2. Circle Suit (36) – These tiles are numbered 1-9, with a circular dice pattern that is dominantly yellow and blue. There are four sets of nine, hence there’s a total of 36 tiles for this suit.

3. Numbers Suit (36) – These tiles are numbered 1-9, with the Chinese number symbols drawn on each tile. The color combination is dominantly red and blue. There are four sets of nine, hence there’s a total of 36 tiles for this suit.

4. The Dragon Tiles (12)

5. The Wind Tiles (16) – The tiles are called the East Wind, South Wind, West Wind, and North Wind. There are four sets of four winds, hence there’s a total of 16 wind tiles.

6. The Flower Suit (8)

Black Flower Suit                               Red Flower Suit

7. The Animal Suit (4)

In order to win, a player is required to complete four combinations and one pair of tiles known as The Eyes. Each combination should have three tiles that are of the same suit and consecutive ranking – these consist of the suits that are numbered from 1-9. Another option for the combination would be to have three of a kind, that means three tiles that are exactly the same, sharing the same suit and sequence. The eyes are composed of two “special” tiles that are exactly the same. These special tiles include the Wind tiles, the Dragon tiles, etc. With 4 groups of three plus one pair, the winning hand has fourteen tiles.

If you get a 9 or any card that’s lower – HIT

If you get a 10 or 11 – Check the dealer’s cards. If your card is higher than the dealers, DOUBLE DOWN. Otherwise, just HIT.

If you get a 12, 13, 14, 15 or 16 – Check the dealer’s upcard. If it’s a 7 or anything higher, HIT. If not, STAND.

If you get a 17 or higher – STAND

If you get a SOFT 17 or lower – HIT

If you get a SOFT 18 – Check the dealer’s upcard. If it’s 6 or anything lower, HIT. If it’s 7 or anything higher, STAND.

If you get a 19 or higher – STAND!

With pairs, ALWAYS SPLIT if you get an Ace or an Eight. NEVER SPLIT when you get a Ten, Four or Five. As for the others, only split when the dealer’s card is 6 or anything lower.

However, if the person doesn’t know how to play fifty two card pick up, then the initiating player gets the opportunity to ruin a perfectly good day! The next step in this How to Play Fifty Two Card Pick Up article is short, sweet and simple: throw the deck of cards at the general direction of the player. No seriously – literally throw the fifty two cards to her. See, that’s how the game works: one player throws a deck of cards to a person, and the person picks up the fifty two playing cards. For close friends, this can be quite funny – unless one of them is having a bad day, then this can be a total friendship killer. This won’t work as an icebreaker at a party, the person will probably just stare at the cards on the floor, back at the person who threw the cards, and walk away weirded out. It’s only played for people with a good sense of humor, and no back-pain related diseases.

The trick is to keep switching unneeded cards from the cards on one player’s pile with cards that can be used found at the middle of both players. The play between players is continuous, there are no turns because both players play at the same time and try to complete the goal as fast as they can. The main rule is that a player can only look at the piles one at a time. If they wish to exchange cards from one pile to another, they have to use the middle pile as opposed to opening both piles and switching cards. It would also be handy to keep an eye out for the opponent’s moves and try to figure out what ranks your opponent is trying to form so you can stall their progress and increase your chances of winning (this is a game of speed, after all). When all of your six piles have been formed, simply shout “James Bond!”

Step 1: The deck is distributed to the players until each player has five cards.

Step 2: The player on the dealer’s left starts bidding. Bidding on what? On what they assume the best hand out of all cards that players have to be. Take note that all the players’ cards will be “pooled together” and each bid will be a mental picking out of the five best cards from everyone’s hands.

Step 3: The bidding continues in a clockwise motion around the table, and each following bid must be higher than the previous one. Players may opt to pass during the bidding process. There will be a total of two bidding rounds to give each player a good chance with achieving their bidding goals, especially the first player who was required to start the bidding low.

Step 4: The showdown occurs. All the players are required to show their cards and lay the cards down in front of them facing up. Players then observe the cards and determine what is the highest playing hand that can be formed from all the cards laid out. If the highest bidder got it right, then all the other players must give up one card to be dealt in the next playing round. If the highest player got it wrong, then he’s the only player who loses a card during the next playing round.

