All In. Everything You Need to Know About Card Games

This is not just a book about card games, but a key to a whole layer of world culture. Seven games — from preference to poker — are presented here as trainers for the mind, a mirror of the era, and a language of communication among nobles, poets, and the intelligentsia. Pushkin, Gogol, Lotman, and anecdotes from memoirs coexist with clear rules and tactics. You will learn about nobility at the green felt and its dark side — cheaters and marked cards, to understand: fair play is a concept that goes far beyond the table. After reading this book, you will never look at a deck as just a simple set of cardboard.