General Rules of Card Games

Before play begins in a card game it must be decided who will be partners (if the game calls for them), where the players will sit, who will deal first, and who will keep score. This may be decided randomly be each player drawing a card. The two highest (or whatever the appropriate number for the game would be) play as partners against the two lowest. The person drawing the high card chooses their seat and deals the first hand. Second highest draw has second choice of seats. Low draw keeps score. In reality this is more often decided by consensus. Certain players usually wish to be partners, they just grab a convenient seat, the person with the cards deals the first hand, and whoever is willing and able keeps score.

Unless otherwise stated in the rules, the deal begins with the player to the dealer's left and cards are dealt one at a time. The deal consists of the dealer giving each player in turn (going clockwise) a card face down. This continues until the required number of cards for a hand are dealt. In reality, many social games allow the dealer to deal more than one card to a player at a time. Players should not look at the cards in their hands until all cards are dealt, but again, this rule is quite often ignored in social games. Players should decide before play starts what will be done if a card is exposed during the deal. A suggested rule is that if players are playing on teams, then the exposed card must be put back in the middle of the deck and a replacement card given. If the game is individual instead of team play, then the player who would have received the exposed card may choose to keep it or have it put back in the deck. If there are too few cards left in the deck to make returning a card to it feasible, then a misdeal may be called, and there is a new deal by the same dealer. If a player receives the wrong number of cards during the deal and it can be corrected without exposing any cards then it should be corrected. If a player is short cards, they may be dealt enough additional cards to make up their hands from the remainder of the deck. If all the cards have been dealt, then the player who is short cards should draw cards from the players who have too many provided cards have not yet been looked at. In more formal games, an exposed card during the deal or a player receiving the wrong number of cards might only be corrected by re-dealing. In Hay's Rule Book the term "standard deal" means cards are dealt one at a time and the deal passes to the left after each hand.

In most games, after players have been dealt their cards, they may look at them. If so, players should hold their cards in their hands so that they may see all of them, but so that no other players may see them. Players usually arrange the cards in their hands in such a way to be convenient for the game being played. In trick-taking games this is usually in suits, in rummy games it is usually in potential combinations. Players should decide before play starts what will be done if a player exposes a card from their hand. No penalty is usually assessed if players are playing as individuals. If the game is being played in teams, then the appropriate penalty depends on the game being played.

Since most card games are played socially, it is expected that conversation will take place during them. Players should refrain from talking about the content of their hands, commenting on other participants playing, or making gestures or faces that would send signals regarding their hand or other information that only they should know. In reality, general non-specific complaints or expressions of delight are usually tolerated. This is a matter of practicality, since social games do not have a single authority to rule over the games. If a person were to try to penalize an opponent for conveying illegal information through words or actions, they would probably bring an end to the game, and might lose a playing companion for good. Formal games, such as tournaments or games played for money, can be expected to be much stricter on the talking policy.