A DECK OF CARDS that once lived on a Christmas table had a preference for games of chance instead of those requiring skill. "The most important thing is to shuffle the correct cards", he told the other card decks on the table and couldn't wait for the time to pass so they would start gambling.

As soon as the countdown for the New Year started, the deck of cards asked the other decks to play "Guess the card". "Well… that requires zero skill!", the others told him with a smile on their faces. They, then, shuffled the cards fast enough for him to lose track and asked him to guess. To make it even more interesting, they used peanuts as betting money.

Only a few minutes later, and after failing to guess the card for ten times straight, the deck admitted he was in a shortage of luck that day. Only one peanut was left in his pocket.

"Why don't we play a game that is based on technique instead?", the other card decks suggested and recommended "Match Match" so as to get even. Our good deck rather disliked the idea, only to discover soon enough that he was very good at it. An hour later, he had outsmarted them to the point that he managed to recover all the peanuts he had lost previously, even doubling them.

"Chance games are more fun!", the deck told the others that had just gone bankrupt. They, then, suggested they play "The Old Maid", which is a game of pure chance. "But just in case you end up with the Jack of Spades, you'll be... the odd one of the night!", they told him. He happily agreed.

So it happened. The decks soon ran out of cards, and our good card deck that loved chance games so much was left with the wrong card in his possession, that is… the Jack of Spades.

"That means you must pay for the drinks, or rather... why don't you dance around the table and quack like a duck for us instead?", they told him, explaining that the odd one must either pay for the drinks or perform some shameful act so as to get even for his misfortune.

And so he... danced around the table like a duck, while the other card games laughed at his lesson. Since that day, he never bothered with chance games again.