How Often Should You Change Your Deck of Playing Cards

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

If you are working hard on your card practice, you are going to need to change your deck of playing cards quite often. Cards can wear out pretty quickly. As a general rule of thumb, a deck of cards can be classed as ‘dead’ once the cards begin to stick together in clumps, and the edges of the deck are brown and tatty.

Although it’s possible to ruin a deck in a day if you are practising intensely, usually magicians doing a regular practice program find that a deck of cards stays in shape for about a week.

Working magicians get through their decks of playing cards much faster. Magician performing at a gig will often ruin a deck per gig. Usually the deck of cards is destroyed by having cards signed and given away.

Why you should change your deck of playing cards often

Practice sessions with a worn deck of playing cards is not a good idea because the feel and action of the cards is different as they wear. It’s important that you use cards with a consistent feel, so the closer to ‘new quality’ you keep your practice deck, the less handling problems you will have whenever you change decks.

If you are new to magic with playing cards, you may find that your hands sweat more than normal. This will increase the wear on your cards because the oil and sweat on your hands soak into the cards. It’s the main reason decks of playing cards lose their quality.

Playing cards such as Bicycle Playing Cards have a UV500 coating card tend to last the longest. Cheaper cards without that air finish wear quickly.

How do you know when it’s time to change your deck of playing cards?

Here’s 2 of the most popular ‘signs’ that its time to change your deck

You’ve destroyed over a quarter of the deck from having cards signed, torn, or folded.

The playing cards don’t fan well, and the clumps are in at least 6 to 10 cards.

Even if you try to look after your playing cards, once the playing cards get to this point they aren’t even good for practice. New decks of playing cards have a slippery feel. If you are used to the cards sticking together, you will have less control over them (fans or spreads may jump or slip out of control, cards may slide during a one handed cut, etc…)

If the deck has a lot of cards missing, your hands will not be used to the amount of cards, which could mean that a normal deck will feel too large for your hands which can impact your card manipulation.

Bicycle Cards – Are They Worth the Money?

by Dominic Reyes 1 Comment

Are Bicycle Cards worth the money? Would it be better to use cheap playing cards for practice?

We 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 of the great advice:

Duncan Clarke – Bicycle all the way.

Brian Clarke – Waddingtons, available at most newsagents and stationary stores in the UK

Sean Mccarthy – Phoenix cards are the best on the market quality wise. Bikes are standard and most gimmicks come in bikes. I would say get bicycle cards if you are starting off. If you have been doing magic for a while you should seriously consider the phoenix deck. After that, style and personal taste may affect your choice (I personally love the black noc deck).

Peter Curly Galloway – I find bicycle cards a little too slippy to start with. But after a while they are perfect. & last ages.

Chris Curley – A shoddy workman will always blame his tools. Bicycle cards are too pricey in the UK if he is only just learning and from personal experiance when I started I bought either waddingtons (£1) or just standard plastic coated cards (70p). Bicycle cards are great and are pretty much the standard but I know kids change there minds quite alot so next month he might not want to do magic and to be honest the pricey cards you speak of just look better and as a purist where cards are concerned I have never met a deck of cards that have ruined my ability to do tricks and sleights as I have and still do practice with every type of card I can get my hands on.

Alan Penman – Very cheap cards can be difficult to work with. However bicycle cards are not too expensive and worth it. Only spend extra to impress that special someone. Lol

Jonathan Nicholson – The standard USPC bicycle cards are the most popular primarily as any "gaffed" or specially customised decks are made with bike backs but the new trend in "cardistry" and flourishes often promote bespoke or limited release decks as their tools of choice (and their marketing is powerfully good at creating a demand) but the truth is just as all the previous comments have suggested… A good card trick can be performed with ANY pack I cards regardless of design or price tag. A deck of bikes can be used for just about everything but if he is more into the decks than the tricks then it's about personal choice in back design

Dan Wan – Bicycle plastic cards? A bit more expensive but last ages, not as good for sleights but fine when you are learning.

Matthew Ramsell – Standard bikes are all I ever use

Brent M Braun – I would say it depends on what kind of sleights he is working on. I couldn't imagine learning Faro shuffles with "Kentucky bikes"

Yann Champion – Bicycle Seconds if he's into magic. Tally Ho if he's really into cardistry and want to try something else.
He doesn't need anything else. But good luck to make a teenager understand that fancy decks are marketed towards kids and that magicians in the know don't care about them.

David Harris – Stick with bicycle cards.

Geoffrey Hubbard – I find Waddington playing cards are great for the price. The better you get, the more you pay. My opinion only.

What's your opinion? Share your thoughts by leaving a comment in the section below

Bicycle Cards – Are They Really the Best for Magicians?

by Dominic Reyes 6 Comments

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.