''Kabufuda'' () are Japanese playing cards used for

gambling Gambling (also known as betting or gaming) is the wagering of something of Value (economics), value ("the stakes") on a Event (probability theory), random event with the intent of winning something else of value, where instances of strategy (ga ...

games such as '' Oicho-Kabu''. ''Kabufuda'' cards, like the related '' hanafuda'' ("flower cards"), are smaller and stiffer than Western

playing cards A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a fi ...

. A deck contains 40 cards, with designs representing the numbers 1 through 10. There are four cards for each number. Like hanafuda, kabufuda is a descendant of mekuri karuta. Since suits are irrelevant in kabu games, all decks became single-suited during the 18th-century. Like in

baccarat Baccarat or baccara (; ) is a card game played at casinos. It is a comparing card game played between two hands, the "player" and the "banker". Each baccarat coup (round of play) has three possible outcomes: "player" (player has the higher score ...

, the object of most ''kabu'' games is to get a total closest to nine. Early ''kabufuda'' decks had three ranks of

face card In a deck of playing cards, the term face card (US) or court card (British and US), and sometimes Royalty, is generally used to describe a card that depicts a person as opposed to the pip cards. They are also known as picture cards, or until the ...

s but since they have no value, only the jacks were kept. Kabu is believed to derive from the Portuguese slang ''cavo'' meaning a stake, bet, or wager. Closely related are the ''gabo'' games played with Korean tujeon cards and the Indian Ganjapa game of ''komi''.

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Kabufuda cards (image)
Japanese card games Playing cards {{japan-culture-stub