Ace

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This article is about the playing card. For alternate uses of the word see Ace (disambiguation). For abbreviations with the same spelling, see ACE.

The word "ace" comes from the Old French word 'as' (from Latin 'as') meaning 'a unit', from the name of a small Roman coin. It originally meant the side of a die with only one mark, before it was a term for a playing card. Since this was the lowest roll of the die, it traditionally meant 'bad luck' in Middle English, but as the ace is often the highest playing card, its meaning has changed to mean 'high-quality, excellence'.

An ace is a playing card. In the standard deck, an ace has a single suit symbol (a heart, diamond, spade, or club) located in the middle of the card, sometimes large and decorated, especially in the case of the Ace of Spades, which also often bears the name or emblem of the deck's printer. In most card games, aces have the highest value of all cards in a suit; in some, they have the lowest value, commonly representing a one. Many games, such as poker and blackjack, allow the player to choose whether the ace is used as a high or low card. When aces are high, spades are occasionally deemed to be trump cards, meaning that if it came down to a tie, the ace of spades would naturally win.

The tradition of a "high" ace comes from the French Revolution where the lowest number card (the one) was placed above the King to represent the victory of the common man over the monarchy. In French decks, the ace commonly has the number one in the corners instead of the letter "A".