Standard 52-card deck

The standard 52-card deck of French playing cards (54 counting jokers) is the most common deck of playing cards used today. It includes thirteen ranks in each of the four French suits: clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥) and spades (♠), with reversible 'court' or face cards. Each suit includes an ace, a king, queen and jack, each depicted with a symbol of its suit; and ranks two through ten, with each card depicting that many symbols (pips) of its suit. Anywhere from one to six (most often two or three since the mid-20th century) jokers, often distinguishable with one being more colorful than the other, are added to commercial decks, as some card games require these extra cards. Modern playing cards carry index labels on opposite corners or in all four corners to facilitate identifying the cards when they overlap and so that they appear identical for players on opposite sides. The most popular standard pattern of the French deck is sometimes referred to as 'English' or 'Anglo-American' pattern. The standard 52-card deck of French playing cards (54 counting jokers) is the most common deck of playing cards used today. It includes thirteen ranks in each of the four French suits: clubs (♣), diamonds (♦), hearts (♥) and spades (♠), with reversible 'court' or face cards. Each suit includes an ace, a king, queen and jack, each depicted with a symbol of its suit; and ranks two through ten, with each card depicting that many symbols (pips) of its suit. Anywhere from one to six (most often two or three since the mid-20th century) jokers, often distinguishable with one being more colorful than the other, are added to commercial decks, as some card games require these extra cards. Modern playing cards carry index labels on opposite corners or in all four corners to facilitate identifying the cards when they overlap and so that they appear identical for players on opposite sides. The most popular standard pattern of the French deck is sometimes referred to as 'English' or 'Anglo-American' pattern. It has been shown that because of the large number of possibilities from shuffling a 52-card deck, it is probable that no two fair card shuffles have ever yielded exactly the same order of cards. Although French suited cards are the most common playing cards used internationally, there are many countries or regions that continue to use their own regional cards which are preferred for many games. For example, in Central Europe, German suited cards are widely used, Italian suited cards are common in Italy and Spanish suited cards on the Iberian peninsula. In addition, tarot cards are required for games such as French Tarot, which is widely played in France, and the Tarock family of games played in countries like Austria and Hungary. The fanciful design and manufacturer's logo commonly displayed on the ace of spades began under the reign of James I of England, who passed a law requiring an insignia on that card as proof of payment of a tax on local manufacture of cards. Until August 4, 1960, decks of playing cards printed and sold in the United Kingdom were liable for taxable duty and the ace of spades carried an indication of the name of the printer and the fact that taxation had been paid on the cards. The packs were also sealed with a government duty wrapper.