A talon (; French for "heel") in

card game A card game is any game using playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, be they traditional or game-specific. Countless card games exist, including families of related games (such as poker). A small number of card g ...

s is a stack of undealt cards that is placed on the table to be used during the actual game. Depending on the game or region, they may also be referred to as the blind, kitty, skat, stock, tapp or widow (US).

Description

In 1909, Meyers Lexicon described the talon as ''"the cards left over after dealing..."'' In games of chance, such as

Pharo Pharo is an open source, cross-platform implementation of the classic Smalltalk-80 programming language and runtime. It's based on the OpenSmalltalk virtual machine called Cog (VM), which evaluates a dynamic, reflective, and object-oriented ...

it is ''"the stock of cards which the banker draws on"''. The talon is usually a pack of cards, placed face down, in the middle of the

card table A folding table is a type of folding furniture, a table with legs that fold up against the table top. This is intended to make storage more convenient and to make the table more portable. Many folding tables are made of lightweight materials to fu ...

. In other games, there are however very different variations, for example in

Königrufen Königrufen or Königsrufen (German: "Call the King") is a four-player, trick-taking card game of the tarot family, played in Austria and Southern Tyrol, with variants for two, three and six players. As with other regional tarot card games, it is ...

. Talons may be placed face up or face down. Parlett describes a ''kitty'' as "the pool or pot being played for" or "a dead hand or widow". He also equates ''talon'' to ''stock'' as the "cards which are not dealt initially but may be drawn from or dealt out later in the play."Parlett, David. ''The Penguin Book of Card Games''. London: Penguin (2008), p. 642-646. .

Examples of usage

The following are examples of games and the term usually used for talon. They are taken from Parlett unless otherwise indicated: * Blind: Auction Euchre,

Cego Cego is a Tarot game for three or four players played with eponymous German Tarot playing cards. The game was probably derived from the three-player Badenese tarot game of Dreierles after soldiers returned from the Iberian Peninsula during the N ...

Frog A frog is any member of a diverse and largely carnivorous group of short-bodied, tailless amphibians composing the order Anura (ανοὐρά, literally ''without tail'' in Ancient Greek). The oldest fossil "proto-frog" '' Triadobatrachus'' is ...

Sheepshead Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to: Fish * '' Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean * Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central ...

, Six-Bid * Cego:

* Dabb:

Binokel Binokel is a card game for two to eight players that originated in Switzerland as Binocle, but spread to the German state of Württemberg, where it is typically played with a Württemberg pattern pack. It is still popular in Württemberg, where i ...

* Doaba:

Jaggln Jaggln or Jaggeln is an historical Tyrolean card game designed for five players that used to be played purely as a winter pastime by farming folk. An unusual feature are its three highest trumps known as ''Jaggl, Zanggl'' and ''Buggl''. The aim ...

* Dobb:

Dobbm Dobbm or Tappen is a card game played in the Stubai valley in Austria and is one of a family of games derived from the Tarot game of Grosstarock by adapting its rules to a regular, shortened pack of 36 cards. The ranking and point value of the c ...

* Kitty: Bid Whist, Five-Card Brag, Five Hundred, Newmarket,

Three-Card Brag Brag is an 18th century British card game, and the British national representative of the vying or "bluffing" family of gambling games. It is a descendant of the Elizabethan game of Primero and one of the several ancestors to poker, the modern ve ...

Crash Crash or CRASH may refer to: Common meanings * Collision, an impact between two or more objects * Crash (computing), a condition where a program ceases to respond * Cardiac arrest, a medical condition in which the heart stops beating * Couch s ...

, Sergeant-Major * Pott:

Tausendundeins 1001 is a point-trick card game of German origin for two players that is similar to Sixty-Six. It is known in German as Tausendundeins and Tausendeins ("1001") or Kiautschou.Braun (1966).Hülsemann (1930), pp. 129–132. The winner is the first ...

* Skat:

Admirals' Skat Officers' Skat (''Offiziersskat''), is a trick-taking card game for two players which is based on the rules of Skat. It may be played with a German or French pack of 32 cards which, from the outset of the game, are laid out in rows both face down ...

Fipsen Fipsen or Fips is an old north German card game for 4 or 5 players that resembles British Nap in some respects. It is a trick-taking game played with a standard Skat pack that was once popular across North Germany in the former states of Schleswi ...

North American Skat North is one of the four compass points or cardinal directions. It is the opposite of south and is perpendicular to east and west. ''North'' is a noun, adjective, or adverb indicating direction or geography. Etymology The word ''north'' i ...

Ramsch Ramsch, formerly also called Mike in East Germany, is a card game based on the contract of the same name in the popular German card games, Skat and Schafkopf. However, thanks to its interesting mode of play it has since developed into an independ ...

