Best deck of plastics (1 Viewer)

So at our game this Sunday there was a particular player that was really bending the cards in play (Da Vinci). After a few rounds it was pretty noticeable as the cards were not laying flat anymore, I actually had to remove them from play and bring out a brand new deck. Are Da Vinci's that bad or is this player just really mishandling the cards? I did bring it up in conversation and he said "maybe you should buy some better cards" and I was like "tell me what you consider a better brand and I will buy them"... he couldn't answer. So now I'm tempted to buy a desk of Bullet Playing Cards and was hoping to get some feedback on these before pulling the trigger.
Tell him to have a long walk over short pier...
But seriously.. Good, better, there are pieces of plastic, no matter how durable they not idiot proof.
When I had a similar problem I introduced custom... You break it! You buy it!. It worked.
 
I was like "tell me what you consider a better brand and I will buy them"... he couldn't answer.

I love it when it gets thrown back at the narcissistic know-it-all & they got nuthin'.... bonus points for that, I like you already. :D

That said, it's something of an interesting question. It's not that Dal Negro (edit) Da Vinci are bad. In fact, When it comes to "flex", they're pretty much what I consider "medium".

Ditto for weight & thickness... pretty much "middle of the road". & they're PVC.

So, the question becomes, what might be more "torture resistant"? Thinner/thicker, lighter/heavier, stiffer/softer, Cellulose Acetate?

Some combination of any/all of the above?

If you think stiffness is what you're going for, Faded Spade are the reigning champs in that department, with Modiano's "Texas Poker" line as the other end of that spectrum.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/the-redneck-poker-card-database.52229/
 
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I love it when it gets thrown back at the narcissistic know-it-all & they got nuthin'.... bonus points for that, I like you already. :D

That said, it's something of an interesting question. It's not that Dal Negro are bad. In fact, When it comes to "flex", they're pretty much what I consider "medium".

Weight wise they're on the "heavy" end of the scale. Ditto for thickness. & they're PVC.

So, the question becomes, what might be more "torture resistant"? Thinner, lighter, stiffer/softer, Cellulose Acetate?

Some combination of any/all of the above?

If you think stiffness is what you're going for, Faded Spade are the reigning champs in that department, with Modiano's "Texas Poker" line as the other end of that spectrum.

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/the-redneck-poker-card-database.52229/
Kem are most durable but because the flexibility they do not shuffle that good. Modiano Platinium are also idiot resistable.
 
& I like Kem's shuffle-ability because of the flexibility. :D

The softer the better for me shuffling-wise.
Yeah... But with time they become quite rubbery and do not slide against each other
 
I am talking few thousand hands. Fact that there is no sign of ink loose is nothing short but miracle
 
So at our game this Sunday there was a particular player that was really bending the cards in play (Da Vinci). After a few rounds it was pretty noticeable as the cards were not laying flat anymore, I actually had to remove them from play and bring out a brand new deck. Are Da Vinci's that bad or is this player just really mishandling the cards? I did bring it up in conversation and he said "maybe you should buy some better cards" and I was like "tell me what you consider a better brand and I will buy them"... he couldn't answer. So now I'm tempted to buy a desk of Bullet Playing Cards and was hoping to get some feedback on these before pulling the trigger.
As a person who plays with Da Vincis weekly and runs a weekly card game (I buy Modiano PAs for those but my Desjgns are on the way), I can attest that Da Vincis are very reasonable cards to be used in a regular game. The durability issue with those cards, like most come from fading as long as they are not abused.

Some people are just abusive to the cards. I see that the most from inveterate gamblers at casinos where the cards are dealt to them face down for them to open (mostly Baccarat). Those people just dont care how much the bend those cards. "I'm betting hundreds of dollars here!!"

I suggest you don't invite the player back if he doesn't respect the house.
 
Love all the replies... thanks for the feedback. I’ve had experience with all these other cards mentioned with the exception of Bullet Playing Cards, any experience with these? Funny thing is my cards should last a lot longer than they do as I only host a game every 3 weeks. Maybe I got some bad Da Vinci’s?
 
