Hour Cards training: the 60‑minute cards marathon
One hour to memorise as many shuffled packs of cards as you can, then two hours to write them back. Standard mode is the World Memory Championship format, scored pack by pack under the World Memory Sports Council rules.
- Memorise
- 60 min
- Recall
- 120 min
- World level
- Packs
- 59
- separately shuffled
- Trials
- 1
- World record
- 2,530
- cards · Guinness, 2019
Start a drill
The official Hour Cards format
In the rulebook this is Random Cards, run as a 10-, 30- or 60-minute discipline. Each pack is shuffled separately, cards can be looked at repeatedly and several at a time, and the packs are recalled in order on paper, card by card.
| Level | Memorise | Recall |
|---|---|---|
| National | 10 min | 30 min |
| International | 30 min | 60 min |
| World | 60 min | 120 min |
Standard mode is the World format. On paper each competitor chooses how many packs to take; here you get a pool of 59 packs — the 2,530-card world record plus 20%, in whole packs — so you never run out. Memorisation and recall both work one pack at a time, with a pack picker to move around.
How Hour Cards is scored
Every pack is judged on its own, so one bad pack can't sink a strong hour. These are the WMSC rules, with the rulebook's own examples:
- 52A pack recalled perfectlyFull marks for the pack.
- 26A pack with one mistakeA wrong card or a missing one.
- 0Two cards transposedA swap counts as two errors.
- 0A pack you didn't attemptNo penalty for packs left out.
- 38Last pack: first 38 cards, all correctA partly memorised last pack scores the cards recalled.
- 15Last pack: 29 cards, one mistakeHalf of 29 is 14.5, rounded up.
Pacing an hour of cards
The record pace is 2,530 cards in 60 minutes: about 42 cards a minute, or a pack every 74 seconds. Writing them back in two hours is about 21 cards a minute.
- Never guess a swap. When two cards could go either way, a guess is an even chance of 52 or 0. Leaving one position blank is one mistake: a guaranteed 26.
- Size the journey to the packs. With one image per two cards a pack is 26 images; with a PAO system it's 18. Give every pack the same number of loci in your memory palace, so a lost pack never shifts the next.
- Plan your reviews. An hour of new packs with no review lets the early ones fade. Decide when you go back — after every few packs, say — and rehearse that rhythm in Custom runs.
- Stop the last pack where your memory stops. Twenty sure cards score 20; guessing on to 52 will very likely add a second mistake and score 0.
For card systems and journeys, see How to memorise a deck of cards, and for pacing, journeys and review plans across the full hour, How to train for the hour events.
Hour Cards FAQ
What is Hour Cards at the World Memory Championships?
Hour Cards is the World-level version of the Random Cards discipline: competitors memorise as many separately shuffled packs of 52 playing cards as they can in 60 minutes, then write down the order of every pack within 120 minutes.
What is the world record for playing cards memorised in one hour?
Guinness World Records lists 2,530 cards, memorised by Kim Surim of the DPRK at the 2019 World Memory Championships in Wuhan, China. That is 48 complete packs and 34 cards of another.
How is Hour Cards scored?
Pack by pack: 52 points for a pack recalled perfectly, 26 for a pack with a single mistake (a missing card counts), and 0 for two or more mistakes. Two transposed cards count as two errors. There is no penalty for packs not attempted, and a partly memorised last pack scores the cards recalled, or half of them rounded up with one mistake.
How long do you get to memorise and recall the cards?
At World level, 60 minutes to memorise and 120 minutes to recall. International competitions use 30 and 60 minutes, and National competitions 10 and 30.
Do two swapped cards cost a whole pack?
Yes. A transposition counts as two errors, and two errors score the pack 0. If you can't tell which of two cards comes first, leaving one of the positions blank is a single mistake and guarantees 26 points; guessing gives an even chance of 52 or 0.
How many packs should I take?
On paper each competitor decides. This drill gives you a pool of 59 packs — the world record plus 20%, in whole packs — so you won't run out. Packs you don't reach cost nothing.
Can I pause an Hour Cards drill?
Not in World mode, which keeps results comparable. National, International and Custom runs can all be paused, and pausing hides the cards so the clock can't be stopped while you keep studying.
Keep training
Sources
- World Memory Sports Council rulebook — Random Cards (format and scoring)
- Guinness World Records — most playing cards memorised in one hour
Not affiliated with the World Memory Sports Council.