What are the best playing cards out there? Is it Kem, Copag, Bicycle or something else... I prefer plastic and prefer just to buy a single deck. I noticed Kem seems to only come 2 decks at a time.

Modiano Platinum Acetates. Buy the two deck set up. If you only use 1 deck in your game you will never have to buy cards again.

Hey,
There's a long thread about playing cards and their specifics here : Playing card round up

Personally, I didn't try enough brands to really compare, but I recently bought some Copag's "Texas Hold'em" classic deck and I really like the thin feeling they have.

KEM brand only. Da best.

thanks for the link Show

I also think the Modianos are the best. I've played them, KEM's and Copags, and my guests like the Modianos way better.

Yeah, that Playing Card Round-Up thread is a good repository for answers to this exact question.

There might be an odd brand or two out there that sells individual decks of plastic cards, but Bicycle is the only one of them I've personally used, and I think only one of their styles is sold that way.

Other than that, all of the other brands I've played with—Copag, Kem, Modiano, Desjgn, Fournier, and one or two others—sell their cards in two-deck setups. I'm not sure why you prefer to buy one deck at a time, but since you'll probably have to order the cards online and pay for shipping, it may be advisable to get more than one at a time anyway. (Even if you don't have to buy online, you're likely to get your best deals there.)

Definitely read that entire thread.

Or...

just click here and buy these:

http://caragails.com/desjgn_victorians.htm

If you want, you can come back here and thank me later.

Not for a LONG time . . . specifically since they were bought out by USPC.

This a personal taste issue. If you posted a similar question in a car forum, "What is the best car on the market?", you would get a hundred different opinions with everyone calling out each other's choices as being idiotic. Very similar although it really hasn't descended to that level here.

Unfortunately, you have to check out a lot of cards to see what's right for you.

Actually you can get some Modianos in single decks from Amazon, or at least you used to be able to. Most cards do come in two deck format on there , however.

If I had it to do all over again, I would just buy 4-5 different brands and use them for one night each at my games. I would get feedback from each and then I would know. As it turned out, I sort of haphazardly bought, disliked, loved, was indifferent and didn't discover what the best brand was for several years. I don't want to tell you which one to influence you, but I will give you a hint and say it rhymes with "Odiano Plotinum Ecetate"

Like some of the others above have said, the "best" is pretty subjective. It's also worth noting that there aren't as many options as there used to be. I have some favorites that most of my players don't like. Anyways, after many games and many players I would say that the best bang for the buck are still Copags. Players like them, they are cheap, and they are easy to find. Poker size jumbo index is the preference of the masses.

If you want something a little nicer the Modiano Platinum Acetates are hard to beat!