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) Joker (playing card) The Joker is a playing card found in most modern card decks, as an addition to the standard four suits (clubs, diamonds, hearts, and spades). The Joker originated in the United States during the Civil War and was created as a trump card for the game of Euchre. It has since been adopted into many other card games, where it may function as a wild card. The card is unique within the French pack in that it lacks an industry-wide standard appearance. In the game of Euchre, the highest trump card is the Jack of the trump