Jerry's Casino is one of the most iconic casino in the history of casinos in the United States of America. It is located in North Las Vegas, Nevada - Las Vegas is the center of America's source of entertainment: from extravagant shows to huge hotel and casino complex. The Jerry's Nugget Casino was founded by Jerry Lodge and Jerry Stamis in 1964. It has the iconic marquee outside of the casino and hotel complex - the top part resembles a nugget with the text "Jerry's" in it, and the bottom part is a set of square planks with a letter that combined spells "Nugget". The hotel and casino offers a lot of variety of relaxation and entertainment. But, the place is not what Jerry's is famous for, but their playing cards is!
The Original, Rare and Vintage 1970's Deck
The OG decks of Jerry's Nugget were produced by United States Playing Cards Company in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1970. The decks were meant to be used on their gaming tables, but it never happened. The decks are stored in their storage place for 20 years, until it got sold in their gift store with a retail price of $2 (probably around 50c at that time). Eventually, a magician by the name Frank Simon, used these cards for his tutorial book - the photos used in that book are that of him explaining the moves step by step using those cards. This drives the hype for getting these cards. By 1999, the decks are completely sold out from their store. Demands for this deck is quite high, resulting on these decks to reached up to $200-$500 on the aftermarkets. The casino has no plans for reprinting the decks after the stocks are out. There was the myth that said: a French magician by the name of Dominique Duvivier bought the remaining stocks of these decks until it's completely out. But, this myth is busted by vintage Congress deck collector named Kevan Seaney, who said he got the information from Lee Asher himself.
The Special Features about the OG Decks
What makes the decks so special? It is the production of the cards. The USPCC in Cincinnati, Ohio at that time had a special printing machine. The card stock used for the deck is special. The cards feature two different finishes: the back side have Air Cushion Finish - the front side have smooth finish. This smooth finish is done by slider embossing, which makes that side to have lines on it. Cotton roller was used to paint the embossing on the front of the cards. There is a special dip coating technique that was used to apply the finish for the cards. The handling for the cards is great and special for most of the cards, and they are indeed durable - Heck, the deck still handles and fans well in the present days! Card manipulators like Dai Vernon, Larry Jennings, Ed Marlo, Lee Asher, Chris Kenner, Dan and Dave Buck, and Dominique Duvivier have been using them for their card magic and/or flourishes. Unfortunately, the technology used to print these cards are no longer available due to environmental issues and the advancing technology in printing playing cards. Thus, these OG decks are the only remainder of production history of USPCC.
OG Jerry's Nugget Features
With these OG decks are worth quite the sum of money, swindlers would try to cheat people by presenting fakes as the actual OG decks. To avoid the fakes and get the authentic OG Jerry's Nugget, here are the features of it:
- The Tuckbox: The sides of the tuckbox read "Jerry's Nugget". The top and bottom side has the description of the location: North Las Vegas, Nevada. The front and back side has the card back design - solid color featuring the marquee of the casino on both sides.
- Deck Colors: There are only 2 colors of the OG Jerry's Nugget: RED and BLUE.
- Red Security Band: The deck is sealed with cellophane with a red security band around the top side.
- The Seal: It's blue squared perforated sticker - decks produced from Cincinnati, Ohio. It bears the company's name. The seal is placed off-centered to the left.
- The Cards: The front side has the faint vertical lines embossing - from the slider embossing, while the back side has the dimple grid patter - indication of Air-Cushion Finish. There are coating on the cards that make them shiny. And the deck smells good.
- The Tuckflap: It has a longer tuckflap than what we have right now. It is long like a tongue, hence the name for it.
- Production Date: Usually the production date is shown as a code on the Ace of Spades. Though if you want to take drastic measure in proofing authenticity, you can unfold the tuckbox and find a year in it: "1970".
The Reprints of the Originals
Lee Asher has been evangelized these cards, and he made sure that most card enthusiasts out there know about this legendary playing cards. Since the originals cost thousands of dollars, and the stocks are very limited, Asher suggests that there should be a reprint. In 2019, the CEO of Expert Playing Cards Company and Head of Conjuring Arts Research Center William Bill Kalush manages to obtain the exclusive license from Jerry's Nugget Casino to reprint the card in modern standards.
