The Evolution of Popular Online Card Games

When most people think of card games, they think of traditional such as poker, baccarat or blackjack. For the last couple of centuries, these games have been featured at gaming halls and casinos around the world.

More recently, online card games may refer to digital collectible card games such as Hearthstone that emulate the strategy games that first appeared in the 1990s. These games are very different from traditional card games but have also grown to be popular all over the globe.

But where did this obsession with cards begin? And what are the most popular online card games today?

From dominoes to cards

Before there were card games, there were dominoes. These wooden or stone blocks decorated with markings were widely used in Central Asia more than a thousand years ago. When the Chinese started paper production, pieces of paper featuring domino markings were produced.

These proved to be popular as they were easier to carry and cheaper to make. As a result, their use spread to other countries including Korea. There, the more familiar deck of cards began to take shape with eight different suits and a military figures as the high-value card.

It was another couple of hundred years before playing cards made their way to Samarkand in Persia following the capture of Chinese papermakers during battle. The secrets of papermaking were divulged and playing cards featuring new suits were produced.

The move to Europe

When European merchants frequented Israel around 300 years later, they returned with playing cards and the games became extremely popular. It was the time of the Renaissance where those with newfound wealth were seeking new leisure activities. Cards appealed on a cultural and social level and it wasn’t long before they became the focus of gatherings.

Games such as vingt-et-un (an early version of blackjack) and pokue (which would later evolve into poker) were born on the gaming tables of France. The packs still didn’t have 52 cards and rules were much simpler, but the similarities were there.

American influence

Vingt-et-un, which became known as 21, was the most popular game and traders who played it on ships took the game with them to the Americas were it eventually transformed into blackjack.

The version of online blackjack that we know today is played using rules formed in the United States. When it was exported back to Europe, it overtook the original version in popularity and is now one of the most popular online card games in the world.

The Americans also developed the way that the dealer operates during the game and tweaked the rules to make it much harder to play. Today, it can take many hundreds of hours of playing to fully master the game. US games developers also introduced the joker in the pack in the 1880s.

Cards were often played for fun but increasingly, they became linked with gambling. And as more legal gambling venues were established throughout the 20th century, everything revolved around the card tables.

The modern era

By the 1990s, collectible card games emerged and within a couple of years, they were being developed directly for the online market. These games often feature a fantasy theme and players use cards to affect the course of the game, with each card interacting in different ways. The cards may also represent certain elements in the game such as creatures or spells. Different characters or elements have different abilities, allowing players to complete certain tasks or win battles during the game. Many online versions of the game have moved away from the card format in favour of other symbols, icons and avatars.

At the same time this new breed of game was taking hold, traditional card games were also moving online, exposing a whole new audience to these casino classics.

Today, there is an incredible choice of online card games but the old favourites such as blackjack and poker are still the most popular. Players can choose from many different versions of the games and can even have live dealers overseeing proceedings. They can also play against other players rather than just computer-generated opponents.

Players can also access their favourite games anytime and anywhere via their smartphones and tablets, with all of the leading casino websites now having mobile versions of their sites or dedicated apps.

While collectible card games are still evolving and look set to grow in popularity, traditional card games have remained much the same. Yet they still hold widespread appeal. And it wasn’t until the advent of the internet that the way they were played changed significantly – the first major development since the switch to paper over a thousand years ago.

Whatever type of card game you prefer, there has never been more choice and that is set to continue and we move into the world of virtual reality. Players will be able to visit virtual casinos or step into new worlds within digital collectible card games, all from the comfort of their own homes.