Anyone ever tried using plastic playing cards before? It reads they are also washable. I never seen them before in person.
http://www.bgamers.com/kemcards.htm
http://www.gamblingincorporated.com/prod......id=16190
If anyone ever used them, do they have any advantages with our performances? Thanks

Dynamike

I tried a deck of Kem's ones. they are pretty nice at first. and they do not wear off. but the finish doesn't even compare to a regular deck of bikes for example.
I would pass...and they're expensive.

-Matt

I've made IDs out of Royal PVC cards - they work better in humid conditions than paper cards.

A couple of home Poker games I play at use Kems, they are ok but they definitely feel different, I don't much like them.

I like them, but they need to be used in different way. They ussually used for poker games, as they are more long lasting and you can wash them. One of the experts on Kem cards are Rod The Hop

I really like the Bicycle plastic cards but would not use them in performance unless there was a specific reason.

Yeah I have a deck of plastic cards, I got them on holiday. they were fun to play with at first but I never would use them. I used to practice back palms with them as they don't crimp and card throwing. their weird, when they get wet they become magnetic!!

Here is another link for some reasonably priced plastic playing cards (and they're not pink!).

http://www.chessusa.com/Merchant2/mercha......e=G9-010

Cheers!

** Bill **

For poker, nothing beats plastic decks... For magic, they are less than effective.

If you do want to try some plastic decks, get COPAG. Or if you can find pre-USPC KEM decks, use those. Since uspc took over kem, the cards have gone to ****. Which is amazing considering their made on the exact same machines...

I personally don't like plastic cards...feel funny and hard to "move" with.

On the other hand, people who practice with them like them.

Another reason I don't like them is because most people (unless they are a card player) never saw those back designs and never felt cards like them before. Hence, they may raise suspecion.

I personally, believe in buying the most common cards in your geographic area. (ie. Drug stores carru Bicycles and Bees where I live...so they never raise suspecion.).

For magic pl;astic cards do not spread or fan very well and this makes handling very different. I'll stick to Bikes.

Gil Scott

I don't like plastic for magic at all.

Kaz

The Bicycle clear plastic cards are the best plastic card I have used. However, I tend to have my deck torn and bent pretty quick. They aren't too good for that (Don't tear very well).

They are thin and look pretty interesting. I could manipulate them right out of the box, though they aren't really good for it IMHO.

I don't like plastic cards for magic. Much more difficult to manipulate.

I found that using plastic cards for side steal is much easier than bicycle cards. The card slide out very easily with less noise.

I would not use the plastic cards for magic. The weight and feel is very differant. And the fanning or spreading is more difficult.
Charlie

I'll pass as well

my DL looks so thick with them.... they don't fan very well

:)

Hmm, a site called homepokertourney.com (which I really enjoy) carried out pretty extensive tests on the quality/durability of plastic cards and they rate the USPCC KEM's slightly higher than the old stock... testing corner bends, chipping, light folds, heavy folds, the USPCC KEMs always bounced back. I never tried the original KEMs but I like the new ones very much for poker, they're very durable and easy to shuffle. I have 4 set-ups, two with standard indices and two with jumbo indices. They don't fan great, and I wouldn't use them for magic, but I love 'em for poker.

One difference is, I believe, that originally KEM would replace individual cards if there was a problem/defect. After USPCC took over they don't honor ANY warrany on the old-stock cards but they do now have the FULL warranty on their new runs just like their paper cards... something like if any card has a manufacturing defect before it's gone through reasonable use they'll replace the whole deck. With the paper cards they just wear out eventually (the "reasonable use" part), and they're cheap, so people aren't really too likely to send a $1.50 paper deck back because it ripped after the first hour because it's not worth the time and it's a bit arbitrary as to whether it was within the period of reasonable use. Since the KEMs are so durable they can't really tell if it's a new deck or one you've been using for a year, so this warranty works to our benefit. I actually had a deck that I'd been using for probably 6 months and it got a thin split along the edge of one card... I sent them that card and the ace of spades and they sent me a brand new deck that would retail for $12-$15 with no hassles whatsoever, and now I've got 50 spare cards from the original deck if I need a quick replacement or want to experiment with them.

Just got a deck of bicycle plastic cards, thay are clear, don't fan well, but I got inspired and worked out a trick for them. right now It involves a DL and as the cards are mostly clear the dl neads to be spot on! I'l let you know if it works out.

As jalal12321 said, plastic cards are good for card manipulation because when they come out of a backpalm or thumb palm they'll come out straight not bent which can give away where the cards were hiding.