Unpopular opinion: the way most people shuffle cards is actually ruining the deck

Tbh I was at a poker night in Austin last weekend and watched this guy do a bridge shuffle that bent every single card halfway. I called him out and he got defensive, but I've been collecting custom decks for 6 years now and I can tell you that riffle shuffles with any pressure at all wear down the edges after about 50 games. If you want your limited edition decks to last, just do an overhand shuffle or a simple wash. Has anyone else noticed their rare decks getting destroyed by aggressive shuffling?

2 comments

2 Comments

henryreed12d ago

Gotta agree with you 100%. I've seen fresh decks get wrecked in one night by people who think they look cool doing a fancy shuffle. The overhand shuffle is way gentler and honestly gets the job done just fine. I've got a couple of Kickstarter decks that are basically retired now because someone wanted to show off their bridge technique. The corners get all frayed and the edges start peeling after a while. Ever notice how magicians treat their cards like fragile glass but casual players just bend them however? There's a reason most card rooms switch decks every few hours.

dylan4137d ago

Tbh I read something the other day about how casinos actually retired a specific brand of cards because the finish wore down too fast from bridge shuffles, which tracks with what you're saying @henryreed. You see it a lot with those premium Kickstarter decks that have those metallic inks, looks amazing out of the box but one night of aggressive shuffling and the foil starts flaking off everywhere. The overhand shuffle might look boring but my buddy's night playing poker with his old bicycle decks still holds up after years while my fancy limited edition deck from last Christmas already has a bent corner and feels sticky. Magicians definitely baby their cards but they also practice the same trick a hundred times, so I get it, but for casual games the simple shuffle is way more practical.