Poker size vrs bridge size

[09Rich]

I am about to buy two new sets of cards. Looking at Copag or KEM cards. What are the benefits of bridge size vs poker size.

[Detroitdad]

size

[mike32]

Poker size feel more familiar to me. Many here seem to like bridge size (smaller), I like both but prefer poker size.

[Blaster]

I am about to buy two new sets of cards. Looking at Copag or KEM cards. What are the benefits of bridge size vs poker size.

"Bridge" Size has always been used to deal Poker in just about all major Las Vegas & Atlantic City Casionos, The WSOP ect ...... It's the Hold-em "Standard"...
 "Poker" size is actually used for Blackjack, & other Table/shoe games...
 For home use, Poker outsells bridge, proably because of the "name" of the size ....
 Pick what you prefer, there's actually only about a 1/4" with difference between the 2 ...
  If you plan on Dealer's choice games, bridge is a little nicer in 5 card draw & other games that deal multiple cards...
  I prefer to stick with traditional Bridge size myself ...
 

[Milo]

I am a "poker" size devotee, who is on the cusp of changing over to "bridge".  You will see people discussing how the smaller width is easier on the hands/fingers in terms of dealing, but I can only see that being a factor with dedicated dealer games.  It really comes down to what "feels" good to you and your group.  People with smaller hands (women) may prefer the smaller size to make shuffling easier.  Buy a deck of "poker" sized paper cards and a deck of "bridge" size paper cards and fool around with them until you decide which size is preferred.  Then throw them out and buy your plastics, and NEVER look back . . .





Good luck.

[djexacto]

Most people in my group prefer poker size

[72]

if you're looking for a jumbo index which is easier on the eyes, poker size is usually easier to find than bridge size, from my experience.

[Eralis]

if you're looking for a jumbo index which is easier on the eyes, poker size is usually easier to find than bridge size, from my experience.

Not if you buy Copag. Almost every new design Copag comes up with, starts out at Bridge/Jumbo.

With that said, I prefer Bridge Size because my hands are small. But that is just when I'm dealing. I don't really notice a difference when shuffling, but when I'm dealing, it's so much better for me to use Bridge size.

But, if your hands are huge, you probably will be better off using Poker Size.

[jjschoon]

I too prefer bridge size and at my home game, we have 3 people who deal on a regular basis and they all prefer bridge also.  As far as the jumbo index goes, (we use them because many of our players are 50+)  I have had no problem at all finding KEM's in bridge size jumbo index.

[holdemholmes]

I like the design of the jumbo index, and i'm starting to take a liking to bridge size....I had always used poker size before. I feel jumbo index is a must if you have any older players in your game. Makes things much easier.

[K ALL IN 9]

I much prefer Bridge over Poker. We use bridge in our home games and have come accustomed to the smaller size through home game and casino play. Also since i'm dedicated dealer, bridge is easier for my small hands to handle. After using bridge for so long, using poker size just doesnt feel right and feel way too big.

[09Rich]

Thanks every body for your comments. I think I am going with the bridge jumbo index. Now the question is Copay or KEM.

[Milo]

COPAG, unless you can find some pre-USPC Kems (Cara-Gails has some).  Copag is one of the best values for the $$$ you can get.

[Magoddi]

I'd go with Copag over Kem.  I don't have any experience with pre-USPC Kems so I can't speak for them.  I also have Desjgn and Modiano and they are great cards as well.  I played with the new Copag script bridge jumbo index this weekend and really liked them.

[holdemholmes]

COPAG, unless you can find some pre-USPC Kems (Cara-Gails has some).  Copag is one of the best values for the $$$ you can get.

x2. I've had several COPAG setups, and I prefer them. Great value, and the quality is amazing IMO.

[Flaming Frog Poker]

Thanks every body for your comments. I think I am going with the bridge jumbo index. Now the question is Copay or KEM.

Desjgn are nice as well:

http://caragails.com/desjgn.htm

[Blaster]

Thanks every body for your comments. I think I am going with the bridge jumbo index. Now the question is Copay or KEM.

Modiano Bridge Large Index:
http://www.modianocards.com/products.php?categoryid=2

[jjschoon]

Thanks every body for your comments. I think I am going with the bridge jumbo index. Now the question is Copay or KEM.

Modiano Bridge Large Index:
http://www.modianocards.com/products.php?categoryid=2

I just bought a setup of these and really like the feel of them.  Won't get to put them in play until April 10th.

[mike32]

Why are pre-USPC Kem cards thought to be better? Also what exactly is pre USPC?

FWIW my pre-USPC Kems (I think they are pre USPC cause they are old) are bowed and some of my Copags have been rendered useless due to bleeding.

[Eralis]

Also what exactly is pre USPC?

Pre-USPC is before KEM was bought by the USPC. Now KEM just supplies the Cellulose acetate (?).

[Blaster]

Also what exactly is pre USPC?

Pre-USPC is before KEM was bought by the USPC. Now KEM just supplies the Cellulose acetate (?).

The orginal "Kem" company, I believe , was bought out & is gone.
 I don't think they remain as a distributor of any raw materials.

[Milo]

For the record, I just ordered a set-up of pre-USPC Kems from Caragails.  I just wanted another set-up, and the cost was not too bad.

[William]

I am about to buy two new sets of cards. Looking at Copag or KEM cards. What are the benefits of bridge size vs poker size.

As Blaster mentioned, in casinos narrow (bridge sized) cards are used when dealers need to hold the deck. The don't use wide (poker sized) cards because it puts too much stress on the hands and fingers. Wide cards are used for games where the cards are dealt from a cardshoe, like Black Jack.

