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The standard deck of playing cards has 52 cards in total. Usually, a new pack of cards includes two Jokers if you wish to use them for a specific game. However, there are multiple interesting facts about a deck of cards as you know it, and we’ll take you through some in-depth information about playing cards.
Fast Facts About Number of Cards
| Number of cards standard deck: | 52 |
| Number of cards modified deck: | 32 |
| Number of suits in a standard deck: | 4 |
| Number of cards in each suit of a standard deck: | 13 |
| Number of Aces in a deck: | 4 |
| Number of Jokers in a deck: | 2 |
FAQs
Q: Are there 52 or 54 Cards?
A: There are 52 cards in a standard pack.
Q: Are Jokers included in the 52 cards?
A: No. Jokers don’t form part of the suits and are separate cards included in the standard pack.
Q: What is a 54-card deck?
A: A 54-card deck considers the inclusion of the Jokers as part of the playing pack.
Q: Why is a standard 52-card deck called “french-suited”?
A: It contains the suits that were distinct such as clubs, spades, hearts, and diamonds. Since then, playing cards have spread worldwide using these suits, which explains the term.
What are the Types of Cards in a Deck?
A standard deck of cards is divided into three card types - Suits, Values, and Face cards.
Suits
There are 4 distinct suits available in a standard deck of cards. These are:
- Spades
- Clubs
- Hearts
- Diamonds
Values
Every suit in the pack has an equal number of cards. Usually, you’ll have cards that hold a number value to them. Since there are 13 cards in each suit, the values start from Ace, representing the number 1 up to 10. There aren’t any cards with values for 11, 12, and 13.
The value of the cards starting from the bottom looks like this:
- Ace
- Two
- Three
- Four
- Five
- Six
- Seven
- Eight
- Nine
- Ten
Face Cards
The face cards, or court cards as they were known previously, represent the cards from 11 to 13. Since they don’t carry these values, they’ve been replaced by Jack, Queen, and King.
Numerically, these are higher than the value cards, but in some games, the Ace may hold a higher value than any other card in the pack, even though it represents the number 1.
These cards are referred to as face cards because they feature pictures of people instead of plain numbers.
Why are there 52 Cards in a Deck?
Several theories explain why we have 52 cards in a deck of cards today. Some of them make sense, but they could just be a coincidence.
One theory suggests that the 52 cards represent the 52 weeks of the year. Just like how we experience four seasons in the year, the suits are a representation of those.
Since there are 13 cards in a suit, it perfectly matches the number of lunar cycles, while if you counted only the face cards, you’d come to a total of 12, one for each month of the calendar.
Some people say if you add up the values of every card, you’ll reach the answer of 365, a nod to the number of days we have available in a single year.
All 52 Cards Explained
When you open up a deck of cards from the 21st century, these are the suits and cards you’ll come across.
Hearts
- Ace of Hearts
- Two of Hearts
- Three of Hearts
- Four of Hearts
- Five of Hearts
- Six of Hearts
- Seven of Hearts
- Eight of Hearts
- Nine of Hearts
- Ten of Hearts
- Jack of Hearts
- Queen of Hearts
- King of Hearts
Diamonds
- Ace of Diamonds
- Two of Diamonds
- Three of Diamonds
- Four of Diamonds
- Five of Diamonds
- Six of Diamonds
- Seven of Diamonds
- Eight of Diamonds
- Nine of Diamonds
- Ten of Diamonds
- Jack of Diamonds
- Queen of Diamonds
- King of Diamonds
Spades
- Ace of Spades
- Two of Spades
- Three of Spades
- Four of Spades
- Five of Spades
- Six of Spades
- Seven of Spades
- Eight of Spades
- Nine of Spades
- Ten of Spades
- Jack of Spades
- Queen of Spades
- King of Spades
Clubs
- Ace of Clubs
- Two of Clubs
- Three of Clubs
- Four of Clubs
- Five of Clubs
- Six of Clubs
- Seven of Clubs
- Eight of Clubs
- Nine of Clubs
- Ten of Clubs
- Jack of Clubs
- Queen of Clubs
- King of Clubs
How many cards are in a deck….?
This table indicates exactly how many cards you can expect in a deck of cards depending on the type.
| Types | Number of cards |
| With Jokers | 54 |
| Without Jokers | 52 |
| Aces | 4 |
| Face Cards | 12 |
| Kings | 4 |
| Queens | 4 |
| Hearts | 13 |
| Diamonds | 13 |
| Clubs | 13 |
| Spades | 13 |
What games can you play with a Standard Deck?
The possibilities are endless, with new games coming up frequently, especially across cultural and national boundaries. These are some of the more popular games you can play using a single standard deck of cards:
- Rummy
- Crazy 8s
- Cribbage
- Poker
- Teen Patti
- Porridge
- Nine Cards
- Bridge
- Solitaire
- War
- Go Fish
- Blackjack
Is it possible to play with more cards?
Sometimes, one pack of cards isn’t enough. In this case, you require additional decks of cards to play some games. These are some of the examples of the games.
- Texas Hold’em (More than 7 players)
- Blackjack
- Canasta
- Rubber
Modified Deck - What is this?
Otherwise known as a Stripped Deck, a modified deck is simply a deck of cards that has been reduced by removing a card or several from the original 52-card deck.
Usually, it involves removing value cards instead of face cards. The primary reason for the reduction of the pack was to speed up certain games.
The modified deck as we know it today consists of 36 or 32 cards, depending on the game you’re playing.
What games can you play with a Modified Deck?
The game Piquet uses a 32-card deck where you only have numbers from 7 until 10 and including the face cards, with the Aces. In Europe, people still use these modified decks to play games such as Belote and Klaverjas, which originated in France and the Netherlands.
Germany uses this deck of cards for a game called Skat while playing Bezique requires using two Piquet decks.