Survey of Casino Card Designs

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Apheat, Surveys

People collect many different types of casino memorabilia. Casino chips are the most common collectible. It follows that there should be a national organization of casino chip collectors. There is, the "Casino Chip and Gaming Token Collectors Club." I spoke at their convention last June, before I started this blog; it was a great experience and I experienced first-hand their enthusiasm for casino collectibles. While there, I noticed that a few vendors sold collections of casino cards

 

Based on my recent research into edge sorting issues, about two weeks ago I decided to contact one of the vendors to purchase a collection of cards. This individual told me he actually had 750 different cards that I could purchase, and the cost was only $15! I jumped at the opportunity. The package arrived on December 24th, and I immediately began sorting and studying the cards.

 

This article presents the top card-back designs included in the collection.  To be included in this survey, the design had to occur on at least 4 different cards. For each design, I will give the number of different cards using that design. The popularity of the design, however, is not  directly correlated to card security. Surprisingly, the most common cards also have the biggest security issues. I can only assume that the most common designs are also the cheapest cards to purchase. Price trumps quality.

 

The images below represent a horizontal slice of the sampled card. As you look at these cards, study the left and right edge. If these edges can easily be distinguished, then the card has a problem. Here are the cards:

 

#15 (4 different cards)

 

#14 (5 different cards)

 

#13 (6 different cards)

 

#12 (7 different cards)

 

#11 (10 different cards)

 

#10 (18 different cards)

 

#9 (22 different cards)

 

#8 (24 different cards)

 

#7 (28 different cards)

 

#6 (31 different cards)

 

#5 (51 different cards)

 

#4 (62 different cards)

 

#3 (69 different cards)

 

#2 (117 different cards)

 

#1 (189 different cards)

 

Here is the survey of the top 10 in a single image, in the order (top to bottom) from #1 to #10: