mah-Jongg, 1993, Weidenfeld and Nicolson, 200pp., paperback, ISBN 0-297-81340-4 (1997 printing, The Puzzle Company Ltd.)
National Mah Jongg League -- Mah Jongg Made Easy, 1984-2024, National Mah Jongg League, 26 pp.[P], no ISBN, $14.95 ppd.
Strauser, Kitty, and Lucille Evans -- Mah Jong, Anyone? A Manual of Modern Play, 1964 (26th pr.), Tuttle, 59 pp.[H], ISBN 0-8048-0390-0, $9.95
Thompson, Patricia A., and Betty Maloney -- The Game of Mah Jong Illustrated, 1990, Kangaroo Press, 64 pp.[P], ISBN 0-86417-302-4, $12.99
Thompson, Patricia A., and Betty Maloney -- Improve Your Mah Jong, 64pp. and score calculator, Kangaroo Press, wirebound, ISBN 0-86417-398-9
Whitney, Eleanor Noss -- A Mah Jong Handbook, 1964 (23rd p.), Tuttle, 176 pp.[H], ISBN 0-8048-0392-7, $14.95
Wright-Patterson AFB -- Mah Jongg, Wright-Patterson Rules, 1963, 1996, Wright-Patterson Mah Jongg Group, 31pp., paperback

The National Mah Jongg League, based in New York City, is now in its 88th year of promoting the Chinese tile game.

Pangingue
Sheldon, Murray M. -- Pan (Pangingue), 1969, 1986, Pan Book Publishers, 133pp., paperback

Pinochle
Gibson, Walter -- Pinochle is the Name of the Game, 1974, Ottenheimer (Barnes and Noble), 143pp., paperback, ISBN 06-463401-9, $1.75
Perry, Rufus -- The Key to Winning Pinochle, 1957, Key Publishing, (1965, Ottenheimer), 141pp., paperback, $0.95
Also briefly covers rummy, gin rummy, red dog, and blackjack.

Rummy
Root, William S., ed. -- Fun With Games Of Rummy, Including Canasta and Gin, 1950, 1963, U.S. Playing Card Company, 71pp., paperback

Skat and Sheepshead
Strupp, Robert M. (Anon Amos X. Pert) -- How to Play "Winning" 5 handed Sheepshead, 1980, 3rd edition 1987, 43pp., paperback
Wager-Smith, A. Elizabeth -- A Primer of Skat, April 1907, [Philadelphia] J.B. Lippincott Company, 64pp., hardback

Wergin, Joseph Petrus -- Wergin On Skat and Sheepshead, 1975, Wergin Distributing Company, 312pp., hardback, also paperback, $9.45
Joe Wergin was one of the world's foremost authorities on American card games, with 75 years experience in a variety of games. He was frequently consulted as an authority of the rules of cribbage, euchre, sheepshead, and skat. Wergin on Skat and Sheepshead is actually two books in one.   The comprehensive section on skat is a expanded version (better than twice the length) of Wergin's 1942 book How to Play Skat.   The coverage of these games is comprehensive : history, rules, detailed strategy, tournament play, and variations.

Compendia and miscellaneous games
Abbott, Robert A. -- Abbott's New Card Games, 1963, 1968, Funk & Wagnalls, 138pp., paperback, $0.95
Berman, I. -- Go Stop, 1996, 71pp., paperback   (Korean form of poker with Hanafuda cards)
Crawford, John R. -- How To Be A Consistent Winner In The Most Popular Card Games, 1953, Doubleday, 1961, Dolphin, 356pp., paperback, $2.95

Dummett, Michael, and Sylvia Mann -- The Game of Tarot, 1980, Duckworth, 600pp., hardback, ISBN 0-7156-1014-7, out of print
This masterpiece on the history and use of Tarot cards punctures most of the myths surounding the Tarot deck (e.g., the 78-card Tarot deck appeared 60 years later than the standard 52-card deck, and was used for playing card games for more than 300 years before a French clergyman first used it for fortunetelling). The first one-quarter or so of the book extensively explores the history of Tarot cards; the remainder gives detailed descriptions of dozens of different variations, ranging from two-handed to six-handed games. Tarot card games are primarily what Dummett calls complex trick-taking games (in which points are scored for specific cards captured in tricks, as well as for each trick taken). The 22 tarots themselves serve as a permanent trump-suit.   David Parlett reviewed the book in some detail in Games & Puzzles 81 (Summer 1981, pages 20-22).    Unfortunately it is long out of print and prohibitively expensive on the used book market.

