Curse of Scotland Gurney Benham's book about playing cards, in describing the game of Pope Joan he gives his own explanation for why this card is known as the Curse of Scotland: "The crown of Scotland contained only nine stones, as they never could afford a tenth". Eric Partridge's "Routledge Dictionary of Historical Slang" considers: “the various theories are as interesting as they are unconvincing”. "Collins Encyclopedia of Scotland" says for "Curse of Scotland" "This is usually taken to be the nine of diamonds playing card, though explanations differ". The 19th century Tarot of Marseilles is one of the standard designs for tarot
Joker (playing card) 6 Jokers (3 different pairs) in a 52-card French deck. German Rummy uses 2 packs of French playing cards, with 3 Jokers per pack. The Joker is often compared to "(the) Fool" in the Tarot or Tarock decks. They share many similarities both in appearance and play function. In Central Europe, the Fool, or "Sküs", is the highest trump; elsewhere as an "excuse" ("L'Excuse") that can be played at any time to avoid following suit but cannot win. Practitioners of cartomancy often include a Joker in the standard 52-card deck with a meaning similar to the Fool card of Tarot.