A game is an iconic phenomenon for many world cultures. The concept of “game” has a high general cultural significance. The article addresses the card game as a linguocultural phenomenon of the 19th‑century noble society, reflected in the works by A.S. Pushkin, which is of active interest to researchers at the present time. The paper aims at determining the role of card games in the history of Russian 19th‑century nobility. The following methods were used: inductive, contextual analysis of lexemes and the frame modeling method, which is basic in cognitive linguistics. The frame method enabled to describe the slots and terminal nodes of the “card game” concept. The research material was based on the names of card games popular among the 19th‑century nobility, reflected in works of Russian literature of the first half of the 19th century. The meanings of lexical units and cultural objects within a unified system of instrumental categories were examined. Research results show that there are lexical means defining the terminology of commercial and gambling card games. Moreover, the gaming universe of the 19th‑century card game is defined by the term “linguocultureme”. In conclusion, a card game in the life of Russian 19th‑century nobility is not only a form of leisure or a means of becoming established in society, but also a way of cognition of the transcendent.