Card ranks and suits

Start with the number or letter.

A normal deck has 52 cards. Each card has a rank and a suit.

Ranks go from 2 up to 10, then J (jack), Q (queen), K (king) and A (ace). An ace is usually highest.

These are ranks, not points you add together.

The symbol is the suit.

Spades, hearts, clubs and diamonds are the four suits. Each suit has the same 13 ranks.

Hearts and diamonds are red; spades and clubs are black. Red does not beat black, and no suit is stronger than another.

Matching ranks make a pair.

Two queens make a pair, even if their suits are different. Cards of the same suit can help make a flush, which needs five cards of that suit. An ace can also be low in the straight A-2-3-4-5, but not in a sequence that wraps around like K-A-2-3-4.