Help. I have a case of memory loss. How do you call cards with or without white borders?
 
Well finally ordered a few sets of the Bullets, here are some pictures. Will put them to the test at next weeks tournament... stay tuned for a review.
 

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Quite sturdy. With PVC cards like these, the wear comes from the ink smudging, as opposed to fading that I see on acetates.
 
Used Bullets this weekend. I thought they were okay, not bad at all, but definitely don’t compare to KEMs and Desjgns.
 
You see fading on Acetate? Which one?

I play in 2 poker groups, in one we use often Modiano PAs and in the other we use Da Vinci Palermos (though I imagine they're all just the same cards with different backs).

On these cards I do not see bleeding or smudging, the wear comes when the internal lines (you know how jumbos have a sort of rectangle where the pips are?) gradually fade and then the blacks start to go grey and eventually fade with use.

With PVC cards like Slowplays, Bullets and Ices, you see the pips smudge and then fade.

IMHO the color on the acetates last a little longer than PVCs. Not a lot, but noticeably.

The trick I think to extending life is to do the minimum amount of shuffling necessary for a proper shuffle (which for me is a wash, 2 riffles, a strip, a riffle then a cut).
 
I'm torn between various Modiano, Dal Negro, Copag, KEM & Da Vinic decks. All of the top-tier plastics seem to have something more appealing than the next, whether it be the back design, finish, fonts, coloring, flexibility, thickness, face card designs, smell, etc. I just rotate through my decks, but it's hard for me to settle on a favorite. I have settled on three things; 1) high quality plastics, 2) poker size, & 3) jumbo index.
-Even though this forum hates Modiano (and for good reason) I want to try them.
-I have a bunch of Da Vincis I donated (and now maintain) for a league that was using paper cards. Gross. I only invested into these because they were cheap at $17CAD/2 packs. They fade horribly.
-Copags seem "thin" to me. Also slick. Not a fan.
-KEMs I like the old KEMs. The circle back era. New KEMs are weird. Also warping apparently but I never had this issue. Also I bought like 30 packs of circle backs that ALL had manufacturing defects. I'm a little choked still. But I like the feeling of them. Just bought an Arrow and they don't feel the same.



I want to and probably still will try out Desjgn but the pips and face cards turn me off. The reviews are great around here. Does anyone know why they have the pale yellow tint on the inside boxes of all the cards besides the faces?

I have to say that I played with Desjgn for the first time a few months ago and I REALLY like the feeling of them.
They're damn near ideal. Damn near you say? Yeah the pips literally creep me out. Plus the diamonds are weird.
If they did some "normal" (I have no better way to describe it) artwork I'd be all over it.

But man... the cards themselves are real nice.
 
-Even though this forum hates Modiano (and for good reason) I want to try them.
-I have a bunch of Da Vincis I donated (and now maintain) for a league that was using paper cards. Gross. I only invested into these because they were cheap at $17CAD/2 packs. They fade horribly.
-Copags seem "thin" to me. Also slick. Not a fan.
-KEMs I like the old KEMs. The circle back era. New KEMs are weird. Also warping apparently but I never had this issue. Also I bought like 30 packs of circle backs that ALL had manufacturing defects. I'm a little choked still. But I like the feeling of them. Just bought an Arrow and they don't feel the same.





I have to say that I played with Desjgn for the first time a few months ago and I REALLY like the feeling of them.
They're damn near ideal. Damn near you say? Yeah the pips literally creep me out. Plus the diamonds are weird.
If they did some "normal" (I have no better way to describe it) artwork I'd be all over it.

But man... the cards themselves are real nice.
If yo bought 30 circle backs of Kems with defects you bought so called # seconds#, complete decks with minor flaws. They being sold for lower prices by www.kem.com. If you bought them from private person for normal price you were ripped off.
 
