How to do Magic Tricks

Advice and Support for Magicians

Bicycle Cards – Are They Really the Best for Magicians?

by Dominic Reyes 6 Comments

Bicycle Cards - Best For Magicians?

By Dominic Reyes

Karen asks: My son has started learning magic and is asking me to buy him quite expensive playing cards. I've been told that he just needs Bicycle Cards. Which playing cards do you recommend?

You can spend a great deal of money on expensive designer playing cards. Many of the limited edition decks become collectable investments, but that shouldn't be your son's first goal when training as a magician. You want a solid, well performing deck of playing cards that he can use to work on his card technique.

Skills are more important that tools.

I would recommend getting him a standard deck of bicycle cards. The most common are the Poker 808 Bicycle Cards. These are the 'standard' playing cards used my magicians all over the world.

Bicycle cards are perfect for most magic tricks. They perform really well, are cheap to buy, and because of the Bicycle Cards UV-500 AirFlow finish they will be easy to handle. Cheap playing cards that are sold in many high street shops tend to not be Bicycle cards. They are often smaller in size because they are designed for playing Bridge rather than Poker. Although they are very cheap, they tend to ruined fast, stick together in clumps, and bend easily.

If you son starts his magic practice with 'Bikes' he will be building up his 'feel' for the cards right from the start. As he adds gimmicked decks or special cards to his card work, he will be able to include these without trouble as he is already using the standard deck most professional magicians use.

A deck of Bicycle cards can last a long time with careful use. I recommend that your son reads this post on how to make your deck of cards last longer.

 

 

NEXT:

  • Bicycle Playing Cards UK - Which Deck for Magicians?
    Bicycle Playing Cards UK - Which Deck for Magicians?
  • How to Hold Bicycle Playing Cards Correctly - Video Podcast for Magicians
    How to Hold Bicycle Playing Cards Correctly - Video…
  • 6 Free Magic Tricks From Jay Sankey
  • Anniversary Waltz Free Magic Download
  • Approaching Magic Practice Ebook
  • Approaching Tables Ebook
  • Recommended For Magic Beginners
  • Cagey Tutorial
  • Choose Magic Set Kids
  • Cloud of Smoke Free Ebook
  • Double Lift Project Free Download
  • Duplex Free Magic Download
  • Epoch Free Magic Tutorials
  • Electric Touch Free Ebook
  • False Shuffles and Cuts Magic Download
  • Faster Than Light - Magic Download
  • Finger-Exercises
  • How to Break In Playing Cards
  • How to Learn Magic Tricks
  • Tips for Leaving a Magic Gigi
  • LSQ Ebook - Free
  • Magicians Fees Ebook
  • Mistakes in Magic Ebook
  • More Icandy
  • The One Minute Magic Business Ebook
  • Pitfalls Magic Family and Friends
  • Safe - Free Magic Ebook
  • School of Cool Free Download
  • Sleight of Hand Beginners Course
  • Split Free Magic Video Download
  • Self Working Card Tricks Vol 2 Download
  • Sweet 360 Free Magic Download
  • The 80's Called Download
  • Self Working Card Tricks Vol 3
  • Think Tank Free Magic Download
  • Turnover Pass Free Download
  • Self Working Card Tricks Download
  • Understanding Misdirection Free Ebook
  • Watch It Free Ebook
  • Wedding Exhibition Guide for Magicians
  • Confidence For Magicians
  • The Indian Shuffle

Filed Under: bicycle playing cards, how to do magic tricks Tagged With: bicycle playing cards, Questions and Answers

Comments

  1. Dan Pearman says

    October 1, 2014 at 2:40 pm

    I’ve got to agree with all Dominic’s comments above. I started out originally with cheap cards and, not only did they fall apart really quickly, but I then had to relearn everything when I finally did get round to buying proper cards. Expensive decks can be really tempting (they look cool), but there’s definitely no point buying an expensive deck if you’re going to need to spend considerable time practicing with it – it’ll be ruined before it’s ever used for performance (especially true with black decks (and others with all-over colour) as they can ‘chip’ around the edges quite quickly). I’d recommend practising with Bicycles and then maybe getting a more expensive deck to perform with if you really want to – although there’s several good arguments for performing with Bikes too: much easier to get suitable gaff cards, plus they look more ‘normal’ (an expensive deck looks fancy and draws attention to itself by being special, this can mean that spectators assume that the deck has special properties and that’s how the magic works – just something to consider).

