Yup, I'm a fucking Luddite in many things as I grow older.
Ok, so playing cards. Before the internet, before personal computers and gaming systems - back when arcades were pinball only (which I never cared for)....
You played games like chess, checkers, backgammon, dominoes, and played cards.
Chess and cards were my thing.
First card game I ever learned was Patience, or Klondike Solitaire as it's known today (the solitare that shipped for years with Windows). My grandfather taught me that game. He learned it around WWI and was a life long player of it. I then learned Gin Rummy, followed by Poker. I never much cared for Poker - there's really not much to it, other than the human element of reading people and bluffing. Doesn't interest me. I like strategy, tactics and working a plan to win based on math or solid thinking (not people stuff).
Anyways, when computer games got huge (arcades, first home systems), I got all into that being young, but I always played cards on the side even as a kid. I'd read all these old books on it - John Scarne in particular who was a great 30s-40s-50s era author on cards (and dice). I also liked reading about casino cheats in the old days of Vegas or Havana (Pre Castro). Loved all that shit. Loved decks of cards, all the big name brands - I collected that shit.
As a latter teenager and early adult, getting together with friends on Friday or Saturday night, getting shitfaced and playing cards half the night was a go-to. Poker sometimes for penny stakes (we were perpetually broke), but more often easy shit like crazy 8s or President (aka Asshole). Killing a sixpack then having a few scotches/bourbons on ice - over many hours - good times. Bad VHS rentals on the TV, or listening to vinyl. Great times... good memories. I never cared for dope. My dope friends did. Whatever, they enjoyed getting high and playing cards.
So then the internet came. I moved to the USA. That shit all stopped. Forgot about it really, which is sad. But when the War on Afghanistan started up, and I was here in the USA, one day I was looking at playing cards on Amazon - and I saw a deal that was too good to be true. Carton of BEE playing cards (casino quality) for like $3.50. I think it was something like 12 decks in a carton. Well, I dropped something ludicrous like $100 (I was drinking at the moment - Amazon, booze and me don't mix). Amazon contacted me a few days later saying the deal was in error. Normally I would have let it go, but since it WAS Amazon, I got pissed off - and cited the law that they were breaking - you advertise a deal, you are stuck with it!. Well something happened - someone over there got mad at me, and they sent me a ludicrous pallet of Bee Playing cards, like a FUCK YOU. I don't even know how many there were - but it was a pallet - 100s and 100s of decks of cards. It was outrageous. This was back when Amazon was pretty new - not the monster they are now. Maybe Bezos himself cursed me out (I hope so). Anyways, they 10x'ed my already stupid order as a clear fuck you of some sort - or a STFU.
Well, my living room had a fucking shipping pallet of playing cards - and as providence would have it, a friend of mine had a brother in the USMC, stuck in Afghanistan - and they were going around doing a charity collection for his unit - they had a list of things they were in need of - simple shit really, like baby wipes, toothbrushes - simple comfort items. And here I was sitting on a fucking pallet of Bee playing cards - so you can guess what happened - I donated it all to this one USMC unit. So anyways, years later my friend's brother came home, I asked him about the Bee cards - he was like "THAT WAS YOU!?!!" - and I was like yep. All he said was "DUDE - you have NO IDEA how fucking AWESOME that was". In short not only did they have all these cards to play whatever games they played, they bartered with them with other units. It was the most favorite item sent in that charity run.
Anyways, what brought this on ? I was looking for some shit in the attic, and found one of my boxes from 15yrs ago - and inside I found a goddamn cache of playing cards - probably 20 bicycle decks, a bunch of Bees (apparently I kept about 10 packs for myself, and some vintage KEM playing cards. Also found my old domino set that used to be my grandfather's.
So, I've gotten back into it - my game of choice now is Cribbage - I think it's one of the finest card games ever devised. Didn't care for it back in the day, not it's my favorite. Anyways, I'm all about dominoes and cards now - on my way to turning into an old fuck i guess. Aside from a big poker craze in the early 2010s, it seems almost nobody plays cards anymore, and it's been that way a long fucking time.
Sad.