-Even though this forum hates Modiano (and for good reason) I want to try them.
-I have a bunch of Da Vincis I donated (and now maintain) for a league that was using paper cards. Gross. I only invested into these because they were cheap at $17CAD/2 packs. They fade horribly.
-Copags seem "thin" to me. Also slick. Not a fan.
-KEMs I like the old KEMs. The circle back era. New KEMs are weird. Also warping apparently but I never had this issue. Also I bought like 30 packs of circle backs that ALL had manufacturing defects. I'm a little choked still. But I like the feeling of them. Just bought an Arrow and they don't feel the same.





I have to say that I played with Desjgn for the first time a few months ago and I REALLY like the feeling of them.
They're damn near ideal. Damn near you say? Yeah the pips literally creep me out. Plus the diamonds are weird.
If they did some "normal" (I have no better way to describe it) artwork I'd be all over it.

But man... the cards themselves are real nice.

I bought a 2 deck set of WSOP Kems (came in a neat wood box with a drawer too). One deck is awesome is so neat I don't play with it. The other just started flaking and seemed like it would disintegrate over time. Weird!!
 
I bought a 2 deck set of WSOP Kems (came in a neat wood box with a drawer too). One deck is awesome is so neat I don't play with it. The other just started flaking and seemed like it would disintegrate over time. Weird!!
It's caused by exposure on heat and sunlight. Propobly was stored in some place. Maybe you kept it in car during summer. Happens a lot.
 
If yo bought 30 circle backs of Kems with defects you bought so called # seconds#, complete decks with minor flaws. They being sold for lower prices by www.kem.com. If you bought them from private person for normal price you were ripped off.

It was from a company (not Kem directly). Too bad i didn't really notice until WELL past the return period.
What really chaps my ass is that they were all the same card (Td I think) that was defective so I can't even build 29 decks.
That I would have been fine with.
 
It was from a company (not Kem directly). Too bad i didn't really notice until WELL past the return period.
What really chaps my ass is that they were all the same card (Td I think) that was defective so I can't even build 29 decks.
That I would have been fine with.
If they sold it as a regular Kem cards, not seconds, past return period regulations do not apply. Contact www.kem.com and company you purchased product from. Plus let us PCF where you bought them as a warning. Product is defective so they should replace it, at least that one card in particular.
 
It's caused by exposure on heat and sunlight. Propobly was stored in some place. Maybe you kept it in car during summer. Happens a lot.

Yeah, I live in a tropical country. I've started storing my cards in airtight containers with dessicants these days
 
-Copags seem "thin" to me. Also slick. Not a fan.
They are thin, the idea I guess was to make a card with the soft flex of an acetate card at the price-point of PVC.

They succeeded, but in order to do that you have to make 'em thinner 'cause PVC is harder than C-A.

The trade-off, obviously, is durability.

The issue for me in the land of nice soft-flexing C-A decks that don't suffer from the Italian Fat Spade Syndrome, leaves Kem as the only game left in town.

Jason had to switch suppliers for Desjgn when Modiano screwed the QC pooch & then tried to pretend they didn't have a problem.

& Gemaco only does large volume commercial sales on plastic decks now.
 
I have played with KEM, copag and modiano platinum and of the 3 find that the modiano platinum hold up the best. we use a new set up each game ( and open the decks in front of the players at the start of the game). Even the modianos are beat up after the game. Also, with the modianos if u spend 250 or more u get 20 percent off with the coupon which comes out to about $15 per set up for the platinums. Can’t beat it. premium cards, great price.
 
I have played with KEM, copag and modiano platinum and of the 3 find that the modiano platinum hold up the best. we use a new set up each game ( and open the decks in front of the players at the start of the game). Even the modianos are beat up after the game. Also, with the modianos if u spend 250 or more u get 20 percent off with the coupon which comes out to about $15 per set up for the platinums. Can’t beat it. premium cards, great price.

I more or less share Goldfish's opinion, though I just received my Desjns right before the lockdown started and I'm eager to see how well it will hold up compared to the Modianos, whose main issue for me has always been fading, never the material.
 

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