What make is best for handling? I currently use Bicycle but I am considering Tally Ho's. What are the advantages/disadvantages of both?
Thanks in advance,
Dan
:)

In my experience, Bicycles and Tally Ho cards handle about the same. Bicycles seem to be the most popular selling playing cards, so it might be more advantageous to use cards that most people (lay people, that is) are familiar with.
On the other hand, Harry Lorayne has a nice effect in one of his books (Reputation Makers, I think) using the Tally Ho box.

JZ

I don't know what it is, I live in the Charlotte, NC area and tally ho decks just feel nicer, and faro better. It's seems like the edges are rounded a lil so doing perfect faros are a breeze.

I kinda got mad at bicycle after purchasing a 12 deck set from sams club. Almost every deck had rough edges, rough enough that you could run your fingers across them and pull off some light shavings. Trying to faro them was almost futile. Additionally, they seem to be cut uneven, when you square up the deck they look like every 8 cards are cut different, making it appear like you have 7 distinct packets when squared.

Mike

A lot of magicians prefer Tally-Hos. They do feel nicer, and faro easier, but not because of how they are cut. I don't think there's any more quality control on Tally-Hos than Bikes. I've gotten some pretty poorly cut Tally-Hos.

Tally-Ho circle backs are subtle one-way cards. They are easy to spot once you know the secret, but nearly impossible otherwise (see the first Apocalypse book for more info on this).

The biggest advantage to Bikes is that they are the most familiar cards to most people in the US, so people don't suspect them of guile as much as brands they don't recognize. If you live on the East Coast, people may be familiar with Tally-Hos, but out here on the West Coast, they are unknown. Bikes are also easier to find gaffs for than other brands.

Jim

Additionally If you haven't already tried them maybe try Bees, they look cool(without borders) so are very nice and easy to use in manipulation.
Andy

I've never used Tally-Ho's but I have noticed that there has been a decline in the quality control of Bikes.

Um what is Faro

Heh, I was showing a DL trick the other day, and told the spec that I had installed an elevator in my deck. I asked the speck to press one of the two circles on the bike deck (where the fairies are riding a bike) and mentioned that it was the 'Up' button for the elevator. Probably good patter for kids.

A faro Shuffle is a weave (sometimes called a Butt) shuffle, where the two halves of the deck are interwoven perfectly, every other card. It is a fairly difficult shuffle to learn (especially to do it consistently under the fire of real-world performance), but it can accomplish miracles that are not otherwise possible.

That said, back to the topic at hand. I, too, think that Bikes and Tally-Ho cards are about equal. TH's used to be more common, years ago, even on the West Coast, but now Bikes are. Another (thinner and less expensive) brand worth using is Aviator. Also, Stud decks from Walgreen's are very nice.

Bikes are good although I never had the chance to use Tally-Ho.

But most gaff cards uses bike back. Therefore, it makes more sense to use bikes.

My 2 cents worth.

I have both Bikes and Tally Ho's in my card deck case.

For some reason, the Tally Ho's are easier for me to faro and to use. They also break in well compared to bikes. That is they can used longer before they get sticky and hard to fan.

In Atlanta Tally ho's are hard to come by so I usually break them out for a special show or
a club competition.

I am not sure why they seem better, but they do to me.

Must be a psychological thing.

Rolando

I'm a huge fan of bee cards kellser121, but out of bykes and tally-ho I'd have to say bykes.
Being in the UK means that neither bykes or tally-ho are known, so it comes down to personal preference.

every time!

Hey Rolando!

If you and some other Atlanta guys want to chip in on a case of Tally Ho cards, let me know and we'll buy in bulk.

I use Bikes almost exclusively, but have been known to break out some TH fan backs or circle backs for special occasions.

JMT

Hi,
I've recently discovered Tally Ho's and I've found them to be slightly stronger cards than Bikes - i.e. they've had the toughness to them for a long time.

I think that Bikes are better for flourish cuts, like z-cuts, but Tally Ho's have a lasting quality about them.

That's from my experiences with them both anyway.

Thanks,

Hi Joe,

I am game ---- anybody else from the club interested.

Rolando

Here in Austria (and also Germany) I see many magicians use Bicycle cards - especially in Austria also Piatnik are common, but more for beginners (they are cheaper, but also much thicker and stiffer, than bicycles or Tallys). At the moment I prefer Bicycles, because my Tally Hos are more stiff and have more sharp edges (I ordered a dozen each some time ago).
Martin
USPC cards are very expansive here in Austria (up to 5 $ a pack )..

I just got my first deck of Tally Ho's here in Australia. Very expensive ($13.95 as opposed to $8.95 for bikes) but very nice cards. They feel a lot stiffer, more like a Bee deck. However they weren't cut terribly well. If you turned one card around in the deck it would stick out fairly badly, but with them all lined up the same way there's no problem.

Due to their expense and ease of faroing I will use these decks for performing Unshuffled, but probably nothing else.

I use Bikes exculsivly. I had used blue backs for a long time (because I like blue), but more and more, I'm leaning to red (for palming protection). I still keep some blue's around for color changing tricks.

Anything else, spectators seem to think it's a trick deck. (Little do they know that all kinds of trick decks are available with bike backs.)

I like Bikes, I'm just starting work on faros and I get a pretty good success rate with Bikes...

I wish they still made Aristocrats...


Brian, Ed Marlo has a booklet on the mechanics of the Faro Shuffle. It's one of the separately published chapters to his series, "Revolutionary Card Technique." Harry Lorayne also describes the shuffle in one of his books, but, honestly, Marlo's is better, clearer, and more complete. Another chapter in the series presents effects using the Faro Shuffle.

I personally never had much experience with Tally's, but I am looking forward to trying them some time!

I personally prefer Bikes with an air cushion finish, as that facilitates spreads and fans. Plus, like it's already mentioned, alot of trick decks are Bikes - so if alot of people see you using a Bike deck one time and you do a deck switch, they definitely won't notice the difference, so that's one major advantage if you have a few trick decks

Logan