Kaplan, Stuart R. -- Official Rules of the Tarotrump Game, 1972, U.S. Games Systems, 88pp., paperback
Konstam, Kenneth -- Teach Yourself Card Games For Two, 1954, 1974, Teach Yourself Books, 150 pp., paperback, ISBN 0-340-05539-1, L0.40
Levez, Belinda -- Teach Yourself How to Win At Card Games, 1997, Teach Yourself Books, 70pp., paperback, ISBN 0-8442-3721-3, $5.95 (Blackjack, poker, and other casino card games.)

I bought this book, on the strength of its title alone, through an on-line bookseller. The Teach Yourself series has an excellent reputation, particularly in the card game field, where David Parlett has penned four of its past and current titles. I will say bluntly that this badly mistitled and rather skimpy book does not live up to that reputation. I expected a book about card game strategy, picturing a book covering the basics of popular games such as, perhaps, bridge, gin rummy, hearts, canasta, cribbage and the like. In fact, How to Win at Card Games covers gambling games only, and the phrase "how to win" is misleading in some cases, since several of the games (e.g. red dog and baccarat) are games of nearly pure luck (in the section on Punto Banco, Levez wastes three pages discussing worthless progressive betting systems such as Martingale). Blackjack and several varieties of poker (including Caribbean Stud Poker and Pai Gow Poker) are explained briefly, with superficial advice on strategy.   If you're looking for strategy advice on a variety of card games, I'd suggest Rigal's book or John R. Crawford's out-of-print How to Be a Consistent Winner in the Most Popular Card Games.

Parlett, David -- Original Card Games, 1977, Batsford, 120pp., paperback, ISBN 0-7134-0231-8
Parlett is a well-known authority on cards and card games, and as this book shows, his talents extend to invention as well. Included here are fourteen varied, challenging, and original games. There are at least two games designed for each specific number of players from two to six, but most are adaptable to other numbers. Included are several tricktaking games, a two-handed Poker variant (Counterbluff), a two-player adaptation of the solitaire game Poker Squares (Ganderpoke), a Nim game combined with Rummy (Abstrac), and a game in the Cribbage family (Jacko).    A Spanish-language edition, Anarquía y otros juegos sociales de cartas, was published in 1993 in Spain and Argentina by Ediciones de Mente.   I have not seen this, but David Parlett confirms in Games & Puzzles that it contains some new games not in the original edition.

Parlett, David -- Teach Yourself Card Games For Three, 1977, Hodder and Stoughton, 264pp., paperback, ISBN 0-340-21519-4, L1.50
Parlett, David -- Teach Yourself Card Games For Four, 1977, Hodder and Stoughton, 215pp., paperback, ISBN 0-340-22232-8, L1.95

Thomas, Butch -- Finally...Rules on Bid Whist, 1991, [Atlanta] Cardjazz, 70pp. hardback, ISBN 0-9630302-0-5
n.a. -- Hanafuda, The Flower Card Game, 1970, 1977, Japan Publications, 94pp., paperback, ISBN 0-87040-430-X
n.a. -- Match It, The Latest Greatest Card Game, 1988, Youst-Ackerman (Jupiter Press), 7 pp., paperback
n.a. -- Original Tarock, 1975, Piatnik, 60pp., paperback

The New Complete Hoyle Revised by Albert L. Morehead, Richard L. Frey, and Geoffrey Mott-Smith, Doubleday, 1991, ISBN 0-385-24962-4, 692 pp.[H], $25.95

I still have a battered copy of the 1964 edition (published by Garden City Books) of The New Complete Hoyle, probably the best compendium of rules for games in print. It isn't perfect by any means, but in addition to rules for a large number of card games and variants, there are substantial sections on the most common board games and a few other kinds of games. Two other well-known American Hoyles were written by authors expert in narrower fields, but over their heads when writing about games in general (Ainslie's Complete Hoyle was written by Tom Ainslie, a recognized expert in horserace handicapping; Scarne's Encyclopedia of Games by John Scarne, a well-known magician and expert on gambling). Happily the same is not true of Morehead, Frey, and Mott-Smith. The three principal authors of this book were, individually and collectively, three of the most best and most prolific writers on games (especially card games) of the 20th century. All three were expert bridge players; not surprisingly, the section on contract bridge is longer and more informative than you will find in any other rules collections. The 1964 edition also had substantial sections on chess, checkers, and backgammon, including illustrative games -- these were considerably trimmed in length in the 1991 edition, and the sample games deleted. The checkers section concentrates on the 8x8 Anglo-American game, barely mentioning pool checkers and the 10x10 international game. Among the important games you won't find in either edition are mancala, reversi/Othello, go-moku variants (renju and Pente), fanorona, and most commercial games. The section on chess variations is especially weak, covering kriegspiel, giveaway, and a few other minor games -- there is nothing on progressive (or most of the other popular modern variants such as Avalanche), or either of the two major regional games (xiang qi or shogi). Although Morehead and Mott-Smith wrote an excellent book on solitaire (The Complete Book of Solitaire and Patience Games), and invented a number of solitaires themselves, the section on solitaire is only fair, with 23 entries, and lacks the two best features (odds estimates and playing tips) of the longer book. The coverage of mainstream card games is strong, but there is nothing on tarot or hanafuda games.

