Use Plastic Playing Cards To Save Money While You Practice
John Harrower
One of the major advantages that plastic cards have over paper cards is durability. Whilst a single deck of good quality plastic cards can cost a similar amount to the price of a brick of Bicycles, they will outlast all of the cards in the brick many times over.
Plastic cards are not suitable as a generic playing card choice for all magicians. Their suitability for you really depends on the tricks that you regularly perform.
I personally have been using a single deck of Copag branded cards as my only deck of playing cards for well over a year and they are still in great condition despite being used daily.
Don’t expect to be able to fan or spread them evenly, tear them or perform tricks involving crimps or bends, but for a wide variety of tricks, the cards are still more than adequate.
Whilst using plastic cards as your main weapon of choice may not be for you, if you were to save your paper cards for performance situations only, you can save a lot of money by practicing with plastic cards because you won’t have to spend your hard-earned cash on new packs of playing cards anywhere near as frequently.
I have tried a few brands out and “Copag” seems to be one of the best of all the brands of plastic cards that I have used so far. They handle reasonably well, they retain their shape even after continued use and don’t have a strange smell or suffer from the ink coming off like some of the other cards that I have tried.
I used to perform in a bar and one of the great advantages of plastic cards is that if they get covered in beer they can simply be wiped dry and you are good to go!
Another cool thing I noticed is that if you draw on the cards with a dry erase marker, you can simply erase the drawing after your performance by wiping it off with a damp cloth. Lastly, if they cards start to look grubby – just wash them and they are as good as new!
In summary the plastic cards:
- Are waterproof
- Are washable.
- Can last for years of continued use.
- Are not stained easily. (Most stains can simply be be wiped off.)
- Retain their shape even if bent.
- Can save you money if used as your main deck or as a practice deck.
I’d be interested to know of anyone else’s views on plastic playing cards and their experiences with other brands. Just drop a comment below!
- John Harrower
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