I hope this is the best/correct place for this

So – first home game

I have a board game table [with a vault] - so to look at your cards takes a little more effort [card bend] than in a normal flat table

I thought I had the best cards – Bicycle [poker sized – jumbo index] - the best of the best...

Perfect

Except right from the start the cards got bent too much, too easily

Made them look like cheap / nasty cards

Or worse they were all bent and so marked in a way [though all being bent probably was not a good way of tracking cards]

What are the best cards for poker [?]

As in still nice for the dealer – but they don’t bend and misshape [and definitely not right from the first hand]

I realise having the vault means that cards are going to be ‘peaked’ at in a way more likely to cause damage – but I was shocked at how the Bikes performed

So would love some advice - as I don't know anything other than a lot of magicians like Bikes

Ideally I would want the best brand – and in jumbo index [poker sized]

Thanks for any help, advice, or abuse

x

You want 100% plastic playing cards.

Note, these are not the cheap, plastic coated cards, you can find everywhere. They are 100% cellulose. Casinos use the best quality paperstock at the blackjack tables and what not but, in the poker rooms, they use plastic cards.

They are more expensive than regular bikes, but they are literally made for the job and will last much longer.
As for which ones to get, there are plenty of options. Some of the better brands to look for that I can remember off the top of my head are Kem, Copag and Modiano. If you want to stick with bikes, there's also the Bicycle Prestige range. (although they have a completely different back design to 808 Rider backs).

As soon as I hit 'submit' I started second guessing myself, so I just did a little research and, sure enough, I was wrong (at least I was right about being wrong!).

It turns out plastic Bicycle Prestige cards are also available in regular Rider backs now as well.

Thanks for that

I will check those out

So you are saying Casinos use cheaper plastic cards in the poker room - than the cards they use in the rest of the casino [?]

Makes sense as they make a lot more on the normal 'table games'

I found these:

https://www.casino-shop.co.uk/product.php?v_ic=CAN032

But can't see the name of who made them

It says:

"These cards are of the highest quality and have been quoted as being a better plastic playing card than Kem.

Our supplier claims all their products have been passed below Certificates..."

Hmm, "quoted" as being better [?]

But if they are good-ish - they seem a good cheap option [?] only £3 a pack

But I can't see what cards they are [who makes them]

I will check out Kems, etc that you mentioned

As it would be nice to get a brick of decent cards

Thanks for the help

No, actually the plastic cards are more expensive.
A busy blackjack table in Vegas can burn through a deck in an hour, so I guess it's still more cost effective to use paperstock and recycle them frequently. Especially as they sell the canceled cards in their gift shops.
The poker rooms can use the same decks for weeks on end. The big advantage there is that the players actually handle those cards a lot, so the poker cards need to be more durable. Also, being plastic, they are almost impossible to crimp or otherwise put 'work' into.

I have no idea what those particular cards are like. I'd guess they are cheaply made in China. They may be fine, but equally the printing quality could be poor if they are done on the cheap.

Generally, good plastic cards are around £8-15 a deck. Which seems expensive but, while they are 3 or 4 times the price, they should last a lot more than 3 or 4 times as long. They won't get crimped and, if someone spills their drink on them, you can wash them off under the tap!

Thanks again

Strangley I presumed the cards in the poker room were the cheaper ones

As they always seem to get marked up, have marks on [finger nail/machine marks]

I guess they do get handled a lot - and I suppose [although it seems like a lot of marks/etc] the poker room cards would be getting many more marks if they weren't plastic [?]

If I play a session [of a few hours] there will always be at least one deck change from a dealer because of some issue

Having said that - my bikes [non plastic cards] were bent out of shape, on the first hand

Thanks again

I have always found Piatnik cards to last forever. They are not that expensive compared to how many non-plastic decks they will outlast.

The plastic ones last really long time, but I will always use paper ones.

I love their feel and its much easier to do riffle shuffles etc.