Monday, 17 September 2012

Playing Cards And What They Are Meant For


If you try tracing the history of playing cards since its humble beginnings during the Tang Dynasty, you will no doubt notice the amount of impact and stir it has caused all over the world, no matter what country or culture it is. Sure, many cultures took steps to come up with their own distinctive takes on what their deck of playing cards should be. Take Japan, for example, and its distinct Hanafuda deck, which consists of 48 cards. But everywhere you go in the world, you will no doubt find a deck of cards with 52 cards, and that is considered to be the most widely-known and used deck.

When we speak of playing cards, the first purpose for them that would probably pop into mind would be card games such as poker, solitaire and gin rummy. There are a large number of card games that can be played, depending on how many players are required to play them. One-player or solo-player card games are referred to as patience card games or solitaire. Card games such as piquet, cribbage and bezique require two players. They are called multi-player games if they require more than two players. Four-player card games, just like a contact bridge, is definitely a multi-player card game.

If we speak of games, entertainment and also gambling, playing cards will definitely figure into the equation. However, there are other interesting games where playing cards, particularly custom playing cards are used. Examples are tarot, ombre, Phase 10, and Uno. Whatever game you are playing using cards, you can choose to make use of custom printed playing cards instead of the usual cards that are commercially manufactured. Your custom playing cards could also be something that is customized entirely for you.

Having fun is the whole point of playing with a deck of playing cards. Solo players find that they have even more fun playing a deck of cards that is personalized especially for them. There will be no limits as to the design you can implement in the customization of your deck of custom playing cards. You should make sure your deck of cards should have a total of 52 pieces in all. The size of each card should fit one's palm, and they should have uniform sizes all throughout.

Both faces of each card can be treated with your preferred design, as long as you pick only one uniform design on the back. You can even make use of personal photos in the design. Maybe you have a picture of your favorite painting or even of a place that you love going to. Maybe you even want to have your children's photos on the cards, or that of your entire family.

Custom playing cards are also popular in instances where the deck of cards is purposefully for palmistry and other specialized uses. The designs of the cards are aspects that are within one's control, which explains why they have undergone a lot of changes throughout the centuries. The advances in technology have readily put us in the position of being able to make our own changes as well. We can approach professional card makers to manufacture our custom playing cards for us or, given the right tools, materials and machines, we can come up with our own deck of cards ourselves. There are a lot of options for you.

Tuesday, 11 September 2012

How To Have Your Own Deck Of Custom Playing Cards

Thanks to technological advances, customization is something that is highly probable and doable nowadays. Everything, from gadgets to tools and even cars and vehicles, can now be customized. And by "everything", even those seemingly trivial and insignificant items - like your most treasured playing cards - an also be customized. If you think about it, something slightly similar to customization has been going on with the playing cards, if the design changes that have been made to it since the ninth century - when it first appeared - are any indication. There is no reason why this should change, especially now that we have many tools at our disposal.

A deck of cards would normally have 52 cards in all. Of course, the number is not fixed, because there are some games that require a number of cards other than 52. You would most likely derive more pleasure and enjoyment if you use custom playing cards instead of the usual cards that is mass-produced commercially.

But how can one get a deck of custom playing cards? You could probably start your search in the internet. Just type �¢??custom playing cards�¢?? on the search bar and you will be directed to many websites that sell them. You can browse through their inventory and simply pick which deck and design you want. Other sites also provide templates of the designs and allow their customers to choose which template to be used. They will then proceed on printing the cards and creating your own deck of custom playing cards with the design template of your choice.

Made-to-order cards can also be obtained from some websites who offer this type of specialized service. They will print the cards using a personal design that you will give them. People sometimes give their own drawings or designs, even their own photographs, to be printed on the cards.

Even the choice of material used in the manufacture of the cards can be personally chosen by you. You could either choose cardboard, a special paper, or maybe even plastic. Of course it is going to be expected that you would probably have to pay more for certain materials to be used.

Did you know that you can also create your own cards yourself? This is especially easy if you have your own printer. You come up with your own design and print it on the material you've chosen. Aside from having more freedom, you would be saved from spending money on shipping and handling because you will be doing it yourself.

Whipping out your own deck of custom playing cards during poker night with your family and friends would definitely make it an even more memorable experience. If you don't know which option to follow in coming up with your own custom playing cards, just remember all the points mentioned above and choose which is most convenient for you.