Bicycle StandardPrice: About $5, roughly. Bicycle Prestige · Bicycle, US Playing Card Co.Price: About $25, roughly.
Our house deck in plastic
The familiar Bicycle faces on 100% plastic cards, with a carrying case. Wipe them clean after snacks at the table.
- Good for
- Outdoors · Game nights
- Skip it if
- Paper is fine for your table: Bicycle Standard costs less.
Buy now ↗on Amazon
Our take
Familiar Bicycle faces, on 100% plastic cards, with a carrying case. It is our house deck for people who play a lot, play outdoors or play with children and drinks nearby.
You can wipe the cards clean after snacks and they do not bend. It is the quiet upgrade: it looks like the deck everyone knows, but it lasts years.
If you only play now and then, paper Bicycle Standard costs less and is just as readable.
Test drive
Play one hand of Texas Hold’em against three players: two cards of your own, five shared, and betting on every street. The others play by the rules, and nothing is saved.
Texas Hold’em · practice round
Playing for real? You will also want: Poker chip set with case, 500 chips. Our house deck: Bicycle Standard →
Keep reading
- Buying guide
Choosing a deck
Plastic or paper, poker or bridge size, how many decks you need, and the deck we recommend for each of our games.
- Basics
Anatomy of a deck
Fifty-two cards, four suits, thirteen ranks and a couple of jokers. What everything is called, and a few details you have probably never noticed.
- Basics
How to shuffle and deal
Three ways to shuffle, how many shuffles you really need, and the small table manners of cutting and dealing.
Quick answers
- Paper or plastic?
Paper shuffles with more grip and costs less. Plastic lasts for years, shrugs off spills and feels a little slicker. If you play every week, or with drinks nearby, go plastic.
- What size do I need?
Poker size suits most games and most hands. Bridge size is narrower, which helps when you hold thirteen cards or more.
- How many decks do I need?
One for most games. Canasta, Spider and some Rummy variants need two with matching backs.
