By Alex J. Coyne © 2018 Great Bridge Links
In Tokyo, Japan? Then you’ll surely encounter plenty of trading card game fans – and Konami’s Card Game Station is worth a stop. There, you’ll find a display filled with a huge collection of Yu-Gi-Oh! Cards, and there are even a lot of official TCG-related events hosted at the spot.
If your travels or card games ever take you to the Netherlands, then you can visit the Dutch Bridge Museum: They have a huge collection of bridge and card-related items, and even a huge multi-language library where you’ll find almost everything related to bridge.
The official museum of the American Contract Bridge League hosts some of the greatest bridge-related objects you’ll find: This includes a collection of 600 trump indicators, and the entire history of the game chronicled through images, trophies and important artefacts. To find out more, you can contact the ACBL Museum directly via e-mail.
Up until pretty recently, the US Playing Card Company and manufacturers of Bicycle had a museum (reported to be closed) of Bicycle cards and memorabilia. You can still stop by to check out the factory, even if they don’t allow for the tour: And if you want to know what goes on inside the factory itself, here are some video snippets from the Travel Channel.
Ever heard of Wild Bill’s famous card game? It’s where we get the term Dead Man’s Hand. You can visit the apparent location of his last poker game and death if you’re ever in Deadwood, USA. It’s called The Saloon #10 American Whiskey Bar. They even host a re-enactment of his last poker game.
Now, if you want to see the actual card deck that Wild Bill was holding when he was killed, all you have to do is visit the Adams Museum, also located in Deadwood. The deck is known as the Bulldog Squeezers deck, released in 1877 by Bicycle. You can read more about it at the Bicycle website.
How about playing cards while you’re travelling from one place to the next? There are plenty of excellent bridge-themed cruises out there – many of which include lessons from some of the best bridge teachers in the world.
If tarot cards are some of your favourite decks, then you should take a closer look at the Museum of Tarot located in Vietnam. They have a huge collection of tarot decks and memorabilia that you won’t see anywhere else.
Travelling through Europe? Visit the Tarot Museum in Belgium: they have collections of not only tarot decks, but also anything else related to the art of tarot cards including etchings and art pieces.
What’s your go-to stop for your card player’s itinerary?
