Fournier Playing Cards Reviews

2508 | 2800 | 2818 | 2826 | Arabesque | EPT | Poker Vision

Fournier playing cards are made in Spain and are quite popular throughout Europe, especially in casinos. This brand of playing cards has been somewhat hard to find in North America, but is now available through TridentCards.com, Cara Gail's and several other retailers. Fournier is owned by the USPC, the same company that makes Kem and Bee/Bicycle playing cards. In fact, some USPC cards such as the WPT plastic cards are manufactured in Spain.

In general, these are high-quality plastic cards that seem to be a combination of Copag cards and Dal Negro/Modiano cards. They are not quite as thick as the Dal Negro/Modiano's and seem to have less of a 'papery' feel to them. They are thicker than Copag's, and have much deeper and nicer graphics, but have a bit of the same plastic 'feel'. The top cards on the deck seem to slide off less easily than most other plastic playing cards. Take the stiffness, colors, and graphics of a Dal Negro/Modiano card but add the texture of a Copag card and you will get a pretty good idea of how these cards rate. If you find that the Dal Negro and Modiano cards are a bit too thick and papery, these cards may be for you!

Fournier Tribus

Coming soon ...

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Fournier EPT (European Poker Tour)

This is a European Poker Tour version of Fournier playing cards. In general, Fournier playing cards feel a bit thinner and more flexible than most other European manufactured playing cards. They feel much thinner than a Modiano or Dal Negro and have a feel and texture that is somewhat similar to Kem playing cards.

These are rather squarish cards, the corners are not very rounded. This gives the card a bit of a boxy feel. There is a very large jumbo index in security ink (dark red) and a yellow background in the center of all the non-face cards.

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The back design features the logo from the European Poker Tour and is available in red or blue in single deck cardboard boxes. The box is nothing special but at least it stays closed without a problem. The deck includes 52 cards, 2 jokers, and an EPT information card that is hardly worth mentioning. The joker is a bit unique in that it includes the EPT logo.

The price of the Fournier EPT playing cards is $10 from TridentCards.com. If you want a European playing card that is not as thick and inflexible as the Modiano's or Dal Negro's, these EPT Fournier cards are an excellent choice. Sept 2007

Video review: Fournier EPT

Fournier 2508 Playing Cards

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These are four-pip, regular index, poker-size cards. The Fournier 2508 playing cards have the same dark red color as the 2818 design, but are even darker. The back design is exactly the same as the 2818. Unlike some other four-pip designs, these cards have four pips on every card.

Fournier 2800 Playing Cards

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 These cards are similar to the 2826 playing cards reviewed above except for the back design and the slightly larger and thicker indices. They have the same feel and texture as the other Fournier playing cards reviewed here.

Fournier 2818 Playing Cards

This is probably my favorite style of Fournier cards. The 2818 are large index poker-size cards with very large and very dark numbers and pips. The beige background on the non-face-cards is very nice and adds an elegant quality to these cards, much the same as the Modiano Black Jack playing cards.

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The size of the numbers  is 14.5mm in height. The paper Aviator cards had the same size numbers but all the large-index plastic cards that I have reviewed have pips about 12-14mm in height (Modiano Black Jack - 13.75mm, Copag 1546- 13.8mm). The large-index Fournier Arabesque cards have pips of 12mm in height. I like the large size of the numbers and pips, if you are going to have large index cards, the indexes (indices) might as well be as large as possible.

The red is a very deep color, close to security ink, but not quite as dark as the Royal or Dal Negro Freedom cards. The design on the back of these cards is nice but nothing spectacular.

I did not receive a double-set box for these cards and I am not sure if a double set is available. The plastic single-deck boxes are nice. The fit is fairly tight and the box will stay closed without an elastic band, unlike the Royal playing cards boxes. One of my pet-peeves are card boxes that are not quite high enough to enclose the entire deck of cards. Many times, the top cards will spill over the top of the box and either fall out of the box, or intermingle with the cards in the second deck (if a double deck box). The Fournier box will hold 52 cards, but there is a spill-over effect if you keep all 55 cards (3 jokers) in the box.

Overall, I really like these cards and they might be my new personal favorite, up there with Modiano Black Jack cards. Yes, my eyes are getting rather aged and I now prefer large-index cards. These cards cost $19.99 for a two-deck setup.

Fournier 2826 Playing Cards

This is a jumbo index design with security ink and the 'Snowflake' back design. These cards, like all the Fournier cards here, are made in Spain and have the same feel and texture. They cost $19.95 for a two-deck setup.

Fournier Arabesque Playing Cards

These are bridge-size cards that are similar to the 2818 in design. They are large index cards but the numbers and pips are smaller (12mm) than the 2818 design (13.75mm). The red color on these cards is faded compared to the 2508 or 2818 - they have more of an orange color to them than the dark, blood-red of the other Fournier cards reviewed here. I like the design on the back of these cards and, similar to the 2818 cards, I like the beige background on the non-face cards.

Sample deck provided by

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Double-deck plastic boxes are the same basic design as the single-deck boxes. There are two plastic tabs that keep the decks separated, although the top six cards have a tendency to slide back and forth from one side to the other. The box will stay closed without the use of an elastic band. The plastic appears to be a bit thinner than that found on the Kem or Copag double-set boxes.

These cards cost $19.99 for a two-deck setup.

Fournier Poker Vision

This is the Fournier version of the dual index playing cards that have become popular since this style of playing cards was temporarily used during the 2007 World Series of Poker tournament. There are two different size indexes on these poker size playing cards - there is a large index in the center of the card and a smaller index in each of the four corners of the card. The center index is good when viewing the card from a distance and the corner indexes are used when viewing your hole cards (down cards).

It is fairly easy to differentiate between the nine and six cards although the number is not underlined as it is on the Copag dual index playing cards. The corner indexes are similar to ones found on the other brands of dual index playing cards.

These cards are made in Spain and have a bit of a squarish look and feel. There are yellow centers on all non-face cards. The security ink (dark red) typeface is rather thin and gives the numbers a less substantial impression. There is a simple herringbone design on the back of the cards, which are available in red or a very dark blue.

There are 52 playing cards and 3 jokers in each deck. They are sold in standard single-deck cardboard boxes so you will probably want to purchase a plastic box to store these cards. Fournier Poker Vision playing cards are available for $24 for two single decks of cards from CaraGails.com. December 2007

Playing Card Reviews

A Plus	Carta Mundi	COPAG	Dal Negro	DaVinci	Desjgn	ESPN	Fournier	Gemaco

Graphica	KEM	Modiano	NTP	Paper	Piatnik	Royal	Vegas	WPT