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I've been wondering if I use my cards to excess. When I'm just lying around the house and occaisionally practice a trick, I constantly bend and flex my cards. I also compulsively cascade the deck of cards. I've had this deck of cards for about a month and they look like I've had them for years. The deck sort of puffs up and makes small stacks of cards look bigger. It makes it hard to perform triple lifts and higher. Most of the cards have slightly worn away backs and faces. Also, on the short sides of the cards are wear marks where I put my thumb when I cascade or riffle the deck. Am I being too hard on my cards? Is there such a thing as cards that are too worn in even for magic?

I do the same - constantly bend the cards. I usually have two decks. I use a pack of Bicycles to perform and just a cheap brand that I practice with, so when I come to perform the cards are in good condition.

Ben.

I have a daily practice deck which is just the same. I've got about 40 packs of Bikes, some sealed. Some I use for practice, others performance.
When they become worn like this, they are very easy to spring and riffle but as you said, D/L's are difficult and they are nigh on impossible to fan.

Some sleights, I'd argue, are too difficult to perform with old cards. The DL, though, has more than one way to get into it. The pushover DL may be hard to get into, as the cards won't spread well when they're old, but there's nothing stopping you from just picking from the back.

I say that, if you have to perform with shoddy cards, have a backup plan. There's more than one way to skin a cat, so if you want to do an Ambitious Card routine, for example, you can perform the whole thing with nothing more than a pass if you're uncomfortable with a DL (granted, if you're uncomfortable with a DL, the pass may not be for you either).

The only thing that stops me from using cards is when it gets that distinct "click" that you can't work out of the deck. I'll usually give the deck a few aggressive faro shuffles in order to work it out, but it doesn't always work. I used to keep a deck stacked for Sam the Bellhop, but handling it in the same manner every time I'd use it would warp the cards faster than anything.

Ciao,
Rob

bpaul91 wrote:I do the same - constantly bend the cards. I usually have two decks. I use a pack of Bicycles to perform and just a cheap brand that I practice with, so when I come to perform the cards are in good condition.

Myself included......A deck of bicycles will last me about an hour of actual performance time with them in order to keep them in the "like new" condition I prefer.......but like you I compulsively play with decks, so I keep old performance decks lying around, cheep decks, etc.....that allows me to spring, fan, flourish, cascade, etc, to my hearts content,,

Do you guys know of anyway to prolong the life of a deck? I once heard of some guy who set his iron to the delicates setting and actually ironed his cards to keep them like new. Does that work or is it just a myth?

I've never heard that, but I'd imagine an iron will ruin your cards in a heartbeat. Today, I left a deck on top of my laptop for five minutes and upon my return, the lower half of the deck was bent all to hell. If the heat from my processor was enough to warp half a deck, I can't imagine that an iron would do any good.

I'm obsessive about keeping my cards in decent shape, so I keep my hands clean and dry when I handle them. Sufficed to say, don't drop them in the dirt, mud, water, etc. If you get them wet, don't expect them to be any good.

Use something like Sortkwik instead of licking your fingers. Avoid hard riffle suffles, palming for any length of time (especially if you have sweaty palms like I do), and just treat them lightly in general. Like Dai Vernon said, they're just pieces of paper; there's no need to treat them like bricks. Granted, he was talking about handling a DL and I added my own words, but the idea rings true.

If you need to have duplicate cards (say you want to force a card to be signed so you don't mess up the deck), make sure you force the duplicate card and not the original since the dupe isn't going to handle exactly like the rest of the deck. It won't have the same color, finish, contour, etc.

Practice with old decks, but make sure you're proficient with new decks as well as they can handle very differently. A new pack of Bikes is like driving a Lamborghini to me, but you need to be able to drive a Pinto, too

You might consider using a card press.

I've never heard of a card press. What is it and where can I get one?

For example, type
CARD PRESS MAGIC

into google, and I promise you will find many in no time.

You could get a card case... But this won't help keep the actual cards in mint condition.

I don't know if you're overseas or in the UK... If you're in the UK, become a member of Costco! I buy Bicycles in bulk from there... In the long run, it's cheaper!

timlic wrote:If you're in the UK, become a member of Costco! I buy Bicycles in bulk from there... In the long run, it's cheaper!

They do have Costcos in the U.S., but I'm not sure it would be wise to become a member just to get cards. Does anyone know of any other places that I could buy Bicycle playing cards in bulk? Favorably a place that doesn't require a membership to shop there?

Do the same all the time, it's amazing how you don't really notice UNTIL you get out a new deck and see the colour difference...

This is not from personal experience--actually, I read it on another forum--but it was suggested that if you put "tired" cards in the freezer for a day or so they come out feeling much better.

timlic wrote:You could get a card case... But this won't help keep the actual cards in mint condition.

I don't know if you're overseas or in the UK... If you're in the UK, become a member of Costco! I buy Bicycles in bulk from there... In the long run, it's cheaper!

How much do Costco charge for a brick?
I understand the cards are in the book section!