On our website you will see cards being referred to as Bridge or Poker. This is common terminology used to quickly describe the size of the playing card.

 

So did you think all playing cards were made the same? Well they aren't.

 

In general a Poker Sized Playing Card is 2.5 inches Wide by 3.5 inches Tall. A bridge size playing card is 2.25 inches wide by 3.5 inches tall. So the total difference between Bridge size and poker size playing cards is .25 inches in width only. This equates to about 10% of the total card width. This does not sound like much, but to some people it is very important.

 

Both Poker and Bridge size playing card set use a standard deck. So most common games are able to be played with either type of card. The name "Poker" and "Bridge" only refers to the size and does not necessarily mean the card has been made for bridge or poker.

 

Whats up with those names: Bridge and Poker? We don't really know!

 

Over 95% of poker rooms in US Casino's use a bridge size playing card. To Make matters worse 95% of Blackjack games deal a Poker size playing card! So how did the names of the sizes come about as bridge and poker?

 

Well we are not sure, but we do know that bridge players hold many more cards than most other players of other games in their hands during play. Therefore, it is only common to name the narrow size playing card as bridge. Most games that are deal from hand use the narrow card to assist with professionally manipulating the deck. Most games that are deal from a shoe use the wider poker size, since larger cards are often preferred by players.

 

On our website we try to call everything Wide or Narrow. However, when you are out in the world discussing the sizes of playing cards (We are sure you do this at least daily) you will now know the skinny on card sizes!

 

The Relative Size Difference:

Please Note:the actual size of this image varies depending on your computer screen.

(We Just Had To Say It!)