A Piquet pack or, less commonly, a Piquet deck, is a pack of 32 French suited cards that is used for a wide range of card games. The name derives from the game of Piquet which was commonly played in Britain and Europe until the 20th century and is still occasionally played by connoisseurs. In the Netherlands it is referred to as a Jass pack, a term derived from games of the Jass type.

A Piquet pack

Also referred to as Piquet cards, Piquet packs are still produced as standard packs of cards today, especially in Europe, for example to play the German national game of Skat. Of course, a Piquet pack also may be formed from a standard 52-card French pack by simply removing the Deuces, Treys, Fours, Fives and Sixes.[1]

History

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The French Piquet pack originally comprised 36 cards, but was reduced to 32 cards around 1700. The 36-card packs continued to be produced in France until at least 1775, but thereafter became extinct.[2] It is known that, in England, the game of Maw was played with a 36-card pack up to the end of the 17th century.[3][4]

Games played with the Piquet pack

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Well-known games played with a Piquet pack include the following:

See also

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Footnotes

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  1. ^ Préférence is also played with a German-suited Tell pack.
  2. ^ Skat is also played with a German-suited Skat pack.

References

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  1. ^ Piquet pack at www.merriam-webster.com. Retrieved 29 Apr 2019
  2. ^ Dummett (1980), p. 28.
  3. ^ _ (1918), p. 171.
  4. ^ Singer (1816), p. 259.
  5. ^ Parlett 1991, p. 297.
  6. ^ Parlett 1991, p. 287.
  7. ^ Parlett 1991, p. 295.
  8. ^ Parlett 1991, p. 271.

Bibliography

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  • _ (1918). Notes and Queries. Oxford: OUP.
  • Dummett, Michael (1980). The Game of Tarot. Duckworth, London. ISBN 0 7156 1014 7
  • Parlett, D. (1991). A History of Card Games. Oxford paperbacks. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-282905-4.
  • Singer, Samuel Weller (1816). Researches Into the History of Playing Cards. London: T. Bensley & Son.