One of the dynamics in the nuclear unit when I was growing up was playing cards as family currency. I learned canasta from my paternal grandmother, Agatha Walker Green before she died in 1964. Then, I taught it to my great-aunt, Deana Yates, before she died in 1966. She and I also played 500 rummy.
Shortly before Deana passed, my father taught me pinochle. A pinochle deck “consists of A (high), 10, K, Q, J, and 9 (low) in each of the four suits, with two of each card.” But one cannot play the game with two people. You need at least three. This meant that my mother would play with my father and me.
This was cool because I enjoyed time with my parents without my sisters, who were not serious card players, while the three of us were. In describing this situation to a friend, they said they just liked to play for fun. I contended that playing seriously WAS the fun.
Interestingly, we played with a double pinochle deck with the 9s removed. We held 26 cards each, with two cards in the kitty. When I was 10, I could barely hold all of the cards, but I improved over time.
Whist
My grandfather, McKinley Green, and I played gin rummy. To this day, I remember that he said, “This hand is a foot,” when the cards didn’t come his way.
My parents also played bid whist with family friends Jim and Betty at their house. I’d often go with my parents. My mom occasionally tired, and I’d be my dad’s partner. Also, sometimes Jim would get angry when the game didn’t go his way, and his tantrums would upset my mother. This was understandable, though I found Jim’s antics more humorous than scary as his face reddened.
I don’t recall how often we played pinochle or whist. One of my sisters recalled my mother complaining to my dad about going out to play bid whist, “I like the game, but do we have to play every week?” While this was a bit of hyperbole, we did play a great deal until I graduated from high school. As I said, it was something I did with my parents that I did not have to share with my sisters.
My parents got married 74 years ago today. They were hitched until my dad died in August 2000.
I read today’s blog post with no little interest – having been introduced to poker at age 7 and hosted low-stakes poker game where drinking and “aggression” (so my wife called our high-spirits) where more the point than winning.
A childhood friend and I spent many hours playing no-stakes cribbage.
I attended an “selective” engineering college where the men were smart and could pick up brand new games quickly. One such was Euchre – a four-handed, two-team game played with 24 cards (A through 9) – always at parties – though
‘locals’ (Indiana boys) alluded to tournaments and various forms of “table talk”
(for which contract and duplicate bridge were once famous before implementing anti-meaures)
I surmised that it was popular because one could drink beer and still play quite well.
See link for a discussion:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Euchre
The variant we played (1977-1982) was the same as “Earliest rules (1844)” with exceptions:
A Game is first-to-ten-points.
“Order up” was called “pick it up” (the dealer exchanges the up card for one in his hand).
“Cards away” was called “go alone”.
This is an easy game (MUCH simpler than bridge) and LOTS of fun.
In college we played a lot of Hearts, Euchre, and 500. I was bad at all three, sadly. I don’t dare try poker! As a James Bond fan I’d love to try Baccarat, but I’m sure I’d lose in pretty short order.
500 Rummy is a fun game I played with my SIS. I once watched a game on my freshman dorm floor – commented how my fellow freshman was “lucky” as he handily beat our Resident Assistant.
Later I played that lucky guy who proceded to school me saying (as he melded a firestorm) “luck, luck, luck, nothing but LUCK!”
I emailed him this story 40 years later – he replied that his grandma SCHOOLED HIM.