Playing Cards for Card Games: Poker vs Bridge Size, Plastic vs Paper, and How Many Decks

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A standard 52-card deck plays most card games on this site. The exceptions: euchre uses a 24-card deck, and the big rummy games need 2 to 5 decks shuffled together. The real choices are size, material and how many matching decks you need.

Start with the games you play, because the number of decks follows directly from them and is the one thing you can't fix at the table. Size and material are about comfort.

How many decks does each game need?

A euchre deck is 6 ranks in 4 suits: 9, 10, J, Q, K and A, so 6 x 4 = 24. The joker itself was first devised in the United States for euchre, which is why some euchre packs include one as the "best bower."

Poker size or bridge size?

Both are 3.5 inches tall. The difference is width.

Six millimeters doesn't sound like much. Across a fan of 11 to 13 cards, though, the narrower card is easier to hold. That's the hand size in canasta, 500 Rum and Hand and Foot. Poker size gives you a wider face and a little more to grip when you pick a card up from the table, and neither size is required by any game on this site.

Check: never mix sizes in one shuffled stock, because a card that sticks out by even a few millimeters can be identified from the back of the deck.

Plastic or paper?

Coated paper is the standard material, and a worn paper deck is easy to replace. Fully plastic decks can be wiped clean and are listed as resisting bends and creases, which matters for games played outdoors, on a porch or with food and drinks on the table. Read the label closely. Coated isn't plastic.

What should you check on a listing?

1. Size: poker or bridge, in inches or millimeters.
2. Card count: 52, 54 with jokers, or 24 for euchre. Count the jokers on the listing if your game needs them, since some decks include 2, some 1 and some none at all.
3. Material: coated paper or 100% plastic.
4. Index: standard, or jumbo index if anyone at your table needs larger print.
5. Back colors: for multi-deck games, buy decks with different backs so you can sort them afterward.

Which decks fit which table?

Standard size

Material and readability

Multi-deck and special decks

Can you mix decks with different backs?

For multi-deck games, yes, as long as the size and finish match. Canasta, Liverpool and Hand and Foot all shuffle several decks together, and different back colors make sorting faster when the game is over. Don't mix sizes. Don't mix a worn deck with a new one either, because bent corners and faded backs let players spot particular cards in the stock.

What to read next

• Card games for 2 players
• How to choose a cribbage board
• Euchre rules
• All card game rules

Sources: Card dimensions from Wikipedia's comparison of manufacturers' listed sizes (Standard 52-card deck), read 2026-10-10. Joker history comes from Wikipedia's Playing card article, and the deck counts per game follow the sources cited on each of the rules pages linked above. Arithmetic rechecked by script; see our methodology. Last updated 2026-10-10.