So the king‘s worth of 13 dates back centuries! Let‘s examine how this valuation plays out across various popular card games today. And since the abandoned knight card had held a value of 13, the king seamlessly inherited this position and number. But one tradition remained – the king kept its top spot in the hierarchy.

The knave evolved into the jack, now outranked by a new face card – the queen. When playing cards arrived in Europe, the knight was eventually dropped from the deck entirely. These royal figures were ranked in order of nobility, with the knights outranking the knaves as warriors serving the nobility. Modern playing cards originated in the Middle East in the 1300s, and contained three face cards – the king, the knight, and the knave (or prince). Let‘s start from the very beginning – why is the king card assigned a value of 13 in most card games? Here‘s a quick history lesson:

The Historic Ranking System for Face Cards Read on for an in-depth exploration of why kings are valued at 13, how their worth shifts across different games, and the many factors that influence the power and impact of drawing or being dealt a king. But as with most things, the full story is far more complicated! The practical, strategic, symbolic, and psychological value of a king card is multifaceted, situational, and often far exceeds its numerical rating. To get right to the point, my friend, the short answer is yes – the king‘s worth in standard card games matches its ranking of 13.

King in blackjack is worth