These are the generally accepted rules, rules which are often omitted by article authors because they assume that players know them. Though not all of the rules have to be adhered to, the players will be better off doing so.

The Arrangement of the Players

In a card game, the players have to be in a circle, on a flat surface. They must be facing inwards, and must be evenly spaced apart so that they can't see each others' cards.

The Deck

A game is played with a deck of 52 cards, which should have the same size and shape. All cards have 2 sides, the face and the back. The back is the same for all, but the face has to be unique for every card, or a few can be the same, depending on the game.

Suits

In most card games, the cards are grouped according to suits. The cards fall into 4 suits, namely Hearts, Spades, Diamonds and Clubs. All the cards have a symbol printed on them to distinguish them according to their suit.

Rank

Cards can also be distinguished by Rank, and have a particular hierarchy, for e.g. the general hierarchy for any game is King, Queen, Jack, 10, 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Aces can be at the top or bottom depending on the game.

The Deal

Cards are first shuffled by the dealer. Then, he/she has to place the cards in front of the person designated to cut the cards. The 'cutter' divides the deck into 2 portions, takes the lower one and puts it on top of the higher potion. He/she then hands it back to the dealer, who then starts dealing by removing cards from the top and distribute it to the other players clockwise and face-down, one-by-one or all-together, depending on the game. Game rules should specify whether all the cards are dealt or not. While dealing, if a card is accidentally exposed, the affected player can ask to re-deal all the cards.

The rest of the rules vary according to the game being played. However, the above rules are standard rules for all card games!

Who makes the rules?

Of course, there may be some people who ask "Are these rules official?", "Who makes these rules?". Here's an explanation for these questions.

A new card game starts off as someone's invention, or a tweak to the rules of an existing game. Players will agree to modify the rules as they play. Once they agree on a set of rules, they become the 'house rules'. These rules will be accepted by the players, wherever they play. These rules may also be the standard for games played in a particular place.

When a game becomes fairly popular, there is a need for a set of rules, which is adapted from a particular 'house rules'. A game gets an 'official' set of rules if they have a governing body e.g. The World Bridge Federation officiates Bridge.