Playing cards come in four suits, and a standard deck holds 52 cards plus jokers.

The longer version

A deck is built from four suits of thirteen ranks each, which is why 52 turns up so often in card mathematics and shuffling lore. Thirteen ranks running from ace to king give each suit a complete ladder, and four suits keep probability calculations tidy. Jokers sit outside the structure and are usually removed before play begins.

Randomising 52 distinct items is harder than it looks: a few perfect shuffles suffice, but many more with imperfect ones, which is why gambling houses use machines. The number of possible orderings exceeds the number of atoms in the Earth by an enormous margin, so an honest shuffle almost certainly produces an arrangement never seen before.

Where this entry sits

Facts here look at the rules, equipment and odd histories behind familiar sports and games, from balls and rackets to cards, boards and playing fields. Expect small details about scoring quirks, stadium design and the long story of the Olympic Games. The full list sits on the Sports and Games page, where every entry is listed in order.