Poker With More Than One Deck
I know a lot of my readers are amateur players, practising at home to perfect their game so they can place bigger bets and play bigger tables.
For that reason, a lot of the stuff on my website is given over to advice on strategy and tactics of play. However, there is one important aspect of poker I haven’t discussed yet – the cards themselves!
The deck you use to play poker won’t necessarily make a huge difference to your success at the game, but I thought it might be interesting for me to tell you a bit about the different types of card deck out there, what brands are being used by pros in casinos, and which might be best for your home play.
A standard deck has 52 cards – a tradition that has been around for more than 500 years. There are more than 80,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 different outcomes to the order of shuffle of the 52 cards. The fact that number has 67 zeros means you are extremely unlikely to get the same arrangement twice.
In a casino, it’s pretty standard practice to have more than one deck of cards to hand – this is a good idea in any poker game because if one deck gets damaged or marked, you can switch to the back-up. A marked deck can give an advantage to any player who can spot the marks. In poker rooms, the two decks will usually be two different colours so they are easily distinguished. Most of the cards you buy online will come in sets of two decks and have these contrasting back colours.
For a game at home, I would recommend changing deck every two hours or so. That’s because even an undamaged deck can become marked with fingerprints, or food and drink stains – common for games at home.
However, if a card becomes visibly damaged you should change it immediately. Players can track the damaged card. If you’re hosting a mini-tournament make sure if that you have a couple of packs per table.
Quite often in professional games, a player might ask for a “new setup”, which is them asking if the decks can be changed. Usually this is because they feel they have had a bad run with the deck of cards currently in use, and want to change their luck with a new pack. I am quite superstitious so I understand – but it can slow the game down quite a bit if you are changing deck every other hand!
When you are thinking about which cards to buy it can be quite overwhelming – there are so many brands and types of deck that you can buy online.
This is one of the most noticeable traits of any good deck of playing cards. KEM cards are also are known to have legendary durability. There’s a reason casinos use these cards, they last a long time! You would likely go through 10 or more decks of Bicycle cards before wearing these out. There is only one card in a 1-deck game that can help you, but in a 2-deck game, you have 5 cards. Your probability in the 1 deck game is 1/45 (you know 7 of the cards: 4 from your own hand, and 3.
The two basic types of playing cards are 100% plastic cards and paper cards which have then been coated in plastic.
Casinos will always use the 100% plastic ones – and these are the type I prefer to play with. However, coated cards are the more common – they are the sort you will find at a supermarket. However, they are not durable enough for sustained play, and get marked or scuffed much more easily than plastic ones. So if you are going to play quite a bit of poker with your friends, I would go for the more expensive but better value 100% plastic cards.
Professionals use them. Casino dealers like them because they deal nicely and slide smoothly across the table. At a pro-table a dealer will usually use a machine to shuffle the deck, but at home these plastic cards shuffle nicely in your hands and carry a good weight.
It’s not too hard to find plastic cards online, and you can even find the same brands as they use in professional tournaments – which can be useful practice if you are working your way up to your first competition! The brands used most often in casinos are Kem, Copag, Gemaco and Modiano. Kem are probably the most popular because they are used on the World Series of Poker and the World Poker Tour.
One thing a lot of people ask is whether there are different rules for a standard size or design of cards in different countries, but in my experience the international standard is 63.5mm X 88.9mm with regular denomination, suit, and court cards.
But, as I said before – the cards should be your tool to win. It’s useful to have a couple of good decks, but if you are going to invest in something to improve your game, it should be your time.
When hosting a poker game, the quality of the deck of playing cards you employ is an important key to the enjoyment of your players. Flimsy, low-quality cards are to be avoided at all costs. There really is no reason to be a cheapskate on this front, since even high-end casino quality decks of cards are really not that expensive. Take my advice, spend the extra few bucks, and purchase some good looking quality playing cards.
Poker With More Than One Deck Stain And Sealer
The 3 best quality playing card brands
Now let’s go through the types of playing cards so that you know what types to avoid and which to choose.
Types Of Playing Cards
There are basically two types of construction used in making playing cards. There is vinyl, sometimes plastic coated, decks of cards and 100% plastic cards. The former is the cheap kind of cards that you find in any typical department store. While they are inexpensive, they are generally constructed of cheap materials and subject to being bent or torn easily. The most common brand associated with this type of card is Bicycle. Avoid these cards at all costs!
To that end, this article will focus on my favorite three brands of high quality, durable playing cards. Let’s go through them in turn.
The Top Playing Card Brands
#1. KEM Playing Cards
The most expensive brand. The preferred card used at the WSOP & WPT. Extreme durability, the brand that all other cards are compared to.
#2. Copag Playing Cards
A less expensive, a bit lighter, high-quality card. They are a bit more slippery but are the best alternative to KEM. My personal favorite.
#3. Modiano Playing Cards
The least expensive of the three. A very nice option if you like a bit more weight or heft to your cards. A bit different than the other two, but Italian quality makes them worth a look.
