"Stroke", "double card", "five winning numbers" are expressions heard mostly in bars (essentially by a clientele composed of pensioners), in the living room of hotels which during the summer welcome mostly people of the golden age, in rooms where friends who gather are much reminders of the characters in Pupi Avati's films. There is however a moment of magic in which these expressions come back to life at a table with loved ones of various ages, in an atmosphere where wafts the nice smells of tortellini, pig's trotter stuffed with seasoned mincemeat, oranges and tangerines. During the Holidays, when families get together for the traditional lunches and dinners, even traditional pastimes are part of the fun and old card and table games are organized, bringing together people of all ages for the chance to win even a very modest prize offered for fun. In the middle of the table, in general, there is a plate of little nuts and peanuts; next to each player there is a small plate with dried beans (in the best homes, they are wooden chips); the prizes are placed nicely (their value is minimal and it has little importance), and here we are ready for the tombola, maybe the most classical (probably even the oldest) among the games of the "Evening of the Holiday". Its origin dates back to the eighteenth-century (in 1734), regal and linked to the decision by Charles III de Bourbon, king of Naples, to officialise the lottery game. During Christmas week, however, the religious authority pretended that in order not to distract the people from their prayers, the game had to be suspended. But people did not give up so easily and to entertain themselves, while waiting for midnight, they organized a game of their own: marking on little wooden balls the 90 numbers of the lottery, they placed them in wicker baskets from which they were to tumble down on the table, and drawing numbers on cards, similar to the ones used today. Even older than that, the game Veneziana, apparently the original Merchant in the Fair game, goes back to the smart finding of a ragman, Geronimo Bambarara who, in 1522, in the area of Rialto, began selling for little money, tickets for participation in a draw. The game, with time, underwent changes: now, with successive bidding of cards among players and with the "auctioneer", there is a progressive elimination of the various figures, until victory is awarded to the last survivor. With the card game Seven and a Half, each card is given a value. The place and date of origin of this game are uncertain, but this is quite a game of chance: each player is given a card (the player keeps it unturned), but the participant can ask for more, the goal is reaching the highest possible score without exceeding 7 1/2. The player who exceeds this score is eliminated. Since this game should be played in perfect silence, it is said the game Tresette (three Sevens) was invented by four deaf men: the original game was played by four people, but there are versions where three participants can play, then two
Today the most popular card game (invented in China almost 2,000 years ago) is the Buraco: everyone plays this game which can be played anywhere; more than something fashionable, it is a passion. It is a big success in meetings with family and friends at parties at the end of the year 2010. There only remains, therefore, to conjure up pastimes and atmospheres of a time where entertainment was probably simpler and also bringing people together a little more, miming the "flying" of the last card in a Tresette game.
