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The Three Top Poker Card Producers

The Three Top Poker Card Producers
Chris Robinson the Author
Chris Robinson Hand Analysis
  • Fact Checked by: PokerListings
  • Last updated on: November 7, 2025 · 4 minutes to read

If you’ve ventured to play poker in a casino or a home game, you’ll know that the quality of the cards matters. Casinos invest heavily into playing cards because they need to be durable, unremarkable, and easy for dealers to deal consistently. And while there are dozens of companies that produce playing cards, chances are you’ll only see one of these brands at your local poker room. 

In no particular order, here are the characteristics that make good poker playing cards:

  • Plastic: Poker cards that can be bent backwards to read their value and not crease is essential for any poker game as the cards stay on the table
  • Waterproof: Many poker rooms have drinks on or near the rail and spills happen. While it’s annoying if the felt gets wet or sticky, poker cards cannot absorb any liquid as this would require changing the entire deck, slowing the game down
  • Smooth: In poker rooms that don’t use automatic shufflers, smooth cards make the difference for the dealers that have to manually shuffle the cards. Rough cards could stick together, making the shuffling process not as random as it should be.

There’s a number of companies that produce the best poker cards that casinos, poker rooms and poker series use include. We’re presenting three we think are the best of the best.

Copag

Originally established in Brazil in 1908, Copag has been a favorite of casinos and poker rooms around the world for creating a reputation of producing 100% plastic cards. 

They are currently the official playing card provider of the World Series of Poker, as their cards are made from acetate which makes them extremely durable, but also waterproof and bend-resistant, critical for ensuring cards don’t become marked in any way. Their texture allows dealers to deal cards quickly and with less risk of a mis-deal, and manual shuffles are made easy due to their frictionless material.

Poker Cards: Copag

They last 50 times longer than a normal deck of cards, which is huge for the WSOP given the millions of hands deal every summer by hundreds of dealers and are still relatively inexpensive compared to the upfront cost of paper playing cards.

Simply put: Copag has established themselves as one of the premier providers of playing cards for the poker world.

Faded Spade

One of the biggest rivals to the World Series of Poker is the World Poker Tour, and their card of choice is Faded Spade. 

Founded in 2017 by Tom Wheaton, they rival the Copag brand in terms of durability, flexibility and quality. Wheaton created his original company Above The Felt to better connect poker players and fans alike through his agency that specializes in representing poker players and marketing them, but Wheaton saw a niche with poker cards being shown live on stream and wanted to fill that gap. 

Poker Cards: Faded Spade

After many failed attempts, Faded Spade was born to create the highest RFID poker card on the market.  They claim that their RFID cards wear better than the competitors, clearly a shot at Copag, and his marketing company helped land a deal with the WPT to be the official supplier of poker cards for their broadcasts. To the average poker player, playing with Faded Spade may not feel all that different, but they focused on finding the balance between strength and flexibility with a feel that is above the rest.

If you compared the two cards, what you will most likely find is:

  • Copag cards are more durable, and feel more like typical playing cards, while still being made of plastic and resist marking, and will be more suitable for budget-conscious consumers and companies
  • Faded Spade cards look and feel better than Copag and will perform better in more intense situations.  They also tend to be easier to read when watching poker broadcasts on TV due to their design

Bee Playing Cards

One playing card that you would come across if you played poker in casinos will be Bee playing cards.  Considered the standard for general casino use, Bee playing cards will be found in hundreds of casinos and card rooms around the world for their premium materials used.  Its distinction between the other card manufacturers is that the USPC (the parent company of Bee) laminates their own card stock with their specialized formulated earth-friendly adhesive, the only card manufacturer to do so. 

Poker Cards: Bee Playing Cards

Its 12 step process is outlined to give confidence in the casino or card room purchasing that they understand exactly what they are receiving. Cards can be pre-shuffled by robots, making them ready to go right out of the deck.  The formulation is conducive to card shufflers to aid casinos in dealing more hands per hour, but are generally priced at a cost less that then the premium brands mentioned. Chances are your first deck of poker cards was by Bee.

Poker Card Cost (October 2025)

While we’ve told you what the best poker cards are according to PokerListings, we still haven’t mentioned anything about their price. So, in the spirit of complete transparency, here are the prices (in USD) of the three poker card producers we mentioned.

  • Copag; $10.00 to $12.00/deck
  • Faded Spade: $25.00/deck
  • Bee: Average $4.00/deck
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