David Parlett's The A-Z of Card Games, published in Oxford Paperback Reference series, is the best compilation of card game rules I've ever seen, at least in book format. The book is full of interesting games from all around the world - the book has some Finnish games, too! It's an intelligent book and takes card games seriously, unlike many other rule books that seem to be written on autopilot.

Parlett's book passes even the hardest test: it includes few games played with the Tarot pack. That's something fairly rare and always a sign of a good book. This book isn't perfect, though: there are some errors in the rules, but fortunately those are fairly rare. Parlett's style isn't probably the easiest, so I'd recommend this book to people who already know how to play card games and want to learn new, interesting games. This isn't the best first book for card game newbies.

(Original review at my review blog) (

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msaari | Nov 26, 2007 |

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Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0198608705, Paperback)

This fascinating dictionary tells you how to play almost any card game popular in the Western world. Besides classics like Bridge and Poker, it also includes famous historical games, popular folk games, and even Tarot games. With hundreds of games to explore and enjoy, David Parlett's book will be invaluable to anyone planning a card evening with friends.
Now in a fully revised and updated second edition, its broad coverage includes all the popular and classic games: Bridge, Canasta, Hearts, Poker, Rummy, and Whist. Popular family and party games such as Newmarket, Oh Hell!, and Old Maid also appear, alongside a host of unusual and intriguingly-titled games, for example, Cucumber, Go Boom, I Doubt It, Phat, Spinado, Spite and Malice, and many more.
A new layout, with historical information in boxes, and fun graphics to show number of players/packs at a glance make the games even easier to learn and play, while web links added in the text and a Useful Web site section in appendix offer further added value. Written by the UK's leading card game expert, this is truly indispensable for anyone with a yen for cards.

(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400)

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