THANKS w/a poker face

[C. Fields]

And I've never found 'kresti' in any dictionary--only trefi--but then I
never heard 'trefi' out of the people with whom I played cards.  Kresti
was the word of choice among my Vladivostok college age friends.  Could be
regional, could be age, could be my own particular kompanija (although we
did play cards with other folks--older--in trains, and I don't remember
ever hearing trefi out of them).  It may not be the correct word according
to some, but it is in use, at least among some Far Eastern card players.
It could be a soda vs. pop preference.  I'd be curious if anyone else has
heard of 'kresti' and/or if anyone knows where Russian card playing words
came from.  I know 'hearts' as 'chervy', but I believe there is another
term used as well.

Emily Fields

On Thu, 8 Oct 1998, Margarita Meyendorff wrote:

> Dear Devin,
>
> I hate to put a cog in a wheel, perhaps this is just an addition.  However
> clubs in my Russian circles (and I grew up playing cards in Russian) were
> called "trefi".  I never heard of "kresti".  Anyway, take this for all its
> worth.  Good luck.
>
> Mourka
>