Poker Combi-Nation

Split cards are sometimes used in Skat or Jass tournaments to make it possible for players used to different suit systems to play together. Much less common are packs such as this one where cards of the same suit system (in this case French) are split horizontally, with a different card value at each end. The combination, however, is not random: A/K, 2/Q, 3/J, 4/10, 5/9, 6/8, 7/7, etc., and always a black-suit card at one end and a red-suit card at the other. The cards were marketed by a Swedish company (SECUR INTERNATIONAL AB), hence the distinctly Swedish-looking double-ended Joker. The blue back pattern is repeated on the back of the box

For what purpose were these cards created? That is not clear as there is no accompanying leaflet. Maybe the idea was that a player could decide which end to play, i.e., the end that was the more useful or advantageous in the game. The date of production is uncertain but it must be before the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1992.

Above: Poker Combi-Nation playing cards printed by FORUM, Yugoslavia. Published by SECUR INTERNATIONAL AB, Hägersten, Sweden, c1980. 52 cards + 3 identical Jokers in tuck box. Size: 58 x 91 mm.

I have a few of these packs for sale.