Paper vs Plastic

Paper Cards
Paper cards are made of two things. The paper, which is usually 2 or 3 plys of playing card stock, and a coating to protect that paper.

The coating is often unique to a card manufacturer, each using their own formula of ingredients to protect their cards. Besides offering protection to the paper underneath, the coating has a strong effect on the "feel" of the cards. So, depending on the coating and its thickness, some cards will be slicker than others, and slide more or less easily when being shuffled or dealt.

When compared to plastic playing cards, paper cards have some obvious drawbacks.

• They are less flexible, and so bending a card is more likely to leave a crease in it. This will mark the card, making it unusable for serious play.
• The coating wears off of the paper, and shuffling paper cards becomes more difficult after a relatively short period of time. The slickness being removed from the playing cards make them stick to things more easily, including each other.
• The coating on a set of paper cards does not protect them from everything. If someone spills a drink on a paper card, you may as well break out a new deck. The card is likely to be ruined.
• Paper cards can not be washed. Once the card is marked with dirt, or acquires some potato chip grease, they are finished.
• They are more easily marked (purposefully) than plastic cards. You can bend the corners of the cards and leave an impression on a paper card easily. Marks are especially apparent when the backgrounds are solid dark colors.

The upside to paper playing cards is that they are easy to find. Many drug stores, grocery stores and department stores carry paper paying cards.

They are also inexpensive. For $3 you can pick up a pack of paper cards.

Another thing to consider is that most people have been playing with paper cards since they first started learning card games. They are accustomed to the feel of paper cards. They may find plastic cards, with their distinctly different feel, are "unnatural" or uncomfortable to handle.

Plastic Playing Cards
Plastic cards are made of, plastic. KEM's are made from cellulose acetate, other manufacturers use other plastics, including pvc.

The drawbacks of paper cards are where the plastic cards shine.

• They can be washed. So cheese puff residue or a spilled soda is not going to ruin the deck of cards.
• The plastic cards keep their slickness. Shuffling an old deck of plastic cards does not require forearms the size of Popeye's. They also continue to slide nicely across table tops even as the time goes by.
• Their flexability allows them to endure more torture from players. They will not crease like a paper card does, and they are harder to mark.

Comparison
When compared to paper cards, plastic cards can be very slippery. This makes them harder to control during shuffling and dealing. It's easy for someone who isn't used to handling cards to lose control of a deck when shuffling.

Also, the flexability of the cards comes at a price. Plastic cards can feel flimsy by comparison to paper ones.

So, although they will last longer, and endure more punishment, plastic cards can feel too slippery, and a bit flimsy when compared to paper cards.