French playing cards

French playing cards (jeu de cartes) are cards that use the French suits of trèfles (clovers or clubs♣), carreaux (tiles or diamonds♦), cœurs (hearts♥), and piques (pikes or spades♠). Each suit contains three face cards; the valet (knave or jack), the dame (lady or queen), and the roi (king). Aside from these aspects, decks can include a wide variety of regional and national patterns which often have different deck sizes. In comparison to Spanish, Italian, German, and Swiss playing cards, French cards are the most widespread due to the geopolitical, commercial, and cultural influence of France and the United Kingdom in the past two centuries. Another reason for their expansion was the simplicity of the suit insignia which simplifies mass production and the popularity of whist, contract bridge, and the recent poker boom.