One Card Can Change Everything Quiz

Answer: 13

The Queen of Spades is the single most costly card in a standard game of Hearts, carrying 13 penalty points by herself. Each of the thirteen hearts is worth one penalty point, so the Queen of Spades is worth as much as all the hearts combined. Hearts has no trump suit, and players generally try to avoid taking tricks containing point cards.

A player who manages to take all thirteen hearts and the Queen of Spades has "shot the moon"; under the usual scoring method, that player scores zero for the hand while each opponent receives 26 points.

The Queen of Spades cannot normally be discarded on the opening trick.

Answer: Jack of Hearts

In Euchre, the Jack of the trump suit is called the right bower and is the highest-ranking trump card. The Jack of the other suit of the same color becomes the left bower and ranks immediately below it. So if hearts are trump, the Jack of Hearts is highest and the Jack of Diamonds becomes the second-highest trump-even though it is printed as a diamond.

This unusual promotion of the two Jacks is one of Euchre's defining features.

Answer: Place it face up and draw a replacement card

Red threes have a special role in classic Canasta. When one is drawn, it is placed face up in front of the player's partnership, and another card is drawn from the stock to replace it. Red threes are bonus cards rather than normal meld cards. In classic scoring, each exposed red three is worth 100 points if the partnership has made at least one meld; collecting all four earns an additional bonus, bringing their total value to 800 points. If a player is dealt red threes initially, those are also exposed and replaced before normal play continues.

Answer: It allows the player to choose the suit that continues play

Eights are the wild cards in Crazy Eights. A player may usually play an eight regardless of the suit or rank of the previous card, then name the suit that the next player must follow. That flexibility is what gives the game its name. Rules can vary between versions, especially regarding drawing cards and special actions, but the eight's role as a suit-changing wild card is the central feature of the traditional game.

Answer: Being left with the unmatched queen

Old Maid is played with 51 cards, one queen removed from a standard 52-card deck. Players discard pairs of equal rank and then take turns drawing cards from one another's hands. Eventually every card can be paired except for the one remaining queen. The player holding that card at the end becomes the "Old Maid" and loses. Specialized Old Maid decks often replace the odd queen with a dedicated Old Maid card, but the basic idea is the same: avoid being stuck with the single unmatchable card.

Answer: It can count as either 1 or 11

In blackjack, an ace is counted as either 1 or 11, whichever value is more favorable without causing the hand to exceed 21. A hand containing an ace valued as 11 is often called a soft hand because the ace can be reduced to 1 if necessary. For example, an ace and a six make a "soft 17." An ace together with a ten-value card on the initial two-card deal makes a natural blackjack, normally the strongest standard hand.

Answer: The dealer immediately scores two points

When the starter card is a Jack, the dealer scores two points immediately. This is traditionally called "His Heels." It is different from "His Nobs," which is worth one point when a player's hand contains a Jack of the same suit as the starter card. The two expressions are easy to confuse because both involve Jacks, but they refer to different scoring situations.

Answer: Ten of Diamonds

The Ten of Diamonds is a particularly valuable capture in Casino. It is called Big Casino or the Good Ten and is worth two points at the end of the hand. Its smaller counterpart is the Two of Spades, called Little Casino or the Good Two, which is worth one point. Standard scoring also awards points for each ace, for taking the most spades, and for taking the most cards.

Answer: King

In Klondike, tableau cards are normally built downward in alternating colors. If a tableau column becomes empty, only a King-or a properly ordered sequence beginning with a King-may be moved into that space. This makes Kings especially important for opening up and reorganizing the tableau. Meanwhile, the four foundation piles are built upward by suit beginning with the Aces.

Answer: Slap the pile as quickly as possible

In Slapjack, players take it in turns to place cards face up on a central pile. Whenever a Jack appears everyone tries to slap the pile, and whoever does so first wins the pile and adds it to the bottom of his stack of cards. A player who runs out of cards can sometimes survive for a short period by correctly slapping the next Jack, depending on the rules being played.

The game rewards quick reactions as much as card knowledge.