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According to Hoyle Day

by on 29. Aug, 2013 in Culture, Games

August 29 is According to Hoyle Day!

Today is a day devoted to fun and games – just make sure you’re playing by the rules! Edmond Hoyle was an 18th century writer best known for his literature on the rules of card games, specifically “whilst”, which was a predecessor to bridge.  Hoyle made extra money by teaching whilst to the upper class in England, and eventually his name became aligned with the proper way to play. So, when someone says “According to Hoyle”, they’re referencing the correct method of playing a game.

Celebrate today by playing your favorite card game!  Check out our variety of card games on sale and in stock now.

Sources: Wikipedia, The Year of Living Unofficially

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World Series of Poker Starts

by on 29. May, 2013 in Games

In 2013, the World Series of Poker begins on May 29 and runs through July 15.

The WSOP is a large poker tournament held in Las Vegas each year, and as of 2012, consisted of 61 events with most major variants of poker being represented. Since 2005, The World Series of Poker has been sponsored by Caesars Entertainment. The winner of each poker event will receive a World Series of Poker bracelet along with a monetary prize dependent on the number of players in each event.

The large-scale, televised and highly anticipated World Series of Poker had very humble beginnings. Garnering no media attention, the WSOP began in 1970 when Benny Binion hand selected a group of 7 of the most well known poker players for a small tournament at the Horseshoe Casino. The World Series of Poker has grown to include tens of thousands of participants.

Sources: Wikipedia, WSOP

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National Scrabble Day

by on 13. Apr, 2013 in Birthdays, Games, Weird Holidays

April 13 is National Scrabble Day!

Scrabble was invented in 1938 by a man named Alfred Mosher Butts.  Butts was born on April 13, 1899 and when he lost his job at an architecture firm, he set out on creating a new board game. Scrabble, originally called Lexico, was based on his beloved crossword puzzles. Celebrate today by playing a game of Scrabble with your family and friends!

Some interesting Scrabble facts:

  • Over 150 million games have been sold in 121 countries around the world.
  • Scrabble is currently produced in 29 different languages. The latest is the Welsh language Scrabble introduced in 2006.
  • The original game did not have a board but was played with tiles only.
  • It’s not possible to play Scrabble in Japanese or Chinese, but they play in English with a rule book in their own language.
  • There is a town called Scrabble in Berkeley County, West Virginia, USA. They don’t have a Scrabble club.
  • The longest word playable with only vowels is ‘euouae’ (a Gregorian cadence) and the longest word with only consonants is crwth(s) (an old Welsh stringed instrument).

Check out some of our awesome Scrabble games and calendars!

Sources: Yahoo, Telegraph

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Golfer’s Day

by on 10. Apr, 2013 in Games, Unofficial Holidays

April 10 is Golfer’s Day!

Golfer’s Day celebrates the sport, the courses and the athletes that engage in it. Whether you’re an avid golfer or just a beginner, taking up the hobby can prove to be an extremely relaxing outlet.

Golf enthusiasts everywhere unite! Celebrate today by getting out on an 18-hole course, or, if you’re short on time, head over to a driving range to hit a few balls.

Happy Golfer’s Day!

Sources: Squidoo, Holiday Insights

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Hedbanz Gameplay

by on 26. Mar, 2013 in Games

We had a little downtime in our office, so a few Calendars.com employees grabbed the game Hedbanz and had some fun! Watch this quick snippet to see how to play and don’t forget to buy your copy of this great party game today!

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Monopoly Goes On Sale

by on 06. Feb, 2013 in Games, History

On February 6, 1935 the board game Monopoly was first sold to the masses.

Although Charles Darrow is credited with its creation, Elizabeth Magie patented a basic version of the game in 1904. Many varieties of board games much like Monopoly were created in the 1930s. Most centered around buying and selling property, but it wasn’t until 1935 that Parker Brothers agreed to mass produce Monopoly. It has since become one of the world’s most popular board games!

Monopoly is played by moving around the game board buying and selling or trading properties, acquiring homes and hotels, and collecting rent. The properties on the game board are based on real locations in and around Atlantic City,New Jersey. The game equipment includes: Chance and Community Chest cards, property deeds, dice, houses and hotels, money, and metal tokens used as pawns.

Called “The Fast Dealing Property Trading Game,” Monopoly has sold more than 275 Million games worldwide, and has been produced in 111 countries in more than 40 languages.

Take out your Monopoly set today and have a family game night in memory of the first day the game was ever sold. Don’t have the game? Check out all the versions of Monopoly for sale at Calendars.com!

Sources: Searchamelia, Wikipedia

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Brief History of the Playing Card

by on 16. Aug, 2010 in Games

739170_59571103 Nick Patrick recently posted an article briefly touching on the history of the playing card, and where the various different types come from:

“The precursor to today’s 52-card Anglo-American deck (standardized only recently) came to Europe from Egypt in the 14th century. Those Egyptian decks had four “suits” (sticks, coins, swords, and cups), with ten “spot” cards (whose values were determined by the number of  symbols, or “pips,” on each card) and three “court” or “face” cards in each suit.”

Read more from Nick here.


Browse all Playing Cards at Calendars.com

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The Many Faces of Monopoly

by on 19. Jul, 2010 in Games

Did you know we sell over 50 different versions of Monopoly available on our site? We have everything from Dukeopoly, to Denveropoly, Wizard of Oz – opoly. I was reading a short piece on the history of Monopoly and never realized how widespread the game really is. Facebook will soon be announcing their 500 millionth user, while Monopoly has already been played by more people than that. You thought Facebook was taking over the world? 201000012465

Monopoly City Streets

Monopoly City Streets was released late in 2009 to help spur users into playing a massive multi-player online version of the popular board game. I remember being extremely excited about this push, only to be let down by the web server issues, hackers, and what seemed to be impossible numbers others were achieving. It was mediocre fun to say the least. I think Monopoly will always be more fun when played around a small coffee table. The online game has been shut down.

Monopoly in World War II

Did you know that Monopoly was used to help prisoners of war plan their escape? Here’s an excerpt from a site that goes more in depth as to how it was used:

As he gently spread the layers of cardboard of the package, he found two slivers of metal which screwed together to form a file. He broke the little wooden red hotel to find a tiny silk map of his region folded very tightly. Under the packaged Monopoly money was real German Reich marks ready to spend and, finally, inside the Scotty dog was a tiny compass.

Monopoly Facts, Courtesy of Hasbro

  • Over 5,120,000,000 little green houses have been “constructed” since the Monopoly game was introduced in 1935.
  • The longest Monopoly game ever played was 1,680 hours long. That is 70 straight days!
  • In the 1970′s, a Braille edition of the Monopoly game was created for the visually impaired.
  • The total amount of money in a standard Monopoly game is $15,140.
  • A set made by Alfred Dunhill, that included gold and silver houses and hotels, sold for $25,000.
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