Playing Cards with your Children

It's great to play a game of cards with the kids. You can teach them new skills, like order and math. Traditional card games sometimes require new rules if your children are going to remain engaged.

My family likes to play cards. My grandparents played cards. My mother played Cribbage with them. When my siblings and I were children, we played poker with our grandparents. Draw or Stud. Texas Hold 'Em wasn't a thing back then, and I must say the Hold 'Em Fever passed over me  when its popularity exploded.

My Family Plays Cards

Card games are something my family has done for generations. A cousin, may he rest in peace, even worked in Las Vegas taking care of guests who were playing cards. As an aside, this was a tough job because V.I.P.'s had his cell phone number and could reach him day and night.

I grew up playing cards. Card games started with Concentration and Go Fish. As I got older, friends and I would play card games we invented. One revolved around baseball, a standard game in my neighborhood. When my grandparents visited we would play the aforementioned Poker games.

Chips, cards, and a drink for Dad.

Cards with The Boy

Showing our hands. The Boy
is about to do his dance.

Now that I have children, one of them, The Boy, has shown an interest in playing cards. The Oppressed would sometimes join us. Usually it's been "Go Fish" or "Beggar Your Neighbor". These are essentially the same game under different names. "War" is another favorite among the children. I bought a rule book for card games a long time ago. It's come in handy as we learn out new games or need to settle a dispute regarding games we've been playing. Edmond Hoyle would be proud.

I don't know where this came from, but he has been wanting to play Poker at night before bedtime. I'm not going to say, "No," to this, as I've been trying to get my kids to play games with me. We have a unique set-up to our games since it's just the two of us playing. Each of us have three chips. We both ante one chip at the start of a game. The winner of the game gets both chips. There is no raising. It's just the two of us and there aren't a lot of chips between us. The game ends when one of us runs out of chips, and then it's time for a story and bed time.

A little ambience is added to our games when I find saloon music to play while we have our games. I like to find this on YouTube, and a bonus if the selection offers a smattering of background voices added to the piano.

Discard Rules and Playing Jokers

Another interesting set up to our games is the Joker cards. The Boy must have these cards set up near us, leaning against an object and facing us. The Jokers give him luck, and it is important that they be set up as close to the action as possible. I have explained the concept of wild cards to him and tell him that the Jokers can serve a better purpose than lucky omens. The Jokers can serve as wild cards and enhance the hand he has. A pair can be a three of a kind or even two pair. He could have a straight if he would allow the Jokers to be shuffled in. Not happening. The cards give him luck, and it is better that they be out serving his superstition rather than in and helping the cards in his hand.

Rules can be a difficult thing for children in our house, and The Boy is no exception. He has a little trouble understanding and following the rules of Poker. The biggest issue is the rule of discarding no more than three cards. He is very unhappy with this rule and feels he should be able to discard as many cards as he sees fit, especially when he has a bad hand. I explain to him that these are the rules of the game and they must be followed, although there are some times I will let him discard a fourth card. Sometimes he gets so upset, especially when it gets late and he's getting tired, it's just best to make that concession.

Showing the Cards

Our weapon of choice.

There is one rule we (he) have that no one can bend. I have to show my cards first. After I show my cards, he puts his cards down one at a time. After one or two cards that give no value to his hand, he lays down a pair of high cards, or three of a kind, or two pair. This is followed by an, "OH!!!!" and a little dance to celebrate his win. When that is done, we gather up the cards, shuffle, and deal out another hand. Chips are won, and when one person wins all the chips, we start over, unless I see he's getting tired. That means it's time to put the cards and chips away until the next night.

My book, "Down on the Farm" is available for purchase on Apple Books.