Brag was a game of chance whose name came from players’ bluffing (‘bragging’) about their cards in an effort to intimidate their opponents. The stakes varied depending on how much one was prepared to bluff; the more a player bet, the more convincing his or her bluff. Brag and similar games were less card games than gambling games that were played with cards; they could just as easily be played with any set of objects. Brag had many variations in how many cards were dealt and which cards were ‘wild’ (able to assume any value). The original game involved three stakes: one for the card of the highest value; the second, for the most valuable combination such as a pair or a flush; and the third, for the hand closest in value to a designated point total (usually 31). The ‘bragging’ was done for the second stake. Brag was very popular with the middling sort, and as may be guessed, it was a forerunner of modern poker.

Commerce was an exchange game for three to twelve people, played with a full deck of fifty-two cards. The goal was to accumulate cards in combinations such as a three of a kind (the most valuable), or a straight flush. Each player bought or traded cards with a player to the left, or with a spare ‘widow’ hand. The hand ended when one player ‘knocked’ in the hope that their hand was a winner; at that point, all hands would be shown and the best won the pool. Commerce was a relatively simple game, so a favourite with children and the adults who played with them.

Cribbage was essentially a two-handed game which could also be played with three or four (partners). Each hand had two strategic parts: the forming of combinations that would score well, and the playing out of those cards in sequence to score points. The game consisted of multiple hands, and the first player to reach a designated number of total points was the winner.