Face cards - Jack removes a card, Queen is just to change the suit, and King adds a certain amount although I never did figure out the exact math on what it was on which cards.
If your stack was raised like you said, the computer player probably played a King on one of the cards in your stack - annoying but you can do the same to them. If your card disappears the computer probably played a Jack on it, which they randomly like to do on fresh piles.







