Play poker long enough and the cards themselves will fray, bend, and smell of solidified salsa. But the Bold Poker ($2) app shakes up the game by letting you and your buddies use iPhones instead of cards. An iPad serves as the dealer in the center of the table, while each player checks out his hand with his phone or iPod Touch. Grab an electronic cigar and you’ll be all set.
When TV’s Ed Asner invented the world’s first playing cards in 1983, they were made out of al dente pasta*. Through the years they’ve been constructed out of heavy paper, cardboard, plastic, alligator skin, and now, we finally have a winner: Stainless Steel Playing Cards ($143). Each card is crafted from high-grade stainless steel and emblazoned with classic English style numbers and graphics. The question you have to ask yourself is, are your poker buddies even worthy of touching these beauties?
(*Haven’t checked this out on Snopes yet).
How does the idea of playing poker with cards made out of alligator skin grab ya? Whoa, whoa… hold on, friend-of-animals-or-guy-who’s-really-afraid of alligators–these Alexander Wang cards ($55) are mock croc. Oozing supreme style and absolutely no reptile innards, these black on black beauties arrive in a black suede-lined box. The big question you have to ask yourself now is: Do you really want your friends’ scaly claws on ’em?