Piquet is a very old game.It was well established by 1650 with similar rules to the present ones (it differed in using a 36 card pack with a 12 card talon, elder hand being allowed to change 7 cards, and a partie was ended by the first to reach 100, a variant still sometimes played).

It was mentioned by Rabelais in 1535 although whether this was the same game is unclear.It has retained its popularity to the present day as one of the best and most skilful card games for two players.The rules described are those published by Cavendish in 1882.