I know a year late, paper cards are in a VERY strange spot for me. I use them a lot but also wish I'd have more opportunities for safely using my plastic decks, more of a little off hand rant but i find it interesting everyone's story or experiences with paper
I don't play poker so I'm already an outlier, but back in the "before times" i'd host general card game nights every 2 weeks sometimes weekly. We'd play (or at least try to play) games like hearts, spades, cribbage, etc. The company i kept couldn't remember their turn half the time, much less a marked/dented/warped card. I use to carry bikes back in HS, they were always okay but upgraded to Bees when i got in trouble for "Gambling" as they said and took my bikes. Really liked Bees and ran those for a while but feel in love with tally hos in 2017, i went on a trip to Chicago a few weeks after i saw The French Connection. and freaked when i found the cards they used in the movie in a magic store, Seeing them later in The Sting didn't help my love as well
But I've ran all my paper cards hard, my original tally hos i used for 2 years frequently only swapped out every now and again for a different back design. They have blue ink/glue stains from getting wet and drying, yucky stuff of the faces. but no accidental marks, dog ears, splitting, or separation. If you removed the stains on the back they'd be completely usable for at least a few hands of home poker.
We didn't treat them good, cards were played on the floor, on various tables at game stores/coffee shops/pub/outdoor bench you name it. Even though they are stained, yellowed, and sweated on they riffle amazingly and stayed flat/in shape just fine. I have a bicycle Canasta set of cards, i love that game and the little extra "wild" and score pips help teach it to new people. I've used that set going on 2 years and it held up very well, we play it on cleaner areas. We crack it open maybe once every 2 months now, or when i want to play 2 deck solitaire and i get too lazy to split the decks back up. But it was 2-3 times a month for the first year and a half of owning that set.
But one wet finger, one card delt into a puddle, someone forgot to wipe the bbq sauce or boogers off their hand and bam. New pack js needed, i will always have a soft heart for paper. The ability to play anywhere and not worry is great, especially with good quality decks going up and up in cost. I feel there should always be a place for paper even outside of the "throw it to the group of 10 year olds and watch them turn into a cartoon dust cloud fight with them", but absolutely not something to use for anything you want to be pro at or not be a variable for a bad night.
