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Blog
Stories about the Spanish deck, the rules explained plainly, details about our decks and project news.
Curiosities ·
Is it possible to memorise a whole pack of cards?
Champions can memorise the order of a pack of cards in under twenty seconds. Here’s how they do it and how you can try it with a Spanish pack.
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Spanish deck ·
The artistic evolution of Spanish playing cards
From hand-painted medieval court cards to the lithographed packs of the 19th century and today’s designs, we trace the artistic evolution of Spanish playing cards.
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Rules and concepts ·
What does cutting the deck mean, and why do we do it?
Cutting the deck means splitting the shuffled cards into two piles and swapping their positions before dealing. Here’s who traditionally makes the cut and why it’s such a well-established custom.
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Spanish history and leisure ·
Games in medieval Spain: ajedrez (chess), tablas (tables) and dados (dice)
Chess, tables, dice, alquerque (an early draughts game) and, later, playing cards were all played in the medieval kingdoms of the Iberian Peninsula. Discover what Alfonso X’s Libro de los juegos (Book of Games) tells us about them.
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Game psychology ·
What happens to us when we lose a game?
Losing hurts, even in a game of Brisca (a Spanish trick-taking card game). We explore what goes on in our heads when we lose, why some people find it so hard and how to get better at handling defeat.
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