whats a good price for "casino used" cards?

[obeythekitten]

a while ago i found several packs of day-glo orange cards from the Palms casino at my local dollar store, the busy checkered patten and bright coloring on the back made them my favorite to use for home games (i know real plastic cards are the best but until i buy/build a real table im gonna stick to cheap)

ive searched around on ebay and google, any suggestions on where i should buy them and what i should aim to pay for them in bulk?

[bolgenmod]

I bought about 25 used decks online about a year ago and paid under a dollar a deck. I can't find my receipt or remember the site I bought them from, but I have to say that they were not worth the money. Yes, they do last longer (significantly longer) than regular bicycle decks and the like, but many of the decks turned out to be un-usable because of the way they were cancelled.

Basically, the casino or supplier marked them with a black marker on the sides of the deck. Unfortunately, some of the backs of the cards were also marked, just enough in each deck that no one deck was usable. So I had to go through the decks, take out the marked cards and put together as many unmarked decks as I could. Out of the 25 or so decks I ordered, I ended up with fewer than 15 usable decks. And I've seen some cancelled decks with holes punched in them, which is even worse.

If you really want to save money, spring for the KEMs. We've had ours for almost a year now, and even with using them 2-3 times a week (and some heavy euchre playing in between) they still handle like new, especially since I cleaned them. You won't be sorry if you get the KEMs; you might be if you get the casino cards.

And if you still aren't convinced:

A funny story about the casino decks:

One night we were playing (we play limit holdem only), and, as sometimes happens, 2s seemed to be coming up a lot. It seemed like every third hand there was a 2 on the flop or someone had a pair of 2s or something. After about 2 hours, there was a flop with two 2s, the two of clubs and the two of hearts. There was heavy betting by two guys, and when they turned up their hands, sure enough each had a two in his hand. Problem was, one of them had ANOTHER TWO OF HEARTS. Turns out it was a 53 card deck with 5 twos in it -- no wonder all those twos kept showing up! Well, as banker and the person responsible for the cards, I apologized, gave every one their buy-in back, got a new deck, and we started over. After that, I ALWAYS triple-checked each deck. And bought the KEMs. And we now refer to the 2 of hearts as the evil deuce (or sometimes douche).

Seriously, buy the KEMs.

[playersare]

i've bought over 100 decks on ebay over the past year, though I've recently stopped from saturation.

for use in poker games, you want poker sized decks that are printed in "standard index" format, which is the same kind as you would find in cards purchased at the drugstore. however, most of the casino-used cards you find online will be taken from blackjack tables and will be in "enhanced tech-art" or "no-peek" format which isn't really good for hold em poker games. virtually no ebay listings will tell you what format the cards are printed as...most don't even know what the difference is to begin with.

also the way the casino cards are cancelled can make shuffling and dealing them difficult or even impossible. If your used deck is punched with a hole, sometimes it's good but other times it's drilled too hard and you will have to "flatten" the sides of the hole down so the cards don't stick to each other (this takes quite a while and I doubt most people will have the time, patience, and/or dedication to do it more than once or twice).

decks that have cuts on the corners can be either good or bad. generally speaking, you want a deck that has a round ("radial") cut on the corners over one that has a hard, square cut, which can often be sliced irregularly even within the same deck. occasionally you'll find cards with a notch on the side which is not bad, but only a handful of the smaller and/or older casinos do this.

the black ink splatter isn't necessarily a bad thing since every card in the deck has it in roughly the same place, but if you are a stickler and you use the same deck every time you play with friends, they might start to remember certain splotches and that will ruin the integrity of the game.

if you buy in bulk, aim to pay about $1 per deck (less than $2 per deck w/shipping), though often you can find better deals from one-time private sellers who are just dumping out their shoeboxes in the closet. If you buy individual decks that you like, then just try to keep them in the $3-5 range if not cheaper.