The 1991 edition is some 48 pages shorter than its predecessor: this is partly an illusion, since the new edition has larger pages and more print on each page. It is also easier to read with a better and clearer typeface and bolder titles, and better organized with subtitle pages setting off large families of games (poker, rummy, whist, euchre, hearts, stops, all fours, bezique, miscellaneous card games, children's card games, solitaire, social gambling games, casino gambling games, tile games, board games, parlor games). The Appendix has a section on general procedures for card games, calculating odds, and a glossary -- a nine-page bibliography and a section on nim and other mathematical games were dropped. A few games were added to the 1991 edition: Hold 'Em (a popular form of poker today), craits (a crazy eights variant), spite and malice (a modern form of Russian Bank), Italian checkers, and the word games charades and password (a section on anagrams was dropped). The section on casino games was greatly expanded, including up-to-date information on blackjack strategy, though the latest additions to the casino repertoire (e.g. the casino version of Red Dog) are absent. The popular children's card game war, oddly absent from the 1964 edition, appears here, but the popular folk game Egyptian Ratscrew (a cross between Beggar-Your-Neighbor and slapjack) is missing, as is spades, one of the most popular card games in the U.S. today. The section on Scrabble in the 1964 edition was dropped (possibly for legal reasons?), as were rules for calypso, halma, the mill (nine men's morris), four-handed chess, variations of checkers (other than regional games), and chuck-a-luck (a casino dice game). Despite its weaknesses, The New Complete Hoyle remains the most comprehensive and authoritative general reference work on the rules of games. Other books may have a slightly wider scope, but cannot match the detail and accuracy of this book. There are a number of different editions of Hoyle (including inexpensive paperbacks) by various combinations of Morehead, Mott-Smith, and Frey -- any of these are also worthwhile as references.

The Oxford Guide to Card Games by David Parlett, Oxford University Press, 1990, ISBN 0-19-214165-1, 361 pp.[H], $45 (paperback edition: A History of Card Games, ISBN 0-19-282905-X, out of print?)

A History of Card Games (originally published in hardback under the misleading title The Oxford Guide to Card Games) is a fascinating and informative account of the history and development of card games, a subject barely touched on in most sources. Unfortunately it appears at present to be available only in a fairly expensive hardback edition; the paperback edition seems to be out of print. A History of Card Games begins with a discussion of some general aspects of card playing and card players, gives a brief history of cards and their manufacture, then moves on to discuss rule books and classification of card games. In the classification chapter, Parlett describes a simple notation for different rules for tricktaking games (explaining when you can/must follow suit, trump, or discard an offsuit card). The bulk of the book consists of individual chapters on various families of games (e.g. Vying and bragging on brag and other predecessors of poker, Bluffing and poking on Poker itself, The patient pursuit on solitaire/patience, Lonely hearts on hearts and its relatives). The last chapter in the book is Flights of fancy, a discussion of some recent innovations in card games and where the future might lead. The appendices include general rules of play, a table comparing suit and rank symbols in cards from different countries, a glossary, and footnotes for readers who want to consult original sources. For the most part Parlett does not give detailed rules for games, but describes them well enough to make the discussion clear. For rules, read on...

A Dictionary of Card Games -- David Parlett, Oxford University Press, 1992, ISBN 0-19-869173-4, 360pp.[P], $11.95

A Dictionary of Card Games is a companion volume to the earlier work. This book contains rules for hundreds of card games from all over the world (despite Parlett's disclaimer that the book covers Western games, there are is at least one notable game from China (Trouduc). Many of the games are from foreign-language and other hard-to-find sources, and do not appear in other compendia of card game rules. Included are several major tarot games, as well as two of Parlett's best games (Concerto and Ninety-Nine). Spades is a notable omission, but in general the breadth of coverage is superior to other Hoyles. The section on Patience (solitaire) is necessarily short, but mostly decent, although the inclusion of such a wretched game as Auld Lang Syne is puzzling, and that entry includes one of the few errors in the book: foundation building in ALS is regardless of suit (not in suit). With each game is listed the category, number(s) of players and deck(s) used. Brief historical notes (Go Fish dates back to Italy in 1585!) and even evaluations (of Gops, Parlett says "...the skill involved is more like extra-sensory perception than calculation") are given for many games. One nice feature is a list of recommended games, arranged by number of players and game category. Parlett understands that most card games start as folk games, and is sensitive to variations in rules; he often spells out his source for a particular set of rules. Although the entries are in alphabetical order rather than by category, there are many cross-references. There is a useful glossary of card game terms, and a bibliography of 43 items. At present, when I am looking for rules for a card game, this is the first place I look (followed by John McLeod's site www.pagat.com).

