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Trump (card))
In card games, trumps frequently figure in trick-taking games such as bridge, euchre, and spades.
Trumps are cards (usually, all the cards of one particular suit) which rank above non-trump cards, and which automatically prevail over them unless a higher trump is played. In most such games, trump cards cannot be played if the player can follow suit to the card led to the trick; in a few, trumps can be played at any time. The result of this is that trump cards are more likely to win tricks than cards of a non trump suit of the same value. The "Major Arcana" of the Tarot cards were used as a permanent suit of trumps in the game of tarocchi or tarock.
It is unclear whether "trump" derives from "triumph," documented as the name of a card game in 1529, or from "trump", meaning to deceive or cheat, from the French tromper.
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Last updated: 05-22-2005 06:23:53