Schieberamsch Schieberamsch is an unofficial contract within the popular German card games, Skat and Schafkopf, but "also makes a good game in its own right."Skat * Start:

Wallachen Wallachen is an Old Bavarian card game which used to be very popular in eastern Bavaria. 10 > 9 > 8 > 7. Trumps In the normal game, the card led to the first trick determines the trump suit for the hand. Within the trump suit cards rank as s ...

* Stock:

Bavarian Tarock Bavarian Tarock (german: Bayerisches Tarock) or, often, just Tarock, is a card game that was once popular in Bavaria and also played in parts of Austria as well as Berlin. The name is a clue to its origin in the historical German game of ross-ar ...

Belote Belote () is a 32-card, trick-taking, Ace-Ten game played primarily in France and certain European countries, namely Armenia, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Greece, Luxembourg, Moldova, North Macedonia (mainly Bitola), Bosnia and Herzegovina and also ...

Bezique Bezique () or Bésigue () is a 19th-century French melding and trick-taking card game for two players that came to Britain and is still played today. The game is derived from Piquet,''Transactions of the Philological Society'', Philological Socie ...

, Bisca, Bondtolva, Bourre,

Briscola Briscola (; lmo, brìscula; scn, brìscula, nap, brìscula) is one of Italy's most popular games, together with Scopa and Tressette. A little-changed descendant of Brusquembille, the ancestor of Briscan and Bezique, Briscola is a Mediterrane ...

, California Jack,

Canasta Canasta (; Spanish for "basket") is a card game of the rummy family of games believed to be a variant of 500 Rum. Although many variations exist for two, three, five or six players, it is most commonly played by four in two partnerships with t ...

Coinche Coinche (), also called belote coinchée (), is a variant of the French belote. The rules of the game are the same, but there are differences in how cards are dealt and how trumps are chosen. Like most popular games, coinche rules may differ f ...

Crazy Eights Crazy Eights is a shedding-type card game for two to seven players and the best known American member of the Eights Group which also includes Pig and Spoons. The object of the game is to be the first player to discard all of their cards. The g ...

Cuarenta Cuarenta is the national card game of Ecuador. It is a fishing game played with the standard 52 card pack of Anglo-American playing cards, but all 10s, 9s and 8s are omitted (ace is low). This game is almost exclusively played in Ecuador. The n ...

Durak Durak ( rus, дурак, p=dʊˈrak, a=Ru-дурак.ogg, ''"fool"'') is a traditional Russian card game that is popular in many post-Soviet states. It is Russia's most popular card game, having displaced Preferans. It has since become known in o ...

Écarté Écarté is an old French casino game for two players that is still played today. It is a trick-taking game, similar to whist, but with a special and eponymous discarding phase; the word ''écarté'' meaning "discarded". Écarté was popular in th ...

, Eleusis, Gleek, Hand and Foot,

Klaberjass Klaberjass () or Bela is a trick-taking Ace-Ten card game that is most popular in German communities. In its basic form it is a 9-card trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack. As in other point-trick games of the ...

, Klondike,

Marjolet Marjolet () is a French 6-card trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card piquet pack. It is of the Queen-Jack type, and thus a relative of Bezique and Pinochle, albeit simpler. The trump Jack is called the ''marjolet'' from which the n ...

Ristiklappi Ristikontra or Ristiklappi, sometimes translated as Cross-clap, is a Finland, Finnish point-trick game for four players using a standard 52-card pack. Card suits do not play a role in this game, and there is no ranking order. A trick is won by the l ...

Rummy Rummy is a group of matching-card games notable for similar gameplay based on matching cards of the same rank or sequence and same suit. The basic goal in any form of rummy is to build '' melds'' which can be either sets (three or four of a k ...

, Sixty-Six,

Skitgubbe ''Skitgubbe'' (translated by David Parlett as "dirty old man, in the sense of unwashed rather than obscene") is a multi-genre card game that originated in Sweden. The game occurs in two phases. The first phase is a multi-player version of War, in ...

Toepen Toepen (/ˈtupə(n)/) is a trick-taking Dutch card game for three to eight players, and is often played as a drinking game. Typically the number of players is 4. Gameplay Every player is dealt 4 cards from a 32 card deck. The cards are played one ...

Tute Tute () is a trick-taking card game of the Ace-Ten family for two to four players. Originating in Italy, where it was known as Tutti, during the 19th century the game spread in Spain, becoming one of the most popular card games in the country. T ...

* Stoß:

German Rummy German Rummy or Rommé (german: Deutsches Rommé or ''Rommé mit Auslegen'') is the most popular form of the worldwide game, Rummy, played in Austria and Germany. It is a game for 2 to 6 players and is played with two packs of French playing cards, ...

* Talon:

Bauernschnapsen The card game of Bauernschnapsen (also called ''Viererschnapsen'') is an expanded form of the popular Austrian card game of Schnapsen, played by four players. This variant of Schnapsen is played throughout the whole of Austria. General rules Ba ...

