Editing Card game (section)

===Direction of play===
The players of a card game normally form a circle around a table or other space that can hold cards. The ''game orientation'' or ''direction of play'', which is only relevant for three or more players, can be either [[clockwise]] or [[counterclockwise]]. It is the direction in which various roles in the game proceed. (In [[real-time card game]]s, there may be no need for a direction of play.) Most regions have a traditional direction of play, such as:

* Counterclockwise in most of Asia and in Latin America.
* Clockwise in North America and Australia.

Europe is roughly divided into a clockwise area in the north and a counterclockwise area in the south. The boundary runs between [[England]], [[Republic of Ireland|Ireland]], [[Netherlands]], [[Germany]], [[Austria]] (mostly), [[Slovakia]], [[Ukraine]] and [[Russia]] ([[clockwise]]) and [[France]], [[Switzerland]], [[Spain]], [[Italy]], [[Slovenia]], [[Balkans]], [[Hungary]], [[Romania]], [[Bulgaria]], [[Greece]] and [[Turkey]] (counterclockwise).{{Specify|How about Belgium?|date=March 2021}}{{citation needed|date=March 2021}}

Games that originate in a region with a strong preference are often initially played in the original direction, even in regions that prefer the opposite direction. For games that have official rules and are played in tournaments, the direction of play is often prescribed in those rules.