decks that take casino grade bee stock?

[darkinertia]

i wasnt exactly sure where this topic would fit into, so i took a guess and thought maybe here lol

does anyone know of any production or readily available decks i can get that have casino bee stock? some of my favorite decks have been the wynns, stingers, watermelons,white lions, etc...most of them have in common that theyre casino bee stock, the problem is, they end up being so rare or expensive i dont want to use and abuse them much so i never do!

the main thing im looking for is if theres any decks out there that are casino bee stock with borders and standard pips, i have a ton of modern decks but they all play the same, bike stock magic finish and that doesnt feel right as a flourisher, at least to me

[HankMan]

Why don't you find some casino decks that uses Bee brand?
they are not expensive as well

[darkinertia]

yeah i do have a couple of casino decks, but i found it hard to find bordered non jumbo and uncancelled decks for a decent price

[Don Boyer]

i wasnt exactly sure where this topic would fit into, so i took a guess and thought maybe here lol

does anyone know of any production or readily available decks i can get that have casino bee stock? some of my favorite decks have been the wynns, stingers, watermelons,white lions, etc...most of them have in common that theyre casino bee stock, the problem is, they end up being so rare or expensive i dont want to use and abuse them much so i never do!

the main thing im looking for is if theres any decks out there that are casino bee stock with borders and standard pips, i have a ton of modern decks but they all play the same, bike stock magic finish and that doesnt feel right as a flourisher, at least to me

Many projects will advertise what stocks they use - these days, there's only two choices, Bee Casino and Bicycle.  Magic Finish is the default finish for a custom deck; "standard" coating has to be specially requested and rarely is.

You can go for over-the-counter Bee decks - the stock will be better than Bicycle and they're as cheap as you'll find with the Bee stock.  Whether it's genuine "casino-grade" stock or something slightly thinner is anyone's guess.

The other way to get genuine casino-grade Bee stock is to get genuine casino-grade Bee decks, period.  Canceled cards are easily found, though you wouldn't want them for much of anything, really - all dirty and beaten, plus that nasty saw-cut corner, yeesh...  But when a casino changes their colors or patterns, they're allowed to sell the unused decks in the older styles without canceling them, unused and still cellophane-wrapped.  Decks like these are sought-after by collectors, naturally, but there will be some that are less expensive than stuff like brown Wynns - catch some off-brand casino no one's heard of and you could stumble upon the next brown Wynns!  They're NOT EASILY FOUND, to be sure.  Casinos aren't as scarce as they once were - back in the days when they only existed in Las Vegas and Atlantic City - but LV is still the best shot for finding uncanceled decks.  Find shops online that are Vegas-based and deal in cards (or at the least, if not Vegas-based, carry a lot of casino decks, preferably uncanceled ones among them), then "make friends" with them and let them know you're interested in uncanceled Bee casino decks.  They'll put you on the mailing list and maybe even drop you a line when they have something you'd be interested in.

Be prepared to have Tech-Art faces - all the casinos use them on the paper cards these days, because paper is largely restricted to use at the blackjack and baccarat tables.  Poker tables use plastic, bridge-sized decks almost exclusively - they last longer and are more resistant to cheating techniques like crimping and nicking, plus bridge cards, being more narrow, are easier to conceal under one's hands.

Last alternative - USPC does take orders.  Nothing in the world (except lack of money!) would stop you from placing an order for a custom-made deck that was basically a standard deck on Bee Casino stock.  Either get your buddies to kick in or launch a Kickstarter to raise the cash and you could have your very own Bee Casino deck with a non-casino back.  But get it sooner rather than later - and be prepared for the possibility that you won't get to put the Bee name on it.  I've heard rumors that they're restricting Bee branding to casino decks and the standards they sell over the counter - no more customs.  (If you hear something contrary from the source, let us know!)

A final note: there are a few standard decks, still widely or semi-widely available, that are not only on Bee Casino stock, but they're traditionally cut like casino decks.  These are:
* Richard Turner Gold Seal Bicycle - traditional Rider Backs done like the pros prefer, usually $5 a pack, available in blue and red.
* Bicycle Professional - CARC's special edition of the Rider Back, red only, but in Ivory or Air Cushion Finish, pricing varies
* ANY Conjuring Arts Research Center deck that they made with USPC (back before they created the Expert Playing Card Company and starting making their own cards) was made on Bee Casino stock and traditionally cut and you can still catch some bargains on them if you look around.  Most are Bee-branded, a few are Bicycle or "unbranded."  The Ask Alexander deck is a steal at $5.95 and the Bicycle Professional Skull & Bones Edition (in black or red, Ivory or Air Cushion) is $7.50, both at Tannen's (http://www.tannens.com).  Ask Alexander gets a bad rap for being one-way, but I've heard rumors of "hidden features" in the deck aimed at magicians...

[darkinertia]

THANK YOU so much don boyer! ive been lurking and i caught the posts you did in "card stock" and i learned a lot from it, and this pushed it over the edge. i will have to look into all those mentioned decks, from my research i did find the richard turner gold standard was bee casino stock though i havent bought one yet

and i had no clue that CARC did that will all of their uspc decks though i do have the erdnaseums and they dont feel like casino bees...they have that snap to them but arent as thick, but that might be because of differences between KY and ohio or even that it has dan and daves name on it and i know they usually like aristocrat stock, who knows lol but ill for sure pick up some ask alexanders

[Don Boyer]

THANK YOU so much don boyer! ive been lurking and i caught the posts you did in "card stock" and i learned a lot from it, and this pushed it over the edge. i will have to look into all those mentioned decks, from my research i did find the richard turner gold standard was bee casino stock though i havent bought one yet

and i had no clue that CARC did that will all of their uspc decks though i do have the erdnaseums and they dont feel like casino bees...they have that snap to them but arent as thick, but that might be because of differences between KY and ohio or even that it has dan and daves name on it and i know they usually like aristocrat stock, who knows lol but ill for sure pick up some ask alexanders

There are variances in the thickness and even the quality of the paper used at USPC.  They don't manufacture the paper itself - they source it from paper mills, and the mills can't guarantee 100% consistency from batch to batch, especially in the days of high post-consumer recycled content.  They DO make the pasteboard - the paper used in playing cards is a sandwich of two sheets of paper that are glued together using a graphite-laced adhesive (this keeps light from shining through the paper) and pressed flat between rollers.

I can practically guarantee that the deck was made using Bee Casino stock.  99% certain.  They stopped offering Aristocrat stock sometime around 2011 or 2012, I think.  Casinos might still be able to get it, but not custom deck producers.

When you order cards made by USPC, they offer Bee Casino or Bicycle - but there's not a fixed thickness to each.  They actually fall in a range of thickness, with the Bee range being generally thicker than the Bicycle range.  However, the two ranges do overlap.  It's possible that you can get a thick Bicycle-stock deck that might be thicker than some Bee-stock decks, or a thin Bee-stock deck that's thinner than some Bicycle-stock decks.  It's just the nature of the beast - you can't specify precisely how thick or what weight you want your paper to be, unlike some shops that state up front the stock weight in grams per square meter (gsm or g/m²).

[EndersGame]

I realize this is an older thread, but I just put a plug in for it over on Reddit here.

Don, you've shared some really good info in this thread about Bee Casino Stock and decks that use it - sincere thanks for your informed contribution as always!