card game A card game is any game that uses playing cards as the primary device with which the game is played, whether the cards are of a traditional design or specifically created for the game (proprietary). Countless card games exist, including famil ...

s, a set or group is a scoring combination consisting of multiple

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 Pap ...

, usually of the same rank.Parlett (2008) p. 489. Depending on the game, a set may consist of two cards of equal rank (a "pair") as in

Bieten Bieten, Laubbieten, Lab bietn or Labbieten (in South Tyrol) or Bavarian Poker () is a card game that is popular in the Austrian Tyrol and the Bavarian Prealps. It used to be a game frequently played by timber rafters and muleteers. It can be see ...

, three of a kind as in

poker Poker is a family of Card game#Comparing games, comparing card games in which Card player, players betting (poker), wager over which poker hand, hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, with varying rules i ...

, or more.

Description

Sets are one of the two types of meld that may be used in games where melding is part of the play; the other being a

run Run(s) or RUN may refer to: Places * Run (island), one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia * Run (stream), a stream in the Dutch province of North Brabant People * Run (rapper), Joseph Simmons, now known as "Reverend Run", from the hip-hop group ...

or sequence. A set or group comprises 3 or 4 cards of the same rank and, usually, different suits. A prial, pair royal, gleek or triplet is a set of 3 cards of equal rank and a quartet or, in some older games, a mournival, is one of four cards of the same rank.Parlett (2008), pp. 287, 645. Usually a pair (2 cards of the same rank but different suits) is not counted as a "set"; but some games, such as

Perlaggen Perlaggen (regionally also ''Perlåggen''), formerly Perlagg-Spiel ("game of Perlagg"), is a traditional card game which is mainly played in the regions of South Tyrol in Italy, the Tyrolean Oberland and the Innsbruck areas of Austria. It is the o ...

do include pairs as sets. A wild set is one containing

wild cards ''Wild Cards'' is a series of science fiction superhero shared universe anthologies, mosaic novels, and solo novels. They are written by a collection of more than forty authors (referred to as the "Wild Cards Trust") and are edited by George R. ...

– that is, those cards designated in the rules as being wild, for example, the jokers in Rommé. On the other hand, a natural set is one consisting entirely of '

natural cards The following is a glossary of terms used in card games. Besides the terms listed here, there are thousands of common and uncommon slang terms. Terms in this glossary should not be game-specific (e.g. specific to Bridge (card game), bridge, Hearts ...

'.Parlett, David. ''A History of Card Games''. Oxford: OUP (1991), p. 127. . In

Texas Holdem Texas hold 'em (also known as Texas holdem, hold 'em, and holdem) is the most popular variant of the card game of poker. Two cards, known as hole cards, are dealt face down to each player, and then five community cards are dealt face up in ...

poker, a set refers to a three of a kind where the player has a pocket pair. This is contrasted with trips which is when a player only has one hole card that matches with two board cards.

Examples

French suited cards

German suited cards

References

Bibliography