Card games have been around since the early ages. Much of what we see being played today that is, the cards themselves we owe to the French, while the first card games can be traced back to Central Asia. The Chinese are credited with shuffling paper dominoes in the 10th Century a practice with remnants still carried over in Asian card games today, such as Mahjong. The Moslems were introduced to card games, who in turn, introduced the foursuited deck, later spreading throughout Europe and into the hands of the French in the 14th Century. The French certainly loved their playing cards, and most all card designs used today are derived from the original French prototypes, including the suits of Clubs, earts and Spades and Diamonds. England began mass distributing card to their Colonies in America, and Americans themselves began printing their own cards around the turn of the eighteenth Century. The Joker was later introduced in the late 1800s by the Americans.

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