by Lorraine Traylor

Created on: November 03, 2009

The Christmas season is upon us and time for families to spend nights at the dinner table telling stories of holidays passed and how "when you were little". The truth of the matter is this, just like you can buy a child a fancy toy and they end up spending more time playing with the box than the actual toy, the classic card games always come back into play.

Card games don't have to be played with specialty cards or need elaborate rules or need to be reinvented to be hot for the 2009 Christmas season. Families know what they like and they like tradition. If tradition is to sit and drink eggnog and play canasta or rummy into the wee hours of the morning, then it doesn't really matter what card game is new on the shelf this year.

Do we have to have little ones to play "Go fish"? It may not be new for the 2009 season but at eight in the evening when we are all growing tired on Christmas Eve or Christmas night it very well may be the game of choice regardless of your age.

Five-Hundred-Card Rummy. Who automatically gets up for paper and pencil when it's time to play cards? Any age can play this game and it is timeless. Everyone knows the rules although they may vary slightly from family to family, very little changes. The object is to make runs and suits, play off your opponent's hands and accumulate points; the one with the most points is the winner.

Gin Rummy. Much like the game above but you are already saying you know the difference! The difference is you hold all your cards till the end and try to catch your opponent with points and points for Gin.

Uno, another classic. Once again not new for 2009 but even the teenagers will smile when you bring this game out. It brings the silly out in everyone. How many games can you get a teen to participate in besides Uno?

Canasta, Grandma played this game so it surely can't be considered new for 2009 but it most definitely is still hot! Texas Hold'em, spades, hearts, clubs, double Solitaire, progressive rummy and who can forget war, just to name a few. Card games never get old when families meet for the holiday season.

Cards are like the box that encases the expensive toy, always interesting to children of all ages no matter the year.

Happy holidays and happy Christmas cards!

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