This was the title of the talk by member Mike L at the July general meeting. He’d spoken to us four years ago on the subject but he hasn’t stopped researching into more fascinating facts about playing cards. And there was certainly a lot to say.

There were plenty of numbers: 4 suits - 4 seasons of the year; 52 cards - 52 weeks in a year, for openers. Casinos in Las Vegas get through an amazing 180,000 packs of them in a day. And would you believe there are 172 different versions of the game of Patience!

We saw that around the world, pack sizes can vary, as can the suits and the demarcations, and Mike showed us colourful examples.

And there was some interesting history about cards, especially about the fortune telling and superstition aspects. During the Vietnam war for example, American soldiers attached an Ace of Spades to their helmets because it was rumoured that the Vietcong thought it meant bad luck for them. That might have boosted US morale a bit, but it turned out to be untrue.

But perhaps the saddest story of all was about Donald Campbell and his fatal attempt at the water speed record in 1967. He’d played cards the evening before and had been dealt that notorious Ace of Spades. He saw it as a bad omen and was quoted as saying: ’One of my family is going to die... I hope it isn't me.’