Where To Buy Playing Cards

tl;dr: Buy playing cards here! When it comes to playing card shops to buy playing cards, there’s some choice out there. If you're looking for more than the best deck of cards to use for a poker night, read on. Sure, you could pop to Walgreens and get whatever they happen to have, but if you’re buying playing cards for card magic, cardistry or simply collecting, you need to up your game a little…

abracadabra playing cards

Playing Cards For Magicians

Magicians who specialize in card magic tend to fall into two camps. Those that want their playing cards to look “normal” like a regular deck of Bicycle playing cards you’d find in most homes throughout North America, and those that want their cards to look a bit special. Find out why Bicycle playing cards are so popular.

Neither of these options are wrong or right. It’s just a matter of personal preference. However, if you’re wanting to use any gaff cards, or gaffed decks, then you are probably better off going with Bicycle cards, just because of the range of gaffs available to you.

The stock of playing cards for magic varies considerably. Some prefer a thinner, “crushed” stock, some opt for a thicker, harder-wearing stock. The only way to find out what’s right for you is to try some different stock out and see which feels best in your hands. Read more about the best playing cards for magic tricks.

vanishing inc. playing cards

Playing Cards For Collectors

Well this is a huge market and growing everyday. So often decks of cards are made in such limited quantities that they almost instantly become collectable. There are a ton of rare and unusual cards to collect as well as stylish custom playing cards. And it’s also important to learn how to store your cards properly and maybe get some specialist playing card storage. After all, you don’t want to drop all that money on something and then not look after it properly.

You'll also want to think about the best ways to display your playing card collection.

There are different themed cards you might want to look into for a card collection. Some ideas are: comic heroes, cars, geography, historical events, or something like music. If that doesn’t appeal, the next most obvious suggestion would be brands. Popular brands to try and collect a whole set of would be: Fontaines, Virts, Jerry’s Nuggets or Orbits. Our final suggestion is manufacturers of cards. You could look at Theory 11, Blue Crown or of course, Vanishing Inc.!

Unless you've got very deep pockets, best stay away from the rarest playing cards in the world!

Feather Deck Pplaying Cards

Playing Cards For Cardists

When it comes to playing cards for cardists, normally the main consideration in cards for cardistry is the back design. Cardists will want that to look good when performing cardistry moves like fans. If there is a design that can look different when fanned a different way, all the better. Clearly the stock is important, but the finish is too. The last thing you want is clumpy cards, you’ll need something that is long-lasting and durable.

Popular brands for the cardistry crowd are players like: Riffle Shuffle, Fontaine, entry, dealersgrip and companies like Art Of Play and Gemini playing cards.

The Boy WHo Cried Magic Playing Cards

So, those are the different types of people who want to buy playing cards. But we've still not answered the question: where you should buy playing cards, have we?

It's simple. From Vanishing Inc.! Why? Well, we're the largest magic shop in the world and carry more playing cards than any other magic store on the planet. Yes, we also carry coin tricks, mind reading tricks, parlor and stage tricks and publish more magic books than anyone else; but we all really do love decks of cards!

Add to that the free shipping you'll get when you spend over $50 and our 100% Satisfaction Guarantee and you have perfect peace of mind for any playing cards you get from us.

Browse all our playing cards