Five Ways to Tell You Have Too Many Decks--The story of Solitaire

Five Ways to Tell You Have Too Many Decks

There’s nothing quite like opening a fresh deck of playing cards. Or setting aside a few unopened decks just in case. Or lots of unopened decks just in case. Or having so many unopened decks that you’re starting a collection. A collection that begins in a spare drawer, then slowly finds its way onto your desk, then begins building along the kitchen table—wait. Do you have too many decks? Is that even possible? Read this list to find out if you’re in the clear, or part of the problem. You may have too many decks if. . .

1. You have nowhere to put them. When your collection gets so vast that it outgrows your display cases, Drawer-O-Cards, glass cabinets, or secret underground vault, it’s time to either downsize or re-organize. Either give away a few decks, or take the time—this weekend, even—to upgrade your display method so that you can actually give your cards some TLC. Otherwise, they’re just sitting around, unplayed and undisplayed. At that point, they’re just clutter, and. . .

2. You don’t use them. Maybe they’re all sitting out, waiting to be put in a display case. Maybe you only have four or five decks. . . but three have sat unopened for ages. If you’re into using your cards rather than displaying them, and you have unopened decks gathering dust, you have too many.

3. You forget which ones you have. If they’re on display in a prominent location or sealed in the underground vault you visit every day, it’s unlikely you’ll forget about your decks. But if you have so many that, when you occasionally rummage through, you think, Oh! I forgot I had this guy. Whoa. Congratulations, you have too many decks.

4. You have like eight kinds of the same one. Five, six, seven, eight or more of the same kind of deck is a lot of decks. What are they doing, besides gathering dust? Are you going to make an art installation with the extra cards? Carefully paper maché them into an elaborate King of Clubs crown you can wear on poker nights? If they aren’t already being used, there are too many. It’s time to downsize.

5. Kidding! There’s no such thing. Seriously. Who has too many decks? “Too many” is so limiting. So restrictive. Who cares how many decks you have, as long as they’re neatly displayed or put away? You’re carefully curating a collection, not gathering useless paper scraps. Sheesh.

In all honesty, if you’d like to downsize your deck collection, there are plenty of ways to go about it. Start by giving them to friends and family; many non-card-enthusiasts may never see a design that isn’t the Standard rider back. If your stash continues to overflow, consider giving decks to local shelters or thrift stores. Finally, if you’d like to sell some of your vintage sets, eBay is still a great option.

How do you display your collection, and what do you do with the overflow? Tell us in the Comments section.