His interest in card games was aroused at an early age. Even as a seven-year-old he played all variations of Happy Families with much enthusiasm. The first-grader spent most of his breaks taking on his friends and most of his lessons waiting for the breaks. Anyhow, he succeeded in claiming to be an average school kid. He enjoyed his favourite subjects, sport and music, and suffered like so many others especially in maths. His priorities were then clear and there was no changing course: cards would always play an important role in Horst Koch’s life. To this day nothing has changed that.