Whatever Happened To DealingDeuces

[zincy7]

I have been saving up literally hundreds of dollars to buy the Arrco Tahoe reprints they were selling, and I just searched them and their website isn't showing up. Does someone know something I don't?

I'm asking because I've wanted the Tahoe Black and White decks for years now, and being a 15 with no job didnt really help.  Now that I have one, I've been wanting to buy their stock of Tahoes for myself, as well as the other decks they had to offer.

Can anyone help me out here?

[Don Boyer]

I have been saving up literally hundreds of dollars to buy the Arrco Tahoe reprints they were selling, and I just searched them and their website isn't showing up. Does someone know something I don't?

I'm asking because I've wanted the Tahoe Black and White decks for years now, and being a 15 with no job didnt really help.  Now that I have one, I've been wanting to buy their stock of Tahoes for myself, as well as the other decks they had to offer.

Can anyone help me out here?

DealingDeuces was a rather expensive place to buy cards for the most part.  He fell into disrepute over a scandal, which possibly cost him enough of his business to cause him to fold shop.

He were looking for ways to inflate prices on some of his decks.  One method he used was to foil wrap his Arrco Tahoe reprints and give them serially-numbered seals, making them look like some kind of factory-issued set - they were the same decks one could purchase individually for significantly less money.

But what really got him in hot water was when he was taking "Ace Fulton" decks made by Dan and Dave Buck, wrapping them in gold foil and applying some kind of clear sticker to the foil with the "Ace Fulton's Casino" logo on it and charging a small fortune for them.  People were freaking out, trying to find out if, as was claimed by Dealing Deuces, it was some kind of special edition that wasn't previous available from the Bucks, but one of the Bucks came out publicly and said they never made them in that way - it quickly became clear to collectors that he was trying to re-wrap the decks to make them appear to be far more valuable than they actually were.

Almost immediately after that happened, he stopped posting to his account here on this forum and wasn't heard from again.  People started doubting the veracity of a lot of his claims in regard to the very expensive collectible decks he was offering for sale on his site - I recall a casino deck he was selling that was in the four figures, royally expensive, making it supposedly more valuable than a "Holy Grail" deck like the original Bicycle War Series from 1918.  It would appear that the scandal cast a long-enough shadow on his business that it tanked.

Here's the topic where the whole thing came out in the open.  http://www.playingcardforum.com/index.php?topic=3543.0

[zincy7]

I have been saving up literally hundreds of dollars to buy the Arrco Tahoe reprints they were selling, and I just searched them and their website isn't showing up. Does someone know something I don't?

I'm asking because I've wanted the Tahoe Black and White decks for years now, and being a 15 with no job didnt really help.  Now that I have one, I've been wanting to buy their stock of Tahoes for myself, as well as the other decks they had to offer.

Can anyone help me out here?

DealingDeuces was a rather expensive place to buy cards for the most part.  He fell into disrepute over a scandal, which possibly cost him enough of his business to cause him to fold shop.

He were looking for ways to inflate prices on some of his decks.  One method he used was to foil wrap his Arrco Tahoe reprints and give them serially-numbered seals, making them look like some kind of factory-issued set - they were the same decks one could purchase individually for significantly less money.

But what really got him in hot water was when he was taking "Ace Fulton" decks made by Dan and Dave Buck, wrapping them in gold foil and applying some kind of clear sticker to the foil with the "Ace Fulton's Casino" logo on it and charging a small fortune for them.  People were freaking out, trying to find out if, as was claimed by Dealing Deuces, it was some kind of special edition that wasn't previous available from the Bucks, but one of the Bucks came out publicly and said they never made them in that way - it quickly became clear to collectors that he was trying to re-wrap the decks to make them appear to be far more valuable than they actually were.

Almost immediately after that happened, he stopped posting to his account here on this forum and wasn't heard from again.  People started doubting the veracity of a lot of his claims in regard to the very expensive collectible decks he was offering for sale on his site - I recall a casino deck he was selling that was in the four figures, royally expensive, making it supposedly more valuable than a "Holy Grail" deck like the original Bicycle War Series from 1918.  It would appear that the scandal cast a long-enough shadow on his business that it tanked.

Here's the topic where the whole thing came out in the open.  http://www.playingcardforum.com/index.php?topic=3543.0

Thanks so much for the thorough response Don. You're probably my favorite playing card enthusiast cuz you really have your head in this game. I personally loved the Arrco Tahoe reprints, and I was hoping to snag some old school magic castle decks from that website, but knowing whats been going on, it seems as though DealingDeuces really lost its credibility on this one.

[Don Boyer]

Thanks so much for the thorough response Don. You're probably my favorite playing card enthusiast cuz you really have your head in this game. I personally loved the Arrco Tahoe reprints, and I was hoping to snag some old school magic castle decks from that website, but knowing whats been going on, it seems as though DealingDeuces really lost its credibility on this one.

