page_title: United States Playing Card Company
section_title: Bicycle
hierarchical_section_title: United States Playing Card Company / Product lines / Bicycle
caption_attribution_description: English: Bicycle Standard Playing Cards: Ace of Spades, Joker, and a red back of the card
context_page_description: The United States Playing Card Company, established in 1867 as Russell, Morgan & Co. and founded in its current incarnation in 1885, is a large American producer and distributor of playing cards. Its brands include Bicycle, Bee, Tally-Ho, Congress, Hoyle, Aviator, Aristocrat and KEM. It also produces novelty and custom cards, and other playing card accessories such as poker chips. The company was once based in Cincinnati, Ohio, but is now headquartered in the Cincinnati suburb of Erlanger, Kentucky.
  In December 2019, The United States Playing Card Company became a subsidiary of Belgian card manufacturer Cartamundi.
context_section_description: Bicycle Playing Cards (stock No. 808) are the USPC's flagship brand of cards, introduced in 1885.
  The typical Bicycle deck is a standard deck of cards consisting of 52 traditional French-suited playing cards, two jokers, an information card, and a double backer. The Bicycle trademark is printed on the ace of spades. The type number of a Bicycle deck can be found both on the bottom of the deck box and on the stone of the joker artwork. Bicycle cards have a textured 'air cushion' finish for improved handling.
  Bicycle cards are sold in poker and bridge widths, with additional deck configurations for use in other games such as pinochle, rummy, and canasta. Back designs include the standard 'Rider' back, the 'Vintage' back modeled on the original card design, and many specialty designs. Back colors include traditional red and blue, along with black, silver, and pastel colors. Face designs include standard, jumbo index, low-vision cards for the visually impaired, and a 'PokerPeek' design on their pro-series decks that simplifies looking at hole cards. Novelty 'Big Bicycle' cards that are four times the normal card size, and mini-sized cards are also available.
  Bicycle playing cards are commonly used by magicians in card magic and flourishes due to their ordinary appearance. In addition to specialty decks specifically designed for magic, cardistry or purely aesthetic reasons, USPC also make other kinds of non-standard card decks, such as a gaff deck (contained in a mirrored-art box) with an assortment of unusually altered cards that can be used with regular cards for tricks.
  Starting in 2019, Bicycle started a "Games by Bicycle" division to enter into the hobby board game market, with party games and light strategic games using playing-card sized cards. These include Tattoo Stories, It's Blunderful, and Shuffle Grand Prix.
  Subject to certain guidelines, the Bicycle brand can be licensed from USPC.
caption: Current standard Bicycle cards: the ace of spades, joker, and the Rider Back in red
exif: {}