Best playing cards (1 Viewer)

Musky48

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What is the best playing cards in you opinion. Back in high school we used kem. Is that still the best or are there better options out there?
 
I have tried KEMs and loved the texture and flexibility. However... they warp easily, and there is no way to get them perfectly flat anymore.

Fournier is a tiny bit behind in the other properties, but their cards stay flat. They are my favorites when it comes to traditional 2-color decks. Availability in the US appears to be not that good, but Bicycle has them manufacture their Prestige cards, maybe those are more widespread in shops. Similar feel but not 100% the same (probably modified formular with cheaper ingredients).

For 4-color decks there's not many options but the Copags win by a small margin vs. the Modianos I have. Downside: they smell like burned fireworks...

Modiano I don't like at all, too stiff and slippery for my taste (OOC thread here I come!)
 
Copy and pasted from another similar thread with some small edits:

In no particular order these are my favorites:

King Australia Medieval and Prestige Poker Size Jumbo Index
Cartamundi (made in Belgium) Poker Size Jumbo Index
desjgn Grand Victorian Poker Size Jumbo Index
desjgn Caicos Casino Bridge Size Jumbo Index
Fournier 2800 Poker Size Jumbo Index
Piatnik 100% Plastic Poker and Bridge Size Jumbo Index
Dal Negro Virgolone Poker Size Jumbo Index
Guild 100% Plastic Poker and Bridge Size Jumbo Index
Faded Spade v2 (not the v1's, they're garbage. The v2's are much, much better) Poker and Bridge Size Jumbo Index.

Like many, I use poker size cards for NLHE and bridge size for dealer's choice nights and circus games that require more than 2 hole cards.

Modiano makes some of the best cards money can buy but their customer service and treatment of their customers is absolute dog shit.

Copag's make for decent entry level cards at a good price point. They're also very available in the US. Fournier, King, Cartamundi, and Piatnik are a bit harder to find, but are accessible if you know where to look!
 
Fournier wins the card battle here. https://www.naipeszaca.com/en/ This site was happy to ship to the states pre COVID. I imagine that once things finally settle down, they will gleefully resume international shipping.

I was also a part of the King card group buy. While people had issues with warped cards on the bridge size setups, the poker size was PERFECT. http://www.kingplayingcards.com.au/ These guys will gladly ship to the states.

Sorry to say it, but the American offering to playing cards is KEM, and they are terrible for me. KEM cards warp in high humidity, and I live that close to Lake Erie. High humidity is a fact of life for me, so I can't use them.

Copags to me are cheap junk cards, but when compared to Fournier or King they are priced like cheap junk cards so hey you get your moneys worth out of them so go for it. You can find those on Amazon all the time.

Modiano is a four letter word here at PCF - don't ask about those.

People are starting to profess their love for Faded Spade 2.0 - I hate the artwork so I won't bother trying them. Cards from desjgn are supposed to be "the best thing since sliced bread", but again, a very similar look to Faded Spade so .............. I am sure he sells a great product (you don't get a following like he has here without it) but I just can't quite make that trip to the dark side. Not yet anyway.

If you want to give Cartamundi a try you can get some really cheap from @Josh Kifer , but I think he is just pretending to sell them and he actually wants to keep them all for himself ................ :sneaky: .......................(I am only kidding) The sale thread is here https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cartamundi-bravo-card-sale-thread-sale-3-60-a-deck.63160/ so go ahead and check them out. I don't personally know anything about those cards but at that price you got nothing to lose by trying.
 
Thank you for all the info. This site is amazing. I’m just getting started on collecting and I have chips on the way from members
 
Short answer (imo)
Fournier / Bicycle Prestige
Desjgn
Everything else

Caveat: I prefer poker (wide) size cards. If you prefer bridge (narrow) cards, I can't speak to them.

Long answer: review the threads in
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/forums/poker-playing-cards.17/, in particular https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/the-redneck-poker-card-database.52229/ and https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/cards-review.3776/ .
Didnt know bicycle produce a quality product, good to know!
 
Adding on here late to also recommend Fournier. They stay flat, and don’t have the chemically smell Copags do. I still prefer handling KEM the most tho they require special containers to keep flat and I haven’t found a good one for single decks yet.
 
1. Fournier
2. KEM
3. Copag

My favorite are Fournier 2826, bridge size & jumbo index
 

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