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Guides
Each guide answers one question and names a handful of products rather than forty. Every pick says who it is for and what it gives up.
The best playing cards for poker
Plastic or paper, jumbo index, and why a regular game should own two decks.
The best card games for two people
Games built for exactly two, plus what to play tonight with a standard deck.
The best waterproof playing cards
Waterproof means 100% plastic. What survives a pool, and what only claims to.
The best cards for cardistry
Decks chosen for how they move, and how to break one in without ruining it.
Cardistry for beginners: how to start
What it is, five first moves with written steps, a two-week plan and free tutorials.
The best practice decks and gear for cardistry
Practice decks, a mat and a book, and what a beginner can skip.
The best cards for magic tricks
A magic deck has to look ordinary. Why that usually means Bicycle Rider Back.
The best card games for families
Nine games grouped by who is at the table: little children, mixed ages, teens and adults.
Card games for Thanksgiving
What to play with whoever is there: the whole family at once, the kids' table, four grown-ups or two.
Christmas card games and gifts
What to play over the holidays, and card games and gear to give, grouped by who they are for.
The best cribbage boards
From a folding starter set to a hardwood keepsake, and how two- and three-track boards differ.
The best large-print playing cards
Jumbo-index and large-print decks for older eyes and dim rooms, plus Pinochle and Bridge decks.
Card holders and card tables for game night
Something to hold a big hand of cards, and a folding table that keeps the cards from sliding.
The best books for learning card games
Rule books, books on one game at a time, and the history of the pack.
Sleeves, boxes and binders that protect a collection
The three failure modes that damage cards, and the gear that prevents them.
Still to come: games for three, four and five players, and cheap decks worth buying in bulk.