Just keep in mind that you can buy brand new Bee decks in the store for $2-3 each so you can save a lot of uncertainty by just buying those instead. In fact, when it comes down to it all, you really shouldn't consider dealing casino-used cards in a regular poker game where real money is involved, in the long run. Bee brand you buy in the store is the same exact quality as many real-world casinos use for their blackjack, baccarat and poker games as well, and are definitely higher quality than Bicycle, Tally-Ho, Avaitor and other consumer brands (though there are all made by the same parent company anyway). And even on top of that, you will want to go with plastic decks that will never have to be replaced, considering you can get a pair of good decks for around $20 which will virtually last a lifetime.

if you still care about casino-used, I can break down some details of different card brands and formats in a future thread.

[obeythekitten]

[ QUOTE ]

decks that have cuts on the corners can be either good or bad. generally speaking, you want a deck that has a round ("radial") cut on the corners over one that has a hard, square cut, which can often be sliced irregularly even within the same deck. occasionally you'll find cards with a notch on the side which is not bad, but only a handful of the smaller and/or older casinos do this.

[/ QUOTE ]

ive heard about drilling but never actually seen it, in the 8-9 decks i have they have all had the round cut.

to be honest its really the day-glo colors and busy pattern that makes me like them so much (plus the look/feel of *real* vegas cards just seems better with a casino name), i'm sure with searching i could find something close to what i'm looking for.

[obeythekitten]

hah, right after i started searching i found the exact cards and a listing of how each ones are cut at gamblersgeneralstore

http://www.gamblersgeneralstore.com/Merchant2/graphics/00000001/palmscccard.jpg

you cant tell from the picture, but the cards are a BRIGHT orange

[Shilly]

I agree with the post about the KEM cards. They're like $13 a deck, but will last you forever (well, a pretty long time). They're worth it.

[playersare]

I have a few palms decks in my collection and they are all enhanced tech-art format. if yours are too, then these are not good for poker games because:

a) the pips are too large on the sides
b) cards A through 9 have the pips all indented downward about 1/2 an inch

Palms cards are generally Aristocrat brand (div. of US Playing Card Company) and almost all Aristocrats are in blackjack tech format.

If you like the novelty of using casino-used cards in your home games, I would try seeking out these logos which are generally printed in standard index format:

- Bellagio (Bee)
- Mirage/Treasure Island (Bee)
- Golden Nugget (Bee)
- Golden Gate (Paulson)
- Fremont (Bee)

avoid used cards from any of the boyd/coast properties like orleans, stardust and barbary (fremont an exception as above). they like to cut only one of the four corners off and that renders them unusable for shuffling.

and still, consider just buying new Bee decks in the store, or plastic decks in the long run, if you plan to run a serious local game.

[tubalkain]

[ QUOTE ]
I have a few palms decks in my collection and they are all enhanced tech-art format. if yours are too, then these are not good for poker games because:

a) the pips are too large on the sides
b) cards A through 9 have the pips all indented downward about 1/2 an inch

Palms cards are generally Aristocrat brand (div. of US Playing Card Company) and almost all Aristocrats are in blackjack tech format.

If you like the novelty of using casino-used cards in your home games, I would try seeking out these logos which are generally printed in standard index format:

- Bellagio (Bee)
- Mirage/Treasure Island (Bee)
- Golden Nugget (Bee)
- Golden Gate (Paulson)
- Fremont (Bee)

avoid used cards from any of the boyd/coast properties like orleans, stardust and barbary (fremont an exception as above). they like to cut only one of the four corners off and that renders them unusable for shuffling.

and still, consider just buying new Bee decks in the store, or plastic decks in the long run, if you plan to run a serious local game.

[/ QUOTE ]

Strange... most of the Vegas casino Aristocrats that make it back here are Sentinel Securitys.

[playersare]

[ QUOTE ]
Strange... most of the Vegas casino Aristocrats that make it back here are Sentinel Securitys.

[/ QUOTE ]

those are Gemaco Alpha cards, not Aristocrat.

Sentinel Security Series is still an enhanced tech art format in terms of its core appearance.

[mordecaibrown]

I hit it off with a floor manager one time and he gave me a box for free (not one deck but the huge box). You could check that route. I have a friend that lives close to tunica and he sells dice that he gets for free from about 3-4 casinos in the area.
So its worth the "gamble" to just ask. You never know what might happen.