How Many Cards in a Deck? (With and Without Jokers)
Nov 7, 2026 · The Editors
How many cards are in a deck of cards with jokers and without, how the deck breaks down by suit, colour and face cards, the decks used for euchre, pinochle and tarot, and the calendar legend.
A standard deck of playing cards has 52 cards without jokers, and 54 with the two jokers. Most decks are sold with the jokers included — and often an extra card or two with rules or advertising, which is not part of the deck.
How the 52 cards break down
| Count | |
|---|---|
| Suits | 4 — spades ♠, hearts ♥, diamonds ♦, clubs ♣ |
| Cards per suit | 13 — Ace, 2 to 10, Jack, Queen, King |
| Red cards (hearts, diamonds) | 26 |
| Black cards (spades, clubs) | 26 |
| Face cards (J, Q, K) | 12 |
| Aces | 4 |
| Number cards (2–10) | 36 |
| Jokers | 2 (usually) |
Quick answers
- How many Kings in a deck? 4. Same for Queens, Jacks and Aces.
- How many hearts in a deck? 13. Every suit has 13 cards.
- How many face cards? 12 — a Jack, Queen and King in each suit. (Some count Aces as well, but strictly they are not face cards.)
- How many red cards? 26.
- How many one-eyed Jacks? Two: the Jack of spades and the Jack of hearts are drawn in profile, showing one eye. The King of diamonds is the one-eyed King.
- Which King has no moustache? The King of hearts — and he is the "suicide King", appearing to push his sword through his head.
Decks with other counts
Not every card game uses 52.
| Deck | Cards | Used for |
|---|---|---|
| Euchre deck | 24 | 9 to Ace of each suit — euchre |
| Piquet deck | 32 | 7 to Ace — piquet, belote, many European games |
| Pinochle deck | 48 | Two of each 9 to Ace |
| Canasta pack | 108 | Two decks plus four jokers — canasta |
| Tarot deck | 78 | 22 Major Arcana and 56 Minor Arcana — tarot meanings |
| Spanish deck | 40 or 48 | Cups, coins, swords and clubs, no 10s |
The calendar legend
A popular story says the deck is a calendar in disguise:
- 52 cards for the 52 weeks of the year.
- 4 suits for the four seasons.
- 13 cards per suit for the 13 weeks in each season — or 13 lunar months.
- Add up every card, counting Jack as 11, Queen 12 and King 13: 364. Add one joker and you have 365 — the days of the year.
It is a lovely coincidence, but it is a coincidence. The deck grew piece by piece over centuries from earlier decks with different numbers of cards, and nobody designed it as a calendar. See the history of playing cards for how it actually happened.
Checking a deck is complete
The fastest way: deal the deck into four piles by suit, then fan each one. A missing card shows up at once. Plastic decks last for years, which is exactly how they end up a card short — keep a spare.
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