The Neal-Schuman Index To Card Games, compiled by Kay Markey and edited by Jim Roginski, Neal-Schuman, 1990, ISBN 1-55570-052-7, 153 pp.[H], $25

A good idea, but a very poorly executed one, is The Neal-Schuman Index To Card Games, a reference work aimed mainly at librarians. In essence this is an index to the tables of contents of 35 books on card games. Each of the 2197 entries gives the name of a card game, a list of three-letter codes indicating which books contain rules for that game, and the general category the card game belongs to. There are 31 categories of card games, both single games with many variations (bridge, casino, euchre, pinochle) and families of related games (all fours, rummy, stops). The authors chose to include poker as a category in addition to separate categories for draw poker and stud poker; these are three of the four largest categories by number of entries (there is also a separate category for brag, a four-card English form of poker).

This seems a simple enough idea -- what are the problems with the book? First of all, it's nearly twice the length it needs to be, as every entry is listed twice in its entirety (first in a straight alphabetical listing, second in an alphabetical listing by category). The second half is more useful, as it allows the reader to browse through variants of a particular game of interest. The first half could have been reduced to a more compact index giving the name and categories each game appears in. The authors do list some cases where two different games share the same name (e.g. Yukon, which is the name of both a first-rate solitaire and a variant of skat), but these are not distinguished from single games classified in two different categories. Worse yet, the authors do not even attempt to address the problem of duplicate names. The reader can probably guess that Lanterlu and Lanterloo are the same game under different spellings, but you need to consult The New Complete Hoyle to discover that Corner Card is the same game as Four Seasons. Actually, the problem is even worse, since Four Seasons is a name used by two different games (Vanishing Cross and Fortune's Favor -- Corner Card is the former). Some of the entries do not even refer to a source where the reader can find rules, but merely a source where the name of a game is mentioned: two references are given for a 17th century game in the stops family called Hoc. Neither reference gives the rules; its inclusion in the index is particularly inexcusable in the case of David Parlett's The Penguin Book of Card Games, whose index italicizes every name mentioned only in passing. The reader who is looking for rules to such games will be very frustrated, I think. There are also entries which are simply erroneous -- thanks to Jerry Slocum, I consulted the 1884 edition of Dick's Games of Patience or Solitaire With Cards: two solitaires called Napoleon's Wish and Zombie, supposed to be there (and in no other book on solitaire I've ever seen), simply aren't (unless they're mentioned in passing somewhere).

And finally I come to the book's worst failing -- the selection of source material. While the 35 books selected include some excellent and indispensable books (Abbott's New Card Games and A Gamut of Games among them), there are books which can hardly be justified: one of the sources is A Book on Casino Blackjack by C. Ionescu Tulcea. This is a fine book on the mathematical strategy of Blackjack, but completely unsuitable as a source for the Neal-Schuman index: it is used to provide listings for three entries: Blackjack, Casino Blackjack, and Twenty-One (from the casino point of view, these are of course all the same thing), each of which has at least five other sources. Why was this book chosen, when another, more comprehensive, book by the same author (A Book on Casino Gambling by Tulcea and Virginia L. Graham) was already included? Why is David Parlett, undoubtedly one of the best writers on card games ever, and the author of many excellent books, represented by only one book? Why is the only book on solitaire a poor compilation from 1884? Patience is the largest category in Neal-Schuman (232 entries), but must depend on general compilations for most of its games -- for this and other reasons outlined, the Neal-Schuman book is poorer at covering solitaire than on any other category of card game. If it had been skillfully compiled, this would be a quite useful book for finding rules for a particular game, but in its present form it is close to useless.

Rigal, Barry -- Card Games For Dummies, 1997, IDG Books, 345pp., paperback, ISBN 0-7645-5050-0, $16.99
I'm not a fan of the Dummies series in general, but this is perhaps the best I've seen. It's well written, illustrated with examples of play, and covers over two dozen games, including some more recent games most Hoyles don't cover, such as spades, Barbu, and President (a version of Struggling Upstream).

This article is copyright ©2024 by Michael Keller. All rights reserved. This file was revised on July 28, 2024.