Andy's Playing Cards - Cards With Special Shapes And Sizes

Midway between a regular and a miniature edition, patience decks are an item frequently found in the catalogue of most main playing card manufacturers. This is only one of several differences that keep patience cards well distinct from miniature ones, despite their similarity in being both generically "small".
Most of them measure about 6.5 cm or 2½ inches in height, which is more or less 2/3 of a regular size. This variety was born with the purpose of playing patience, or solitaire games, a popular form of self-entertainment that consists in picking one or more cards at a time from the pack, and laying them in a specific order, trying to use as many cards as possible before being blocked; the game is successful when the whole deck is used (depending on the many different rules, "used" means turned face up, or correctly ordered, etc.). Since some solitaires require several cards to be layed out on the table, their small size turns handy, especially when the available space is limited.

international pattern by Dal Negro (Italy)

For the same reason patience cards are also considered "travel editions": thanks to their size they are easier to carry than a regular deck, and can be used to kill time on a plane, or in a train, etc.

Lombarde pattern by Dal Negro

left: Bresciane; right: Napoletane

Being made for actual use, in most cases the quality of patience cards is close enough to that of regular decks, and this is another difference with mini-decks; unlike the latter, their pasteboard is sufficiently resistent for shuffling and handling, their corners are rounded, their print is accurate, etc. Most editions also have a plastic coating, although this is not a constant feature.

two samples of Tell pattern a.k.a. Four Seasons;
left: by OTK (Czech Republic)
right: by Yátékkártya Nyomda (Hungary)

Slavonic (left) and Rococò patterns, both by KZP (Russia) The available patterns basically cover the same range as miniature decks, i.e. international pattern and several regional ones (where they are used), including some rather particular variants, such as the Japanese one that blends Hanafuda subjects with the composition of a 52-card international deck (see below). But also editions with a Dondorf-like design - variously named "luxury" pattern, or Rococo pattern, etc. according to the different manufacturers - are sometimes found in patience size, and in a few cases even real non-standard designs, such as the one shown on the left, the so-called Slavonic pattern from Russia.

Dondorf-like patience deck by Falcon, UK
Japanese edition in which the international pattern
blends with hanafuda subjects (manufacturer unknown)

samples of double-deck wallets One more difference with miniature editions is that patience decks are sold either individually, or as two-deck sets (or Bridge sets); the latter are often housed in a wallet, for being more easily carried; this remarks the opportunity of using them away from home.

JUMBO DECKS

a jumbo international pattern, by an unknown Taiwanese manufacturer
Jumbo decks are considerably larger than regular ones, usually ranging from 15 to 20 cm (16 to 18 in.) in length, but in some cases they can be even larger than this.

a jumbo Italian regional pattern (Piacentine), by 3 Stelle
Courier & Ives Jumbo Playing Cards,
featuring 19th century lythographies
(printed in Hong Kong
for Merrimack Publishing Corp., USA)

They are the least common and the least popular of the three special-sized varieties, mainly produced as fancy novelties, or as collectors items. Sometimes conjurers too use them for their tricks, but they are obviously never used for playing. They usually feature a regular international pattern; editions with non-standard patterns exist, but they are quite uncommon. The same can be said about regional patterns, as very few major manufacturers have jumbo editions among their products; the extant ones are generally made by small, obscure firms.

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miniature decks page 3
shapes and colours

OTHER GALLERIES

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INTRODUCTION
AND HISTORY

MULTI-LANGUAGE
GLOSSARY
THE FOOL &
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PLAYING CARD
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	Being made for actual use, in most cases the quality of patience cards is close enough to that of regular decks, and this is another difference with mini-decks; unlike the latter, their pasteboard is sufficiently resistent for shuffling and handling, their corners are rounded, their print is accurate, etc. Most editions also have a plastic coating, although this is not a constant feature. two samples of Tell pattern a.k.a. Four Seasons; left: by OTK (Czech Republic) right: by Yátékkártya Nyomda (Hungary)

Slavonic (left) and Rococò patterns, both by KZP (Russia)	The available patterns basically cover the same range as miniature decks, i.e. international pattern and several regional ones (where they are used), including some rather particular variants, such as the Japanese one that blends Hanafuda subjects with the composition of a 52-card international deck (see below). But also editions with a Dondorf-like design - variously named "luxury" pattern, or Rococo pattern, etc. according to the different manufacturers - are sometimes found in patience size, and in a few cases even real non-standard designs, such as the one shown on the left, the so-called Slavonic pattern from Russia.

a jumbo international pattern, by an unknown Taiwanese manufacturer Jumbo decks are considerably larger than regular ones, usually ranging from 15 to 20 cm (16 to 18 in.) in length, but in some cases they can be even larger than this. a jumbo Italian regional pattern (Piacentine), by 3 Stelle	Courier & Ives Jumbo Playing Cards, featuring 19th century lythographies (printed in Hong Kong for Merrimack Publishing Corp., USA)

	REFERENCE 1 cm. = ³/₈ inches 1 inch = 2,5 cm.

Midway between a regular and a miniature edition, patience decks are an item frequently found in the catalogue of most main playing card manufacturers. This is only one of several differences that keep patience cards well distinct from miniature ones, despite their similarity in being both generically "small". Most of them measure about 6.5 cm or 2½ inches in height, which is more or less 2/3 of a regular size. This variety was born with the purpose of playing patience, or solitaire games, a popular form of self-entertainment that consists in picking one or more cards at a time from the pack, and laying them in a specific order, trying to use as many cards as possible before being blocked; the game is successful when the whole deck is used (depending on the many different rules, "used" means turned face up, or correctly ordered, etc.). Since some solitaires require several cards to be layed out on the table, their small size turns handy, especially when the available space is limited.	international pattern by Dal Negro (Italy)