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In 1970, the Jerry's Nugget Casino in 
Jerry's Nugget playing cards were printed in
Las Vegas, Nevada
Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...
printed a special deck of playing cards
A playing card is a piece of specially prepared card stock, heavy paper, thin cardboard, plastic-coated paper, cotton-paper blend, or thin plastic that is marked with distinguishing motifs. Often the front (face) and back of each card has a Pap ...
that was not used in their casino, but was sold in their gift shop for fifty cents each. These decks have become highly desired by collectors due to their unique handling qualities, and almost fifty years later they now fetch upwards of $500 per deck on the second-hand market.
The signature design of the card backs shows an image of the oil derrick sign from the parking lot of the casino, set against a solid blue or red background. This sign also appears on the deck's joker.
History
Jerry's Nugget playing cards were printed in Cincinnati, Ohio
Cincinnati ( ; colloquially nicknamed Cincy) is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Settled in 1788, the city is located on the northern side of the confluence of the Licking River (Kentucky), Licking and Ohio Ri ...
, and then were driven to the North Las Vegas casino via trucks where they sat in storage for many years. The playing cards eventually sold out around 1999, after famous French magician and private collector Dominique Duvivier purchased the remaining stock of about 14,000 decks.Recreation
In 2019, as a result of a collaboration between Expert Playing Card Company and Jerry's Nugget Casino, a successful project was launched to recreate the decks in a modern finish and a vintage finish. Reprintings of the Jerry's Nugget design have since been released in multiple colours.See also
*Cardistry
Cardistry is the performance art of card flourishing. Unlike card magic, cardistry is meant to be visually impressive and appear very hard to execute.
The term ''cardistry'' is a portmanteau of ''card'' and ''artistry.'' People who engage in ca ...
* Sleight of hand
Sleight of hand (also known as prestidigitation or ''legerdemain'' () comprises fine motor skills used by performing artists in different art forms to entertain or manipulate. It is closely associated with close-up magic, card magic, card fl ...
References
{{Playing cards Playing cards