Step 5: Cards are then pooled together once again and shuffled completely for another round of the game. The dealer must take note of all the card deductions per round, and he must distribute the cards accordingly. Players stand to lose one card after each round so it may get a bit confusing. The winner of Bull Poker is the player who is the only one with any cards left to be dealt with.

The game is started by the player sitting on the left side of the dealer. He takes his lowest card (suit does not matter initially) – for example, 2 of hearts – and  places it in front of him, facing up. The next card of that suit, the 3 of hearts, is shown by the player who has it, wherever he may be seated. After that, the next highest card is shown by another player and the round continues until the last card has been shown or until the Ace has been played. Whoever plays the last card then starts a new round by taking the lowest card he has (again, the suit doesn’t matter) and shows it to the other players. This is played until all the cards are gone. The player who shows a card that matches the Boodle Cards collects the chips on the card. The goal is to have the most number of chips – this dictates the winner of the game.

It was the ancient Greeks who invented boxing as a competitive sport. In order to commemorate Patroclus, the sport pygmachia or pygme was introduced to the 688 B.C. Olympic Games. Just like today’s top athletes, the boxers also trained on punching bags (which at that time were called korykos). They also wore gloves made of leather straps that left the fingers open. Some boxers also wore leather straps on their wrists and across their chests. These were called himantes. Other than the leather straps though, the pygme boxers fought completely in the nude.

These boxing events played an important role in the athletic culture of ancient Greece, just as the present day sports are given much importance in our society. Because most of the Greek accounts of boxing are too fragmented, there is really no clear record of the history, rules and customary practices that were incorporated in pygme, but historians believe that current boxing practices could not have strayed too far from its ancestral sport.

Known as the armor race, this ancient foot race required athletes to run the length of two stadions dressed in nothing less than a soldier’s full armor. This included a helmet, an armored suit, a shield and a spear. The total weight added to each runner’s body was a burdensome fifty pounds – that’s practically half the weight of another human being! Since 450 B.C., the suit and the spear were no longer required for the runners, but the weight of the shield and the helmet did not make things any easier for the athletes.

The hoplitodromos can be compared with the diaulos, which was an ancient foot race where runners were required to run the length of a stade turn mid-race at the end of the track, and run the remaining length, finishing the race at the starting point. The task of turning was made even more complicated and more difficult by the runners’ shields, which affected their balance greatly. This ancient foot race was indeed a true test used to determine one’s athletic prowess.

Because it was so sudden and the distance was not increased gradually, athletes who participated in this foot race had to undergo a compulsory training period that lasted at least one month before the date of the race. One month was usually not enough for all the necessary preparations that athletes needed though, because this event was very taxing. Some records showed that athletes trained all year round for these events, running incredible distances and speeds on a daily basis.

What made diaulos unique from all the other ancient foot races was the turning point in the middle of the race. Runners were not only supposed to possess the skills in running, but they needed to have a graceful method for turning while maintaining their speed and balance. Diaulos runners have a straight and stiff posture. Their arms are outstretched in a forward and backward motion to propel their bodies down the racing field. They run with the balls of their feet touching the ground with every step and their heels barely making contact throughout the race.

The ancient foot race stadion took its name from the structure wherein this even took place. Incidentally, the building was also called the stadion. After centuries have passed, this word evolved into the word “stadium” in the Latin alphabet, and was eventually adapted by the English language as the “stadium”.  During this period, there were plenty of other ancient foot races, however, the stadion was the highlight of the event. The winner was perceived by the general public to be the champion of all the games just because of this single victory. This race is said to span 600 feet, which was the entire length of the stadion, and runners were to stop at the end without turning back.

During the ancient Olympic Games,  the stadion was sufficiently large. It could house up to twenty athletes without causing crowdedness. This ancient foot race was initiated with the blow of a trumpet. However, because some of the runners were believed to start running a heartbeat before the actual trumpet was sounded, officials stood at the starting line and strictly guarded all the runners. Those who were reported to be cheating were automatically kicked out of the race, and sometimes they were even punished harshly. The starting position for today’s modern track and field athletes is a crouching position, but during that time, the athletes started from a standing position.

In the ancient world, the stadion (plural form: stadia) was also used widely as a unit to measure length. More about this can be read in the ancient Greek weights and measuring systems.

In the German language, the word “Stadion” is still the word used for what we call the stadium in the English language.