Monday, October 5, 2015

know your SFPL call numbers - 795 "Games of Chance"

image source: Facts and Speculations on the Origin and History of Playing Cards, by William Andrew Chatto (J. R. Smith, 1848).

Within the broader subject of recreation there is a specific Dewey Decimal number for games of chance.  These include dice games, wheel games, counter games, and card games.

Here is a fine breakdown of the call number 795.

795 - Gambling -- this number also includes casino gambling (some older books on other games of chance were classed here before the call number was broken down into decimal divisions); includes works focused on betting systems and odds (795.01).

795.1 - Games with dice -- including craps (795.12), and backgammon (795.15).  Although board games frequently employ dice, they are usually given a indoor games of skill - 794 - call number.

795.2 - Wheel and top games -- including pinball, roulette (795.23), and slot machines (795.27).

795.3 - Games dependent on drawing numbers or counters - including bingo, dominoes and pai gow (795.32), mah jong (795.34), and lotteries (795.38).

795.4 - Card games -- there are books that are vast compendiums of card games as well as numbers for specific games including poker (795.412), contract bridge (795.415), blackjack (795.423), and solitaire (795.43).  Card tricks were formerly found in 795.43, but are now located with magic books (795.85).



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