Bohemian Schneider Bohemian Schneider (german: Böhmischer Schneider) is a card game for two people, which is played with a German-suited Skat pack of 32 cards. Because it is a simple trick-taking game, it is often played by older children and is recommended for age ...

Droggn Droggn, sometimes called French Tarock (german: Französisches Tarock) is an extinct card game of the Tarock family for three players that was played in the Stubai valley in Tyrol, Austria until the 1980s. ''Droggn'' is originally local dialect f ...

Elfern Elfern or Elfmandeln, is a very old, German and Austrian 6-card, no-trump, trick-and-draw game for two players using a 32-card, French-suited Piquet pack or German-suited Skat pack. The object is to win the majority of the 20 honours: the Ace, King ...

Gaigel Gaigel is a card game from the Württemberg region of Germany and is traditionally played with Württemberg suited cards. It is a Swabian variant of Sechsundsechzig and may be played with 2, 3, 4 or 6 players. However, a significant difference fro ...

Guinguette The guinguette was a popular drinking establishment in the suburbs of Paris and of other cities in France. Guinguettes would also serve as restaurants and often as dance venues. The origin of the term comes from ''guinguet'', indicating a local ...

, Hungarian Tarock, Illustrated Tarock,

Mau-Mau The Mau Mau rebellion (1952–1960), also known as the Mau Mau uprising, Mau Mau revolt or Kenya Emergency, was a war in the British Kenya Colony (1920–1963) between the Kenya Land and Freedom Army (KLFA), also known as the ''Mau Mau'', an ...

, Mariás,

Mauscheln Mauscheln, also Maus or Vierblatt, is a gambling card game that resembles Tippen, which is commonly played in Germany and the countries of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire. Background Origin of the name The name Mauscheln means something lik ...

, Mizerka,''Mizerka''
at www.pagat.com. Retrieved 29 Jun 2018.

Nain Jaune The game of Nain Jaune or Yellow Dwarf (french: Le jeu du nain jaune, ), also formerly called Lindor, is an "attractive and unique traditional French card game" using a board comprising five compartments or boxes. It is a reasoned game of chance ...

Piquet Piquet (; ) is an early 16th-century plain-trick card game for two players that became France's national game. David Parlett calls it a "classic game of relatively great antiquity... still one of the most skill-rewarding card games for two" b ...

Préférence Préférence, frequently spelt Preference, is a Central and Eastern European 10-card plain-trick game with bidding, played by three players with a 32-card Piquet deck, and probably originating in early 19th century Austria, becoming the second mos ...

, Preference, Russian Bank,

Schnapsen Schnapsen, Schnapser or Schnapsa is a trick-taking card game of the Bézique (Ace-Ten) family that is very popular in Bavaria and in the territories of the former Austro-Hungarian Empire and has become the national card game of Austria and Hungar ...

, Sixty-Six,

Treppenrommé Treppenrommé is a card game for two to four players, which is a variant of Rummy played in Germany and Austria. The name means "Staircase Rummy" and comes from the fact that the discard pile must be arranged such that every card is partly covered ...

, Ulti * Tapp:

Tapp The Alan Parsons Project was a British rock band active between 1975 and 1990, whose core membership consisted of producer, audio engineer, musician and composer Alan Parsons and singer, songwriter and pianist Eric Woolfson. They were accompan ...

Tapp Tarock Tapp Tarock (german: Tapp-Tarock), also called Viennese Tappen (german: Wiener Tappen), Tappen or Tapper, is a three-player tarot card game which traditionally uses the 54-card Industrie und Glück deck. Before the ''Anschluss'' (1938), it was the ...

Troggu Troggu is a member of the tarot family of card games. Synonyms for the game's name are: Trogga, Tappu and Tappä. It is played in the area of Visp, Switzerland, in Upper Wallis, especially in St. Niklaus and Grächen. After Troccas, it is the ...

* Widow: Army and Navy

Pinochle Pinochle (), also called pinocle or penuchle, is a trick-taking, Ace-Ten card game typically for two to four players and played with a 48-card deck. It is derived from the card game bezique; players score points by trick-taking and also by fo ...

, Auction Euchre, Auction Manille, Auction

, Smear, Widow Cinch, Widow Hearts, Widow Nap/

Sir Garnet Field Marshal Garnet Joseph Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley, (4 June 183325 March 1913), was an Anglo-Irish officer in the British Army. He became one of the most influential and admired British generals after a series of successes in Canada, We ...

, Widow

Footnotes

References

Literature

* Dummett, Sir Michael (1980). ''The Game of Tarot''. London: Duckworth. Card game terminology Playing cards {{card-game-stub

Description

Examples of usage

See also

Footnotes

References

Literature