For every deck of Bicycle cards from the United States Playing Card Company (USPCC), there are two or three decks that could be considered cheaper imitations – although not quite “fakes.”
We all know the cheaper, mass-produced card decks I’m talking about. They’re commonplace, and they do just fine for a quick game (but usually, you wouldn’t take these to a tournament or a club for a more serious competitive one).
Having these decks around isn’t a bad thing.
I’ve always thought that they make card play a more accessible thing. At every single convenience store where you can buy cigarettes or other odds-and-ends, you can usually find these card decks displayed behind the counter in their hundreds. Often, they cost less than the price of a pack of 20’s.
Here are some of the most plentiful cheaper brands that aren’t Bicycle.
#1: Poker Playing Cards
Sets of these “Poker playing cards” are usually sold in sets of two, although sometimes they’re also seen split up into singular decks. They’re available for less than $2 a deck in most places that sell cigarettes, brooms and milk in many South African shops – and this has made them perfect for hundreds of on-the-move card players who play, well, anything.
#2: Motorcycle Playing Cards
Motorcycle-brand playing cards aren’t quite Bicycle – and they never shuffle quite the same way – but this is still one of the number one “cheaper” card deck brands you’ll find in the average card player’s home in my parts of the world.
Walk into a shop and ask for a card deck, I’m about eighty percent sure that this is what you’re going to get.
Online and from some retailers, they’re available in sets.
In most cases, these decks are sold per deck instead.
#3: Jumbo Playing Cards
If your household happened to have a larger deck of playing cards, almost comically so, then it’s likely to be these Jumbo Playing Cards. Cheap, and for sale at most places that sell toys (and chess sets).
These are great for visual impairment due to their size – and, as it turns out, it’s just as great for practicing to build imposing card houses that have a little bit more stability than smaller cards.
Also available from some manufacturers and stores are inordinately not jumbo playing cards that are more or less the size of a box of matches. (Hey, did anyone ever own one of these?)
#4: Classic Playing Cards
