Sleeving a 60-card deck takes about fifteen minutes. Done well, it protects the deck for dozens of games; done badly, it bends corners or leaves mismatched sleeves in the same deck. Here is the method.
Before you start
- Wash your hands and work on a clean, dry table.
- Count your cards and your sleeves: you will know straight away if any are missing.
- Use sleeves from the same box for the whole deck, and keep the rest as spares.
Step by step
- Hold the sleeve with the opening at the top, pressing the sides lightly to open it.
- Slide the card in with its corners lined up with the opening. This is the step that avoids bending a corner.
- Push the card all the way in without forcing. If it catches, take it out and start again straight.
- Face every card the same way, fronts on the same side. The deck will shuffle more evenly.
- Shuffle the finished deck a few times to check that no card catches or sticks out.
Double sleeving
Double sleeving means putting the card in a snug clear sleeve (“perfect fit” or “inner”), then in a standard sleeve. The card is better protected from dust, humidity and spilled drinks.
- Slide the card into the inner sleeve.
- Turn it upside down: the inner sleeve’s opening should end up at the bottom of the outer sleeve.
- Slide it into the standard sleeve. The two openings face opposite ways, so the card is closed on every side.
Day Two sleeves (66 × 91.5 mm) work as the outer sleeve with standard-size perfect fit inners. The deck gets a little thicker: check that it still fits your deck box.
Mistakes to avoid
- Mixing sleeves from different batches in one deck: a different shade or wear makes a card recognisable.
- Sleeving only part of the deck: in a tournament, every card in the deck must be in identical sleeves.
- Forcing a card into a sleeve that is too tight: check the size with our size guide.
- Arriving with brand-new, untested sleeves: sleeve your deck a few days before and play a few games with it.
In short
Clean hands, sleeves from one box, corners lined up and every card facing the same way: that’s all there is to it. Next, see what tournaments require and when to replace your sleeves.