Cards

I am a Magician

Elite Member
Nov 19, 2018
139
66
I have a couple of decks from theory 11 that I really like. The problem is that after about 2 months of having them, they start to stick together and are hard to shuffle with. Out of the box, I can usually Faro shuffle pretty well. But now, the cards stick together and doing a Faro is nearly impossible.
Is there a way I can fix this? Or is this something that just happens with every deck of cards.
Thank you
 
Jul 6, 2019
64
40
A couple months is a pretty good lifespan for paper cards. Especially if you are doing faros and whatnot. You can try to get more out of them with fanning powder but I've only ever had mixed results with that.
 
Jan 26, 2017
2,173
1,338
23
Virginia
With a ton of use, it happens to all cards eventually. If you wanna be super careful while handling cards, you can take precautions like washing your hands with soap and water before using them, only using them on a clean surface or performance pad, storing them in their tuck case when not in use, and storing the cards in a dry area. This will prolong the lifespan of your cards, but not make them indestructable. If it's a "luxury" deck of cards (beyond the normal $2 - $5 USD priceline per deck), I suggest being extra careful with them as they are more expensive, often being around $10 a deck or way more for some of the "super luxury decks". But if it's just a standard deck of Bikes, Bees, Tallys, etc., I suggest just buying a new pack. 2 months is a great lifespan for a deck, and you can get a ton of these cards in 12-packs or "bricks" from various sites, (including Amazon) for $15 - $25 USD (Costco sells bricks for $16 in stores I think). Assuming you keep the 2 month lifespan, you should be good for a couple years of practice with a brick of cards.

Edit: The price can of course vary. For example, a 12 pack of Tally-Ho #9s will probably run you closer to $30 - $40, which is still a decent price if you ask me (though if this is the case, see if you can find cheaper individual packs, some people drop the price on those considerably too)
 
Jan 26, 2017
2,173
1,338
23
Virginia
With a ton of use, it happens to all cards eventually. If you wanna be super careful while handling cards, you can take precautions like washing your hands with soap and water before using them, only using them on a clean surface or performance pad, storing them in their tuck case when not in use, and storing the cards in a dry area. This will prolong the lifespan of your cards, but not make them indestructable. If it's a "luxury" deck of cards (beyond the normal $2 - $5 USD priceline per deck), I suggest being extra careful with them as they are more expensive, often being around $10 a deck or way more for some of the "super luxury decks". But if it's just a standard deck of Bikes, Bees, Tallys, etc., I suggest just buying a new pack. 2 months is a great lifespan for a deck, and you can get a ton of these cards in 12-packs or "bricks" from various sites, (including Amazon) for $15 - $25 USD (Costco sells bricks for $16 in stores I think). Assuming you keep the 2 month lifespan, you should be good for a couple years of practice with a brick of cards.

Edit: The price can of course vary. For example, a 12 pack of Tally-Ho #9s will probably run you closer to $30 - $40, which is still a decent price if you ask me (though if this is the case, see if you can find cheaper individual packs, some people drop the price on those considerably too)
Also, about the Costco thing, online they're only selling them in packs of 3 Bricks at $48, but I've seen them sell individual bricks in stores for $15 or $16 too (it used to say $15 in my message then I changed it to $16, and then thought about adding this bit, but the time to edit had expired).

Edit: Sorry, 1 more thing, about Tallys running for $30 - $40, you can sometimes find them on sale there too. For example, I'm looking at a brick of Tally's going for $50 right now on Amazon but it's on sale for $30
 
Nov 3, 2018
542
427
Just to add to what Maaz Hasan has said: Of course there's no formula for how long cards will last you. It depends heavily on how much you use them, what you do with them etc.
For example, I give my Bees a life span of ~ 2 - 4 weeks. That's about how long it takes to get to the point at which they start clumping too much and it's really not nice to shuffle, deal etc. After this I still use them to practice shifts and passes, thus relieving the stress on the next deck. This is one thing you can do to make your decks last longer: If you practice things where it really doesn't matter what state the deck is in, just use a really old one.

For comparison: Richard Turner used to use 3-6 decks of Bee cards a day, at 10-20 hours of practice a day. Now it's "only" 2-3 decks a day, at "just" 3-10 hours of practice a day.

So yeah, it depends heavily on how you use your deck.
 
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Jul 6, 2019
64
40
Of course uf you're doing the sort of stuff Turber does you have to worry way more about crimps bends and various other edge damage and whatnot more than stickiness. A card clip can help with some of that if it becomes a problem.
 

DavidL11229

Elite Member
Jul 25, 2015
589
314
Seattle
I second the card clip suggestion, but also the get a new deck suggestion. Card magic is indeed more expensive than coin magic. The coin gimmicks can be a bit pricey, but coins certainly last longer. I generally have a few different types of decks I' m using and if I'm practicing as much as I 'should' be then I open a new deck every week and therefore any given deck lasts a few weeks. It very much depends on the cards, what you are doing with them and even the weather.

If you get a card clip please note how many cards (plus the box) the clip is designed to hold and adjust accordingly.
 
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