Playing Solitaire with a Deck of 51 Quiz

Quiz Answer Key and Fun Facts

1. This card game often uses 24 cards from the deck though some versions use 28 or 32 cards--the cards ranked from Nine through Ace (sometimes with the Eight and/or Seven). Which game is it?

Answer: Euchre

Euchre was developed in the nineteenth century and still is a popular game in the US Midwest. In this game a trump suit is set at the beginning of each hand and those cards outrank non-trump cards. Within the trump suit, however, the two highest cards are the Jack in the trump suit and the other Jack of the same color.

When a standard 52 card deck is used, the Six and the Four cards (not used as playing cards) are sometimes used to keep score during the game.

2. Not so much a card game as a scam, this activity usually involves a con artist using only three cards to take money from someone who does not know better. Which "game" is it?

Answer: Find the Lady

Find the Lady is also known as Three-Card Monte and is similar to the shell game. In the "game", the victim is presented three face down cards and given a chance to choose the "money" card--often a Queen--a win a bet that has been placed. The dealer will often use deceptive shuffling and other tricks to make the victim choose a card other than the correct one. Three-Card Monte has been traced back to at least the Nineteenth Century although it is likely that versions of the game go back earlier.

3. This card game has 24 cards you would see in a regular deck, but it has each card twice. Which card game--with cards from nine through ace--is it?

Answer: Pinochle

Pinochle evolved from the card game Bezique. The cards in a pinochle deck are ranked Ace, Ten, King, Queen, Jack, Nine. Pinochle can be played with between two and four players. In Pinochle, you can earn points before the hand is played by showing that you have certain combinations of cards in your hand such as four aces or a king and queen of the same suit. Once you begin playing, Aces, Tens, and Kings in tricks that you win will earn you points.

4. This card has all 52 cards of the regular deck but various cards--such as Twos or Threes or One-Eyed Jacks--might be declared as wild. Which card game--which often uses chips or cash as part of the game--is it?

Answer: Poker

Poker was developed in the United States in the early Nineteenth Century. It is a popular game for casino play as well as home play. Poker will often require at least some of the players each hand to throw a bet into the pot that is won by the best hand after each round.

There are many varieties of poker including ones where players share some common cards and ones where players can discard and redraw cards. Well known poker hands are the Full House (three of one rank of card and two of another rank), the Flush (five cards all of the same suit), and the Straight (five cards of consecutive rank).

5. This uses 52 cards but two of the "Two" cards are often replaced with the two Jokers (known as the Big Joker and the Little Joker). Which trick-taking game is this?

Answer: Spades

The Two of Diamonds and Two of Hearts are replaced in the game by the Jokers. Spades are always the trump suit and within the trump suit the cards from highest to lowest are Big Joker, Little Joker, Two, Ace down to Three. Developed in the Nineteen Thirties, Spades is often played with four players--four hands of 13 cards each.

When it is played with six or more players, two decks are often shuffled together.

6. In this game, players work with a large 108 card deck--two complete regular decks plus Jokers. Which game--where you try to assemble sets of seven cards--is this?

Answer: Canasta

Canasta developed in South America in the Mid Twentieth Century. Threes, Jokers, Twos (which are wild), and Aces are the highest value cards. Melds (sets of cards) must have at least three cards and can be either natural (all actual cards of that rank) or mixed (cards of a particular rank supplemented with Twos and/or Jokers).

A canasta is a meld of seven cards that can be either natural or mixed.

7. This card game can be played with a deck of 51, 52, 50, or 54 cards depending on whether the number of players at the table is three, four, five, or six. Which game--where the Queen of Spades is worth 13 points--is this?

Answer: Hearts

When there are three players, the Two of Diamonds is removed and each player has a hand of 17. When there are five players, the Two of Diamonds, and Two of Clubs are removed and each player has a hand of 10. When there are six players, the two Jokers are added and each player has a hand of nine.

Hearts developed as a variant on a game called Reversis in the Nineteenth Century. Since you are trying to avoid points in a game of Hearts, the thirteen points you would earn for the Queen of Spades is a big negative.

8. This card game has a deck of 36 cards (with ranks from Aces to Sixes). Which card game--where you are trying to get rid of all of your cards first--is it?

Answer: Durak

Durak is a game that is popular in countries of the former Soviet Union. The game can be played with between two and six people. Each player receives six cards and the suit of the bottom card on the draw pile determines the trump suit for the hand. When playing with four or six players, players can play in teams.

The last player to have cards in his or her hand is the Durak, which translates as "fool".

9. This card game has all of the cards in a regular deck but it has each card THREE times for a total of 156 cards. Which card game--with Trials, Tunnels, and Sequences,--is it?

Answer: Bibaha

Bibaha originated in Nepal and is a rummy type game. Players earn points by forming sets or marriages of three cards of the same rank (a Trial), three cards of the same rank and suit (a Tunnel), or three consecutive cards of the same suit (a Sequence). Two to five players can play this game where each player starts with a hand of 21 cards.

10. This card game features a deck that sometimes has 48 cards and sometimes 40 cards. Which card game with Aces, Kings, Queens, Jacks, Tens, and (sometimes Nines-is it?

Answer: Doppelkopf

Doppelkopf originated in Germany and can be played with between three and seven players although the ideal number of players is four. With cards worth between eleven and zero points each, there are a total of 240 points in the deck. Doppelkopf is related to the games Schafkopf and Skat. Since each card exists twice in the deck it is possible that both cards appear in the same trick.

Source: Author bernie73

This quiz was reviewed by FunTrivia editor Bruyere before going online.
Any errors found in FunTrivia content are routinely corrected through our feedback system.

Identify these card games that can be played with a regular deck of cards, but may use fewer than, more than or some different cards than the common 52 card deck (described in the quiz as the regular deck).

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