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} It still is.
}
} The origins of cards dates back to 59 B.C. Switzerland, then
} called Confoederatio Helvetica, where the heads of the lead tribes
} Tigurini, Poseidonios, Verbigeni and Toygenoi had eaten lunch and
} dinner consecutively, resulting in a debate on how much cheese each
} had had, the beer and how the former influenced the latter. (Their tab
} being $65 and 46 cents, service not included)
} The debate lasted until the fatigue caused by blood-loss became
} so severe that none of the tribe leaders managed to stand, much less
} swing anything. They then ordered something to keep the blood on the
} inside and something to restore that which had already leaked out. The
} bill then grew to about $97, 40 cents, not including service, damage
} to property, and support to the widows and orphans created during the
} altercation. The agenda then changed to a friendly discussion on how
} to decide who owed what, relative to what they wanted to pay, what
} they had wanted to eat, what they've got to pay, what they had eaten
} and drunk, and the personnel's view on these matters. By the time they
} had chosen to use small square cards to represent the individuals
} financial burden towards the establishment, the bill had risen to $211
} nil.
} Finally the general design was agreed on, with the notable
} exeption of Toigenoi representative (who had fallen into light daze,
} talking to his late fathers late uncle about which colour of cheese
} would look good both in his ears and twixt his toes); ten cards of
} ascending value from 1 - 10 were to stand for the debt to the
} establishment, each card of each stacked marked by the icon of it's
} representative tribe. then one could add up to three cards depending
} on the quality of the service, as well as a wild card (called a
} jester) if there was something noone claimed they had ordered. The
} method of the system the cards would serve were never finalized nor
} their final tab never calculated as the Romans invaded before they
} could finish)
} The tradition was carried on by the invaders however, and spread
} out through the Roman Empire, and became the standard resturant-bill
} settling tool with a variation of rules. In fact, in his epic "The
} History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire", Edward Gibbon
} states that:
}
} "...one of the main reason behind their [the Senate] condemnation of
} Domitian's memory, were the fact that they never came out in favor
} after a session of cards. The accumulation of complex, even
} contradictory in some cases, rules were rapid due to Domitian's
} autocratic nature and habit of saying 'You can't do that, it's against
} the rules I just made!'. However, the incomprehensibility surrounding
} the rules of cards helped Domitian maintain a ruthless but efficient
} rule over the state, whose cultural, economic and political program
} provided the foundation of the peaceful 2nd century."
}
} It's due to tradition therefore, it is called a deka(10) cards,
} refering to each colour rather than the stack (consisting of four
} deka). But feel free to add more when determining what to pay, as
} waiters frequently have to live on jacks, queens and kings.
}
} You Owe the Oracle 135 points, 20% service and 12.5% tax to the
} Glorious Roman Empire.
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