Short answer
Playing cards for money is gambling and haram by agreement. Playing cards without money is still not permitted in the Hanafi fatwa (makruh tahrimi), because they are games of luck like nard (backgammon), which the Prophet ﷺ condemned, and they eat up time. Some scholars allow card games with no betting, no pictures and no neglect of duties.
Playing cards with betting is haram. Without betting it is makruh tahrimi, by analogy with nard, since the outcome rests largely on chance and the game is idle play that distracts from remembrance of Allah and salah.
The four schools agree on this.
Explanation
Card games are of two kinds in this question. With money on the table, it is gambling (maysir), which the Quran calls defilement from the work of Shaytan. That includes poker, blackjack, betting on rummy, online card casinos and loot packs bought for a chance at a rare card.
Without money, the Hanafi scholars look at the game itself. The Prophet ﷺ said that whoever plays nardashir (an old dice game, ancestor of backgammon) is like one who dips his hand in pig's flesh and blood, and that whoever plays nard has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger. Al-Durr al-Mukhtar counts nard, chess and every similar pastime as makruh tahrimi. Most card games rest on the luck of the deal, just as nard rests on the throw of the dice, and they are known for swallowing hours and causing arguments. So the Deobandi fatwas rule standard playing cards impermissible.
Some scholars outside the Hanafi fatwa allow card games played occasionally with family, with no betting, no missed prayers, no foul language and no cards bearing pictures of people. They argue the hadith on nard is tied to its link with gambling.
Practical points:
- Flash cards, quiz cards and educational card games are not 'playing cards' and are fine.
- Collectible trading card games raise further problems: images of living beings, costly packs and gambling-like pack openings.
- If you already have a deck, you do not have to make a show of throwing it away; simply stop using it.
See also is ludo haram, is chess haram and are video games haram.
The evidence
Quran, Surah Al-Maaida 5:90
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُوٓا۟ إِنَّمَا ٱلْخَمْرُ وَٱلْمَيْسِرُ وَٱلْأَنصَابُ وَٱلْأَزْلَٰمُ رِجْسٌۭ مِّنْ عَمَلِ ٱلشَّيْطَٰنِ فَٱجْتَنِبُوهُ لَعَلَّكُمْ تُفْلِحُونَ ﴿٩٠﴾
O you who have believed, indeed, intoxicants, gambling, [sacrificing on] stone alters [to other than Allah], and divining arrows are but defilement from the work of Satan, so avoid it that you may be successful.
Card games played for money are gambling.
Sahih Muslim 2260
Sahih... من لعب بالنردشير فكأنما صبغ يده في لحم خنزير ودمه ...
"Whoever plays nardashir is like one who dips his hand in the flesh and blood of a pig."
Games of chance like nard are condemned.
Sunan Abi Dawud 4938
Graded hasan... من لعب بالنرد فقد عصى الله ورسوله ...
"Whoever plays nard has disobeyed Allah and His Messenger."
The basis for the Hanafi ruling on luck-based games.
Where the ruling is recorded
- al-Durr al-Mukhtar, Kitab al-Hazr wa al-Ibaha, section on games. Playing nard, chess and similar pastimes is makruh tahrimi; with betting it is gambling.
Checked by our team. For a more accurate answer to your own situation, consult a scholar. Quran translation by Sahih International. Hadith Arabic from the standard editions of the six books and the Muwatta, with gradings as recorded there; the English is our own rendering. Spotted a mistake? Tell us.