The all-new Jerry's Nuggets will have two main different feels: The Modern Feel and the Vintage Feel. The Modern Feel is using thin crushed premium USPCC Bee Stock with a traditional cut and printed using the Web Press. The Vintage Feel is using the JN Finish from EPCC - it tries to imitate the features of the original decks. The acquisition of the license to printing the new Jerry's Nugget playing cards starts with establishing a Kickstarter campaign. After the funding and fulfillment of the campaign, Conjuring Arts produce a LOT of versions.
Decks listed in bold are exclusive decks (Gilded and Kickstarter).
Modern Feel decks are marked with "MF" and colored 'Blue'. These cards are printed by USPCC on Premium Bee stock with Air Cushion Finish
Vintage Feel decks are marked with "VF" and colored 'Red'. These cards are printed by EPCC on firmer card stock with JN Finish
Total Decks: 54
- OG 1970 Red
- OG 1970 Blue
- MF Red
- MF Blue
- VF Red
- VF Blue
- MF Red [Stripper]
- MF Blue [Stripper]
- MF Gaff Deck
- MF Teal
- MF Coral
- VF Blue Foil
- Kings Wild Project Edition
- Owner's Reserve
- Rose [Riffle Shuffle]
- Gold [50th Anniversary]
- Red Double Foil
- Blue Double Foil
- Red Double Foil GILDED
- Blue Double Foil GILDED
- VF Black
- VF Yellow
- VF Steel
- MF Black
- MF Yellow
- MF Steel
- VF Aqua
- VF Green
- VF Orange
- MF Aqua
- MF Green
- MF Orange
- MF Royal Purple [Penguin Magic]
- MF Royal Purple GILDED Amethyst [Penguin Magic]
- VF Aqua GILDED Gold
- VF Green GILDED Gold
- VF Orange GILDED Gold
- VF Red GILDED Ruby
- VF Blue GILDED Sapphire
- VF Black GILDED Black
- VF Yellow GILDED Yellow
- VF Steel GILDED Silver
- MF Marked Monotone - Atomic Red
- MF Marked Monotone - Icy Blue
- MF Marked Monotone - Felt Green
- MF Marked Monotone - Atomic Red GILDED Red
- MF Marked Monotone - Icy Blue GILDED Blue
- MF Marked Monotone - Felt Green GILDED Green
- VF Marked Monotone Hot Foil - Atomic Red
- VF Marked Monotone Hot Foil - Icy Blue
- VF Marked Monotone Hot Foil - Felt Green
- VF Marked Monotone Hot Foil - Atomic Red GILDED Gold
- VF Marked Monotone Hot Foil - Icy Blue GILDED Silver
- VF Marked Monotone Hot Foil - Felt Green GILDED Holographic
There are extra two decks to the Jerry's Nugget - the Preview Edition. These decks are produced by USPCC on the modern feel. The Preview Edition comes in both Red and Blue, and both decks are tucked in a fancy black box packaging with a personally written letter. These are only on the hands of magicians, cardists, and card reviewers who will be promoting the Kickstarter campaign for the decks.
Jerry's Nugget Double Foil decks are only available as a set. Both Red and Blue Double Foil decks are encased in a fancy white box packaging complete with a seal. Available in "Standard Set" and "Gilded Set".
In another collaboration with Riffle Shuffle, Conjuring Arts produced Marked Monotone Jerry's Nugget. The decks will be factory-marked, using the casino's marquee as part of the marking. The suit is determined by the line thickness of the top and bottom of the nugget shape. The value is determined by the support bars thickness of the marquee's tower. Suit Marking are only on Atomic Red and Icy Blue. Value and Suit Marking are on Felt Green and ALL 3 Hot Foiled decks. All of the Marked Monotone Jerry's Nuggets are ONLY available through Kickstarter (no extra prints)