OK... Introduction.
Short version:
Hello, I'm Leif from Sweden. I started to collect decks about six months ago. I have about sixteen decks now. Not counting Swedish ones.
Medium version:
Hello. My name is Leif. I live in the northern part of Sweden. I began collecting decks about six months ago when I discovered that I had only one USPCC deck (Iraqi most wanted, a novelty gift from a friend in USA) and one, old, deck from Charta Mundi, named Cadet. Of course, I had some Swedish decks, but those are only good for... um... let's see... I'll have to get back on that one. So, I began to look around for some nice decks. Thus, I embarked on my journey to discover the best deck ever created by man, yeah, that's more like it! I noticed that people on youtube often used a deck named Bicycle, in a shi...number of different varieties. However those decks seems to be rather difficult to find here in Sweden. So I googled and found Ellusionist and Theory 11, but in the end I settled for E because I liked their sample pack deal. So now I am the owner of 11 E decks and some standard bicycle decks and some other decks from a friend who lives in the USA. I open all my decks, so if I'm going to start some serious collection, I'll have to start buying two of each. I do actually have two of one rather rare deck, but more on that in the:
Long version:
Hello, my name is Leif. I live in the far north of Sweden, with my wife and kids, in the harbor society or community of a small town.
When I was a small kid about the age of seven, I saw a magician perform on the television, It might have been David Copperfield or Siegfried and Roy, and I knew I wanted to be a magician!
I had seen someone doing some card trick, probably someone my mother was dating, I remember a very ugly beard, think Flying Pickets, Only you. So, I devised a rather clever Turning-the-top-and-bottom-cards-and-then-turning-the-whole-deck-upside-down-behind-my-back-while-the-spectator-examined-the-card-they-had-chosen scheme, so that when they inserted the card in the deck I held firmly, the whole deck was, in fact, upside down, except for the top and bottom cards... Sneaky! Then I just turned my back, looked through the deck until I found the card that was upside down, and showed it triumphantly to them. And my dear mother, who was the first one I showed it to, said: You turned the deck when you had it behind you, now go tidy your room, and stop with that magic nonsense. Defeated and broken I returned to my room and abandoned my dream of becoming an magician. And she never bought me that magic for kids box I'd been nagging her about for years, either.
Fast forward 35 years.
Me and my friends at a friendly Texas hold'em game. Suddenly, I realised that all of my friends were much better than me at shuffling the cards. When I did it, it felt awkward, even when I did that sawing motion, trying frantically to get them between eachother. Not to mention the few times I tried a riffle shuffle. When I did that, the deck split up in four parts, first, half of the cards in the left hand, BAM, then the same for the right, BAM, then the rest of the left hand cards, BAM, then the last to the right, BAM. Not so much riffling, more like Bamming... The BAM shuffle! You can imagine the embarrassment.
That's when it struck me, this is how far I'd let it slip? I used to know this stuff, when I was a kid I could do a onehanded cut, but now, not even a halfdecent shuffle? And that's when I decided to pick up my old dream, brush of the dust, put it back in my heart and, if not pursue it, so at least try to learn some tricks and sleights. At least so that I finally can win a friendly game of Hold'em.
That night, when I came home to practice, that's when I found out the sorry state my playing cards was in.
These are the decks I have so far:
From E
Infinity
Artifice emerald
Arcane white and black
Bicycle 1800 blue
Fathom
Sultan republic
2x Sultan treasury (I happened to buy them in a glitch on the E website in December)
2x Bicycle masters blue
2x Bicycle rider back blue
Gifted from a friend:
Bicycle robocycle
Bicycle Jumbo blue
Bicycle Pinochle
Iraqi most wanted
Oh, and that Charta mundi deck... It was my wife's. Besides, the facial expressions on that decks courts looks like they are... constipated.
So, basically I have learned* some simple tricks, (Brad's email series and some youtube videos) some different shuffling techniques, (faro, riffle! and poker) Some different cuts, both false and true. Tried some flourishing stuff but that is too hard for me right now. my fans for example looks good only with brand new decks.
*Learned, as in, I "know" how to do something, and can do it somewhat decent, but not near anything with flow or style.
The few tricks I have done so far has really impressed my friends. I get REALLY nervous though.
Some notes about Swedish playing cards:
This is a link to a page with Swedish playing cards:
http://www.wopc.co.uk/sweden/standard.htmlThe deck I have beside me as I type this looks like this, with some slight differences to the faces.
All Swedish decks I have seen are bridge size, even though the box is marked "Poker".
Admittedly, I'm probably not the best at fanning decks, but anyone who can fan a new deck of Swedish cards, I declare fanmeister on the spot. I fanned the 1800's, looked awesome, ten seconds later I "fanned" a new deck of Swedish cards, looked horribly, cards were clumped up 4-5 together, with big gaps in the fan.
My preferences in playing cards decks:
I like my decks to be more custom rather than less, that is why I bought from E rather than T11.
But not TOO custom, I will not buy the Russian egg deck for example, and the robocycle is balancing on the edge. Infinity or Seasons are perfect in terms of customization.
I like the Divine back more than the new Daniel Madison, even though I think it is a tad overdone. The Fathom is very nice, although the Artifice back is my favorite right now
I like decks with a border.
I didn't find the perfect deck, so I decided to design it myself, but of course I ran into some trouble, trouble that I hope You, dear fellow collectors can help me sort out.
Cheers
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