You want your cards in perfect condition, whether you’re practicing magic tricks or playing poker with friends. A few simple steps can help you keep your cards looking their best and performing at their best.
One way to prevent damage is to use a card clip. These metal or alloy items are designed to fit around your tuckbox and claim to increase your cards’ longevity. Though opinions on the value of these can vary, most will agree that they do add extra protection against wear and tear and can slow down the aging process by eliminating excess friction in the wrong places.
Other methods of protecting your cards are to avoid squeezing or handling them in an unnatural way. If you notice another player grabbing and squeezing his cards in an unnatural way, it could be a sign of something. You may want to observe their behavior and report it to the poker room management if you feel that they’re trying to conceal something from other players.
Another way to protect your cards is to mark them. If you’re using a deck of cards for a trick, you can mark them to indicate which hash tag they belong to by coloring in that corner. If you’re using a deck of cards for a trick, you can color in the corner to indicate which hash tag they belong to.