Well, if you're looking for "old school" Magic Castle decks, go REALLY old school and get the ones from USPC.  Someone wrote a good article on here a while back about the Magic Castle decks in the old design - you should search for it.  The final printing of that design was from Cartamundi and isn't even worth the paper it's printed on - the cards have a plasticky feel to them and have a terrible habit of clumping together badly after very little use.  The USPC ones are HARD to find - many of those decks were bought up and either hoarded by collectors/tourists or used by magicians.  There were a few other print runs from other companies, as I recall - to my knowledge, it's the Cartamundi ones that aren't worth the time of day.

[zincy7]

Well, if you're looking for "old school" Magic Castle decks, go REALLY old school and get the ones from USPC.  Someone wrote a good article on here a while back about the Magic Castle decks in the old design - you should search for it.  The final printing of that design was from Cartamundi and isn't even worth the paper it's printed on - the cards have a plasticky feel to them and have a terrible habit of clumping together badly after very little use.  The USPC ones are HARD to find - many of those decks were bought up and either hoarded by collectors/tourists or used by magicians.  There were a few other print runs from other companies, as I recall - to my knowledge, it's the Cartamundi ones that aren't worth the time of day.

Darn it. I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Personally, I hold older generations of cards to a high standard, given how decks like the Studs, Aristocrats, Tahoes, Nuggets, and Magic Castle decks all managed to capture the attention of the great card men of that era.

Maybe I'm just buying the hype of "they used it, so I should too", but even today, I have a huge frustration with modern Bikes. I live in a place with humidity, so they generate "clicks" insanely fast, and even then, the quality of the cut isn't all that great. The registers are off, the sides feel like sand paper, and they just don't hold up like I need them too.

Honestly, this is why I invest in more expensive playing cards. Dan and Dave (albeit extremely expensive now that they've shifted sites), put out some GREAT decks of cards, even though they cost twice as much. The Dealing Deuces reprints were also great cards, and I'm actually wondering if people would be interested in a reprint of the old Black and Inverse designs that DD brought out several years ago.

I actually wanted to ask your opinion on this, Don. What do you think about cards today? Do you remember the quality that used to be put out? What do you think companies like Dan & Dave and Conjuring Arts are doing that makes their decks that much better?

[Don Boyer]

Well, if you're looking for "old school" Magic Castle decks, go REALLY old school and get the ones from USPC.  Someone wrote a good article on here a while back about the Magic Castle decks in the old design - you should search for it.  The final printing of that design was from Cartamundi and isn't even worth the paper it's printed on - the cards have a plasticky feel to them and have a terrible habit of clumping together badly after very little use.  The USPC ones are HARD to find - many of those decks were bought up and either hoarded by collectors/tourists or used by magicians.  There were a few other print runs from other companies, as I recall - to my knowledge, it's the Cartamundi ones that aren't worth the time of day.

Darn it. I was hoping it wouldn't come to that. Personally, I hold older generations of cards to a high standard, given how decks like the Studs, Aristocrats, Tahoes, Nuggets, and Magic Castle decks all managed to capture the attention of the great card men of that era.

Maybe I'm just buying the hype of "they used it, so I should too", but even today, I have a huge frustration with modern Bikes. I live in a place with humidity, so they generate "clicks" insanely fast, and even then, the quality of the cut isn't all that great. The registers are off, the sides feel like sand paper, and they just don't hold up like I need them too.

Honestly, this is why I invest in more expensive playing cards. Dan and Dave (albeit extremely expensive now that they've shifted sites), put out some GREAT decks of cards, even though they cost twice as much. The Dealing Deuces reprints were also great cards, and I'm actually wondering if people would be interested in a reprint of the old Black and Inverse designs that DD brought out several years ago.

I actually wanted to ask your opinion on this, Don. What do you think about cards today? Do you remember the quality that used to be put out? What do you think companies like Dan & Dave and Conjuring Arts are doing that makes their decks that much better?

Dan and Dave use USPC for much if not all of what they personally produce.

Conjuring Arts stopped using USPC and created their own card company, Expert Playing Card Company.  They make a fine playing card and at highly competitive prices to what USPC charges for making premium custom decks.

If you live in a high-humidity area, try getting a hold of some Aladdins.  USPC made them specifically for withstanding highly humid environments - they're a regional deck sold almost exclusively in Singapore, where they're actually more common than Bicycles.  They have a smooth finish but handle rather well; you might end up preferring them over Bicycles.  Expert PCC's decks should also be able to withstand humidity reasonably well - they're largely made in Taiwan, with just a few exceptions.  Legends PCC shares the plant in Taiwan with Expert, as well as printing some cards with a plant in mainland China.