In homegames narrow cards are mostly used for games where you have to be able to hold 13 cards in one hand, like Bridge. Wide cards are often used when you're only playing with 2-5 cards, like Poker.

As players, and when using a rotating deal, most people will prefer wide cards for poker. But if you're the designated dealer for the night you're probably going to be much more comfortable with narrow cards.

I hope this helped.

P.S. Since everyone is now talking about KEM vs Copag, again... as the dealer, I prefer KEM. Copags are too slippery for my taste. KEM cards are easier to shuffle (riffle/strip/cut) without having them flying all over the place. KEMs do have a tendency to bow over time. Copags don't.

[freshpopkorn]

ha, I actually some Copag Black/Gold Bridge size deck cards from Caragails and a set of Copag White Cut Cards to see how they look on my table. I have always been a Poker Size guy, but now... I am turning into a Bridge guy. Always a Copag guy though. Tried KEM and actually gave them away 

[Milo]

Copags are a solid card, value wise, but I have fallen hard for the pre-USPC Kems.

[MrJayB]

Where I live, many people prefer the Poker Size Cards to the Bridge Size ones.

[72]

the majority of dealers are usually women... they have smaller hands, so the casino standard for poker cards is bridge size. that's my theory... if you're going to be holding a deck of cards in your hand for several hours, it's more comfortable to hold bridge size - i hold both sizes, 2 decks of poker size paper cards while dealing blackjack, and also bridge size plastic when dealing poker. got a real nice callus along my pinky finger from the poker size cards over the years too...

[Jambine]

I've never seen poker size cards used in a poker room (at least going back to the mid 70's), but it seems there are a lot of women dealing. Not sure if that has anything to do with card size

[gmason]

i definitely prefer bridge size, much nicer to deal with and play with also for me, very small change in dimension from poker size but they are completely different in the hand. when i play with poker size the deck (sometimes we use the 4 color cards and we only have them in poker size)  just seems bit too big after the sleek bridge cards

i don't know anything about pre...kems, i have some of the new ones: arrow bridge) and they are ok, nicely finished, pretty and everything, on the blue deck the pips are not symmetrical, the are cut closer to the edge on the one side leaving less space between the pip and card corner, the red deck doesn't look like this.

these kems are nice to play with, i forgive them the small things like a couple of marks on the face of one card which  i could not get off and the inconsistent printing/cutting near the edge on the faces of the blue deck, those things dont really affect the cards imo.

i have used copag for a long time, they are available to me here in the UK unlike a lot of other brands and while some of my copags have faded and spotted very badly and now there are some stains on then which will not come out: bad deck now. they are still the most durable cards i have found. if i crease a modiano it is creased for life, if i crease a copag the same it will be just fine.

my only issue with copag is their quality control, when you get a good setup it's great, the cards are lovely and they last a very long time whoever is handling them but far too often have  i had marked decks of copags, ridiculously bad some of them, clearly marked and unusable for poker. gouges missing from the backs of some cards, dents on the faces of others going throng to the back making it look like it had been punched and there was a little hole etc, just really bad QC.

i have had a lot of copags, only 1 double deck of new kems and only one deck of modiano. if the modiano were bridge size i think they'd be my favourite to play with but only if players weren't going to crease and twist them up. they can't recover

the kems i had were pretty good, no marked cards but a few unnecessary flaws in the finish, nice to play with but bows from the heat from my hand when i hold the deck i so use a cut card.

the modiano were the best produced cards, the copags are the toughest and are very nice to play with, the will fade and spot but are still usable for a long time when this happens.

you have to check every copag card for flaws making it a marked card, happened so many times i probably wont buy copag again, which is sick because they are excellent cards with just some bad QC

[R-Ho]

Twenty two months ago I preferred the one width, but now I'm not sure. Maybe, if this thread gets bumped again in 2014, I'll have decided. 

[bigstu]

Poker for hold'em bridge for omaha

[BigPair88]

Another 2 cents comin at ya. I got two decks of bridge size jumbo print Copag Aldrava's. I really like em. When I first got em, some people had trouble cuz they were more slick than the crappy paper cards they were used to handling. Now, everybody is used to them. They slide great, shuffle easily and are easy to hold for everyone in our home game. The Aldrava pattern is cool looking as well, which doesn't hurt either. I need to mention that they are somewhat beer, I mean water, resistive.
However, i regret to report that nice cards and a newly self-made poker table, although they look great together, they do not, and I repeat, do not improve your game.
Like Bugs Bunny once said "Iron bars does not a prison make!"

[Zombie]

I'm also going to chime in with support for bridge size.

Our home games are "passing dealer". Once players are eliminated, they can take over as full time dealer (or full time shuffler).  Even with a cut card covering the bottom of the deck, some poor dealers can inadvertently expose the bottom card, because their hand simply can't palm the deck as well.

Before we shifted to Copags, we used Bicycle paper cards. The bottom card would sometimes get exposed, but usually not enough to tell the suit - just the rank and color, and you kinda had to be looking.

[Wedge Rock]

How does the bottom card get exposed when using a cut card?

[Martini]

Yeah, what Wedge Rock said.

Are the cards exposed before the cut card is used? The dealers should be cutting the top half of the deck onto the cut card then putting the other half on top afterward. How does the cut card not cover the bottom of the stub?

[Wedge Rock]

Bridge cut card with a poker deck is all I can figure...

[AzCat]

Bridge cut card with a poker deck is all I can figure...

...or they are using these cut cards:

[Dr. Neau]

their hand simply can't palm the deck as well.

You know what they say about small hands...

[BigPair88]

They make other things look BIGGER!!!!