From Bridge to Cribbage – Three Traditional Card Games to Learn this Autumn

Put those electronics down and get the family together to learn a whole plethora of card games this autumn…

Autumn is well on the way and this means more evenings and weekends spent in the house with family and friends, while the weather beyond the window turns grey, wet and windy. Nowadays it’s too easy for people to spend this time on phones, electronic tablets and watching TV. If you are looking for something a little more traditional to do and can’t face a game like Monopoly which will last for hours, why not turn to a few of the more traditional card games? Whether you’re looking to play with a relative, your partner or a group of friends, cards are a great way to get everyone talking and playing together and eyes torn away from a screen! Because of this, you could make this autumn your year to learn traditional games such as bridge, cribbage and baccarat. And to help you out, we’ve put together the instructions below. What are you waiting for?

Cribbage

Cribbage was created in the early 17th century by British poet Sir John Suckling, and since its conception, the game has barely changed. Despite the classic card game staying in the same form as it was all those years ago and not being modernised for today’s player, it still remains extremely popular in the English-speaking world. “Britain’s National Card Game” is traditionally for two players, but can be enjoyed by four or more. It’s easy to spot when a game of cribbage is occurring because it is always accompanied by the distinctive cribbage board, which is used for keeping score. Players have to group cards in combinations which score points, and the aim of the game is to reach a target number of points, usually 61 or 121.

Cribbage is the only card game which is legally playable in pubs and clubs in the UK without the need for permission from a local authority. For this reason, it’s usually fairly easy to find a game going on somewhere. There are groups of people ready to play on sites like Meetup, and there are frequent cribbage tournaments going on in London. For instance, Alexandra Palace is known to host competitions in the game.

BACCARAT

If you prefer card games which offer the chance to win some money, baccarat is a casino classic which can provide quite a rush. The game is known to be James Bond’s casino offering of choice, and the MI6 spy has played it in various films including 1965’s Thunderball with Sean Connery and the 1995 classic GoldenEye which starred Pierce Brosnan. Baccarat is a comparing game where the player and the banker are both dealt hands. The player then has to bet on three possible outcomes; the dealer has the highest hand, the player has the highest, or a tie.

Nearly every casino in London offers baccarat to its players, and some of the most extravagant places to play include the Hippodrome Casino and the Ritz Club. Before going into one of these establishments, you can easily practise your skills online or check out a James Bond movie to give you an idea of what to do! (On Her Majesty’s Secret Service is a great one to see 007 playing the famous card game -The film is also the one and only outing of George Lazenby in the eponymous role.)

BRIDGE

Bridge is one of the planet’s most popular card games, and it is played by millions of people worldwide. It’s a serious business, as well, and has its own governing body for international competitive competitions called the World Bridge Federation. The game, which is traditionally played more by seniors than youngsters, has evolved over the centuries, and originally it branched off from whist.

In the game, which is officially called contract bridge, there are always four players with two teams of partners. After the cards are dealt to the players, they bid to take the contract by specifying how many tricks the declaring side needs to take to receive points for the deal. After the auction, the declaring side needs to try to fulfil the contract while the defending team aims to stop them from achieving their goal.

If you want to practice bridge with skilled players, there are numerous bridge clubs in the city hosting games. One of the best places to go is the Acol Bridge Club which is known as the friendliest bridge club in London. The club is a white and blue house on West End Lane in West Hampstead, and it offers courses for new players as well as competitions for experts. Bridge can be played online at Bridge Base online as well.

There are so many great card games to choose from that you could easily make it your mission this autumn to master a new one. If none of these takes your fancy, why not try out canasta or whist? Grab your nearest and dearest, order in a takeaway, make some delicious cocktails and spend an afternoon or evening together over a great game or two!