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
Deuce (playing card) for 'coins', recorded since the 19th century, because in a game played for money, the aces are worth cash. Quite similar is the saying "Däuser bauen Häuser" ("deuces build houses"), which has been used since 1850, because with a trick with several aces, one quickly scores the points needed to win. Deuce (playing card) The Deuce (, plural: "Däuser") is the playing card with the highest value in German card games. It may have derived its name from dice games in which the face of the die with two pips is also called a "Daus" in German. Unlike the Ace,