    Reply
    • Sayre says

      January 11, 2018 at 10:59 pm

      I totally agree, I have been practising magic for countless hours with standard bicycle cards. They are the perfect cards for magic as they don’t clump (until there worn out) and feel great in the hand. They don’t take alot of effort to wear in (not to be mixed up with worn out) so are perfect for beginners that haven’t had a lot of experience with cards, also they dont take alot to keep in decent condition.

      A few tips of advise.
      The cards don’t mean you will be great at magic, you need to practise.
      Don’t go strait I for fancy cards as they will be more expensive and therefore not good for practising as they will be ruined by the time you perform.

      Reply
  2. Richard Lawson says

    October 2, 2014 at 11:01 am

    Bicycle playing cards are wonderful playing cards to use for magic and I agree with your comments. However as you say in your posting above; “Cheap playing cards that are sold in many high street shops tend to not be Bicycle cards.”-
    Bicycle playing cards are not commonly available on the high street and as a result are not the everyday sort of playing card that lay people have. I wonder if we should be using Bicycle Playing cards to perform magic; shouldn’t we use the type of cards that everybody has? Bicycle playing cards are the ones tht magicians use and they can shriek “special magic cards” so that even the best display of sleight of hand is possibly thought of as being bought about by using gaffed cards.
    As Dan Peerman comments “an expensive deck looks fancy and draws attention to itself by being special, this can mean that spectators assume that the deck has special properties and that’s how the magic works ” I believe that the same applies to the standard Bicycle pack as it is not available in the high street. As such, attention is drawn to the pack.
    I used to think the same about the Sharpie pen, but that is now available everywhere. Any chance of seeing standard Bicycle playing cards available in WH Smiths and similar stores?

    Reply
  3. Alex says

    November 26, 2017 at 6:21 pm

    Yes i agree that skills are more important.If you have the required skills then you can perform magic with any cards.But if you are a beginner then you should select bicycle cards as they are very cheap and easily available and very easy to handle.

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. How Bicycle Playing Cards Are Made How to do Magic Tricks says:
    September 30, 2014 at 4:30 pm

    […] Related post: Are Bicycle Cards worth buying? […]

    Reply
  2. Bicycle Cards - Are They Worth the Money? How to do Magic Tricks says:
    October 2, 2014 at 5:00 pm

    […] posted a customer question asking about Bicycle cards for beginner magicians. Should beginners use Bicycle cards? There was a lot of feedback from magicians, so here's some […]

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

GET WEEKLY UPDATES

Get Free articles sent to your inbox that will help you, your magic, and your performance.

Thanks! You have Subscribed.

SEARCH THE BLOG

GET A FREE MAGIC TRICK


GET A FREE MAGIC TRICK

Download your free magic trick FINK courtesy of Ben Harris.

Fink is an interesting effect: a crazy concoction of Luke Dancy's GRAB, Ben Harris's Through the universe backwards, and Fandango. Created by Kyle MacNeill

BEGINNERS START HERE

BEGINNER MAGIC SECTION

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

LISTEN TO THE PODCAST
Read Our Privacy Policy

RECENT POSTS

  • Magic Shops that accept Bitcoin and Ethereum Cryptocurrency
  • Behind the Curtain Magic Trick Review – Punch’d
  • Social Distancing For Magicians – After The Covid 19 Lockdown
  • Coin Box Magic – Free Download
  • Which Fire Wallet Is Right For You?

FIND US ON FACEBOOK

FOLLOW US ON TWITTER

SEE WHAT’S JUST ARRIVED TO THE MAGIC SHOP

SEE WHAT'S JUST ARRIVED TO THE MAGIC SHOP

THE MAGIC SHOP

  • TESTIMONIALS
  • BEGINNERS START HERE
  • GIFT IDEAS
  • MAGIC SETS
  • CARD MAGIC TRICKS
  • CLOSE-UP MAGIC TRICKS
  • MAGIC DVDS
  • MAGIC BOOKS
  • COIN MAGIC TRICKS
  • PLAYING CARDS
  • MIND MAGIC TRICKS
  • MEET THE TEAM

SEE WHAT’S COMING SOON

SEE WHAT'S COMING SOON

PAUL HARRIS SECTION

PAUL HARRIS SECTION

ELLUSIONIST SECTION

ELLUSIONIST SECTION

JAY SANKEY SECTION

JAY SANKEY SECTION

Copyright © 2021 · Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in