Reviews
1. KEM
The most expensive brand of the three. Manufactured out of 100% Cellulose Acetate, KEM playing cards are the most common quality deck of cards in the world. In fact, most casinos and card rooms employ this brand. This is also the card used in the WSOP and WPT.
These cards are a bit thinner than their competitors, but not so much as to cause a problem. They are not “slippery” at all and the top cards do not slide off when you set them down. This is one of the most noticeable traits of any good deck of playing cards. KEM cards are also are known to have legendary durability. There’s a reason casinos use these cards, they last a long time! You would likely go through 10 or more decks of Bicycle cards before wearing these out.
Get these KEM cards (Click see them on Amazon) if you want to play the cards “seen on TV” or in casinos. Also available jumbo index, which I highly recommend due to their enhanced readability.
2. Copag
Copags are my personal favorite and reasonably priced as well. The flexibility and thickness just seem to strike the right balance. They are slightly more slippery than the other high-end brands, but not in an annoying way.
There is not much in the way of texture to the surface and they have an overall lighter weight to them, which I find appealing. In my opinion, these cards shuffle the best and just exude quality and are perhaps the favorite of top players around the world.
My advice is that if you are unsure of which brand to try, go with Copag. Try these black and golds, my favorite deck color. Or, if this is your first time purchasing Copag cards, I recommend that you buy the dealer’s kit, which comes with nice buttons for the button, small blind, and big blind. Also available with jumbo index.
Can You Play Poker With More Than One Deck
3. Modiano
As the least pricey quality brand, Italian made Modiano cards are thicker and heavier than all of the other brands of high-end playing cards, with a more “hefty” feel to them. It takes some getting used to these cards if you have been using other high-end brands.
They are not as smooth and many variations have a sort of light texture to them. Often, people either love or hate Modiano playing cards, due to their noticeable differences to what most people may be used to. I advise that you only try this brand out if you like cards with a bit more weight to them.
Overall, these are awesome decks of cards. I recommend trying out the Da Vinci Ruotes regular or jumbo index, I think you will really like them.
When it comes to purchasing the best playing cards for hosting the perfect poker night, here are a few things to consider.
- Playing Card Size
There are numerous different sizes of playing cards, but the vast majority of non-standard sized cards are just manufactured for novelty cards. When it comes to quality playing cards, you have two basic options; poker size (2.5″ x 3.5″) or bridge size (2.25″ x 3.5″). Unless you just happen to like slightly narrower cards, I would just stick to the standard poker sized cards. Otherwise, your buddies might tilt their heads slightly on the first hand of the poker night and say, “something isn’t right here.” - Glare
Having meticulously compared all 3 brands, I don’t feel glare is an issue on any of them. However, if you just go by how shiny the cards are I would say that KEM reflects light the most, with Copag having the dullest sheen of them all. Modiano cards fall somewhere in the middle. If you play with a lot of bright lights in your poker room and glare is a genuine issue for you, I would go with the Copags. However, I am fairly confident that glare should not be an issue with any of the three. To put things in perspective, tons of casinos use KEM cards and I haven’t ever heard anyone complain about the glare on them. It’s just not a huge concern. - Readability
When players discuss the size of the playing card, they are sometimes talking about the index. What that basically means is the size of the numbers or letters on the face of the card. It’s all about personal preference, however, casinos and a lot of professionals prefer the jumbo index size, due to how much easier they are to read further away. Nothing is worse than being at the end of the table and having the flop, turn, and the river being spread out at the opposite end of the poker table. For most people, trying to read regular index would be next to impossible. Therefore, I recommend erring on the side of purchasing jumbo index.
- Feel, Texture, & Thickness
This is another thing that is all about personal preference. KEM cards are the thinnest of the set and Modiano is the thickest. Copags are the most slippery and Modiano the least, generally due to their heft and slight texture on the face of the cards. KEM feels lighter with almost a “papery” feel to them but still doesn’t have issues sliding around when the deck is set down. Long story short, if you want the feel of cards from the casino, get some KEMs. If you like more heft and texture, try Modiano. Personally, I prefer Copags since they bridge the gap between the variations. Overall, all 3 brands shuffle smoothly and handle very nicely when being dealt. - Graphics & Back Designs
As far as the design, graphics, and general look of each brand, KEM, Copag, and Modiano, are all beautifully made cards with a sophisticated and professional look. They all look high quality in every way. I don’t think anyone at your poker game is going to be disappointed, no matter which you choose.
4 Color Options
Summary
Having a poker night is all about the poker and playing cards are the tools of the trade. They are an investment in the fun factor of your home game and should not be overlooked when planning the event. A lot of people focus on having a great poker table or professional poker chips and forget the most important part.
Please, for the love of the poker Gods, do not show up with cheap Bicycle playing cards at your next poker night. You playing partners will thank you for it and think you are the classiest guy around.
Thanks for stopping by and be sure to browse my other articles for more poker information.