talkmagic.co.uk

it may be odd to most people who use cards but up untill yesterday i didnt realy know that there was different sizes of cards and having bought two packs of bikes red / blue backs, i have this question why poker sized for gaff cards and trick decks??.

having never bought a bike version of a trick and stuck mostly to cheep packet tricks and marvin magic packs ie stripper and svengali, i had no idea that poker sized cards were so huge in comparason no wonder you all complain about the pass i can see why, also cheeper packs dont have that nice slippy finish you all love which i dont but can see why it would be usefull, i just cant see why you need poker sized cards when bridge sized is ideal for the beginer and pro alike they fit better in the hand and give you better control.

so the question stands why poker size please help as i dont think i could handle a stripper bike set.

Hmm... personally, I find bikes much easier to manage than bridge-sized cards. It's not really a question of the size, more the tension I think.

It's almost impossible for me to pass a bridge-sized deck now, for some reason. And as far as manipulation goes, I find it very hard to backpalm a bridge sized card.

I think it's not only about aesthetics, but actually more about the more tactile nature of the proportions of a poker-size card.

????

I think the simple answer to your question MagicDiscoMan is that

Poker sized Bicycle cards are the single most popular cards for everyday use in USA.

For this reason they become the choice card for professional card users in the USA

For this reason most gaffed cards are made in Bicycle poker size, and most magicians will use these cards - I guess it's almost like a magicians snobbery.

When I visited America this year, I can honestly say that when I asked to borrow a deck of cards from anyone it was always a tatty looking deck of Poker sized Bikes. This would never be the case in England - probably a set of bridge sized Waddingtons.

The first chapters of the wonderful Card College books state that ideally you would use poker sized cards on the grounds that if you can do a move with poker sized cards - it's very likely that you would be able to do the same move with bridge sized cards. This is probably true. I think that is the main reason I personally chose poker sized cards.

In saying all this I can see your frustration, as a pack of waddigtons bridge sized cards would seem to have many advantages for the English strolling card magician. Maybe there is a market to produce gaffed cards in these sizes.

Nice post MagicDiscoMan.
I think when we all first got our hands on them and put them in our palm our heart sank a little but as mentioned I don't think we could perfrom without them now.
I think the size originated from fair play, playing poker you need to be able to see what people are doing with their cards and with magicians on say a stage, smaller cards are hard to see.
The "glide" of the cards can be a little much when you are new to them can't it, I only a few weeks ago had to play 52 card pickup after shuffling a new deck without paying any attention but you really will get used to them and in fact need them.
I have small hands and like you I wasn't happy with them but in time their "magical" properties shine through, I hope you get there m8, I really do, if not Bikes do a bridge sized deck if that helps.



BaB

Yeah, many people say that they will never aster using bikes to start with but they are soon as good with poker size cards as with bridge, it's just a matter of getting used to them.

As regards bike stripper decks, thay too are just as easy to use as the smaller ones when you get used to them and the air cushion finish is just sooooo nice!

I agree with all of the above...
(Especially that post by that Seige bloke )

...Except I'm not really sure it's purely a question of availability... Perhaps Americans just don't play Bridge? Or, as mentioned, is it simply to do with the excellent quality?

And yes, I agree that Bikes are very popular in the states- Mrs Seige revealed that almost every decent shop she visited sold bikes (corner stores etc.)

They are the No.1 choice, fullstop?

Strange isn't it that we don't make a card to the same standard here, it would at least give us a chance of having a deck people would be used to, but then if we made such a high quality card here they would doubtlessly cost £15, have a union jack on the back and say MAGIC DECK on the box, lol.

thanks for all your comments i will be investing in a stripper deck on bikes and go from there its just very awkward when you spent a life time useing sticky bridge sized strippers ooh errr refrase that i think.
wizard decks thats better, to go to a house sized deck thats slipery like an eal, still practise makes perfect i supose.

Just fondle your sticky stripper until you can fondle no more, in front of the tv, at the pc or whatever and in a couple of days they will feel ok and lost that just out of the packet teflon feel a little.
When we get a new pack a fare few of us would say thay are too slippy for us as well.

just going to order a stripper from emagic on a bike, erm did i just say that, then ill spend a lot of time fondleing the stripper till most of the slippery stuff has gone.
are you sure we are only talking about cards now

Hi.
I can add a little more data, so you can choose rightly.
In Spain and Latin America, we use also Fournier brand (lately adquired by The US Playing Company, so...) wich is like a Tally Ho, but without the linoleum type finish. The standard among magicians is also Poker size, for the reason listed above, i.e. fashion, snobbery, availability, inertia, usefulness, etc.
There are Fournier trick decks. For example, Mary Pura, ex wife of Juan Tamariz, produces stripper decks, and they have a superb reputation.

Is there life outside the US Playing Company? Yesssss.
You have KEM brand, using termoplastic as base material of the card. But the come only bridge size, and there are not trick decks professionally made with them, to the extent of my knowledge. There is also Piatnik, and a few more international brands.
In Spanish card you have Vittoria brand. They have in this brand trick decks.

A solution may be to buy the Eureka deck, a bridge sized stripped and marked deck, normally red backed, available at most magic store.
You can perform wonderful magic with it, and can apply memorized deck magic to it, to make it even more powerfull.

KR

Daniel de Urquiza
AltaCartomagia
Argentina

BaBaBoom wrote:Just fondle your sticky stripper until you can fondle no more, in front of the tv, at the pc or whatever and in a couple of days they will feel ok and lost that just out of the packet teflon feel a little.
When we get a new pack a fare few of us would say thay are too slippy for us as well.

Too right.

Any deck I get suffers some serious card abuse before it becomes 'trustworthy'.

Riffle it. Bend it. Bridge it. Spring it...

Really abuse the deck in all directions. It'll lose the slippiness in no time at all.

thanks for all your help guys i look forward to abuseing my bike stripper and the other couple of bikes i have in my draw.

i was quite happy with marvins wizard deck but thought i should find out what all the hoo har is about bikes so am going for a deck im comftable with but in bike / poker format hope i get on with them cheers eveyone.

Good luck, MagicDiscoMan.

May you never look back, and your pasteboards perform obediently for you