Playing Cards

Choosing the Right Deck for Your Home Game

Paper or Plastic?

The short answer is plastic. Cards come in two basic types: plastic cards and paper cards coated in plastic. Paper cards will typically last a few games before they become too limp to easily shuffle and play with. Quality casino-grade paper decks hold up noticeably longer than cheap ones, but even they can't match plastic. Plastic cards will typically last a couple of years.

You can use a single deck in your game, but you will speed things up by having two decks with different color backs such as red and blue. Cards sold this way are referred to as a "setup." This allows the game to continue with the red deck, for example, while someone other than the dealer shuffles the blue deck to get ready for the next hand. Having different color card backs prevents the decks from mixing while both are on the table.

Red and blue card backs from a single setup of playing cards
A standard setup — one red deck, one blue deck, sold together

Size Matters

Decks will come in either bridge size or poker size. Bridge size is smaller at 2.25″ wide, while poker is 2.5″ wide; both are typically 3.5″ high. Some people prefer bridge size because the narrower cards are easier on the hands when dealing and can be easier to handle when playing a game that requires you to hold more than two cards.

Ace of spades at poker size Poker — 2.5″ × 3.5″
Ace of hearts at the narrower bridge size Bridge — 2.25″ × 3.5″
Same height, different width — bridge size is a quarter inch narrower

Anatomy of a Card

Card faces are made up of ranks and suits, which are marked in the corner of the card. That corner marking — the rank with a small suit symbol under it — is called the index, and the suit symbols themselves are the pips. Common index sizes are Standard and Jumbo, and decks come with the index printed in either two or four corners.

Cards are also available in a four-color version and come with unique index options such as Fournier's "Poker Peek" corners, which can make it easier to see your cards when bending a corner up to read them at the table.

Playing card with a standard two-corner index
Standard index, two corners
Playing card with a jumbo two-corner index
Jumbo index, two corners
Fournier Poker Peek cards with peek-style index corners
Fournier Poker Peek index

4-Color Decks

An optional format where diamonds are blue and clubs are green (rather than all red/black). Makes suit-reading easier, especially in Omaha and Stud, where suits matter more. Not everyone loves the look, but it's worth trying.

Ace of spades — black, as in a standard deck Ace of hearts — red, as in a standard deck Ace of diamonds in four-color blue Ace of clubs in four-color green
Four-color deck — spades and hearts stay black and red; diamonds go blue, clubs go green

Security Ink

Cards can also come in what is known as "security ink," which offers better contrast for casino video surveillance. Note that the red used in security ink decks is very dark and can be mistaken for black at a home game where lighting might be less than perfect.

Copag Poker Pro vs Casino Pro security ink comparison
Copag Poker Pro (left) vs CasinoPro (right) — the CasinoPro uses UV-reactive security ink

Care and Feeding of Your Cards

You can clean plastic cards, but it should be done selectively, on the cards that need it. Fading can occur after washing.

Typical cleaning instructions are as follows (from copagcards.com):

  1. Use cold water. Never use hot water. Avoid warm water. Try cleaning your cards with cold water and no soap to start.
  2. Use a non-abrasive cloth and gently wash the playing cards individually. Do not use a paper towel or any other paper-based towel products. Definitely avoid any sort of abrasive scrubbing material.
  3. Clean only a few cards at a time.
  4. Rub very lightly on both sides.
  5. Inspect your cards to ensure they are clean. If water alone did not clean your cards, then wash them again with a neutral soap. A neutral soap is a soap that is not alkaline or acidic — a pH of about 7. The most commercially identifiable pH-neutral soap is Dove. We recommend Dove soap when just plain water will not work.
  6. Once a clean card is achieved, dry thoroughly at once using a clean, soft, non-abrasive cloth.
  7. Spread cards on a table and allow up to one hour on each side to air dry.