"I am sorry I have not learnt to play at cards. It is very useful in life."
- Samuel Johnson, as reported by Boswell in "Tour to the Hebrides"

Who's who on the cards mailing list

Russell
Andy at Home
Ian at Home
John at Home+Work
Mark at Work
Phil at Home+Home
Bill Watson at Home
Srini at Home
Liz Watson at Home
Gail at Home
Will at Work+Home

What's what for some of the games we play
Shanghai
Expletive
Pitch
Hearts
Spades
Rook

What does 'sandbag' mean?

Two couples were playing bridge. The Husbands talk to each other.

Husband One: "You're playing remarkably well tonight."
Husband Two: "Thanks, I'm finding it very easy to remember all the cards that have been played."
Husband One: "That's not like you."
Husband Two: "No, It must be due to a memory improving course I took."
Husband One: "Seems to work."
Husband Two: "Yeah, they teach you to associate difficult to remember things with easy to remember things."
Husband One: "Wow, I should take it too. What's it called?"
Husband Two: "Uh, What's the name of that flower that smells nice but has all those thorns?"
Husband One: "Do you mean the 'Rose'?"
Husband Two: "Yeah, that's it."
Husband Two: "Hey Rose, what's the name of that course I took?"

"Whist as played at Village Whist Drives, as Tim had discovered, bore little resemblance to any other card game. The rules were comparatively simple. Suits were led out in turn, starting with the highest card in that suit which you happened to possess. Trumps were played last. (So much so that if, in error, you led a trump early on in the game it was etiquette for your opponents to indicate your mistake by some such observation as "Hearts are trumps this time," whereupon the lead could be withdrawn without penalty.) Scoring was at the flat rate of one point per trick, but an additional prestige point could be gained by leading your first card so quickly that no one else had had time to sort out their hand."