Double Sleeving Gaming Cards

To protect Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, and other TCG’s with valuable cards, some players prefer to double sleeve their cards. The cards are first protected by an inner sleeve that’s barely larger than a standard card, and then insert the card/inner sleeve inside a regular gaming card sleeve.

BCW offers three varieties of Inner Sleeves:

Regular Inner Sleeves are top loading, but a better description might be bottom loading. When inserting cards in these inner sleeves, it’s recommended to insert the card in the bottom. Then insert the card/Inner Sleeve in the regular sleeve in the normal top loading orientation. Using this process, the card will have no edges exposed at the top of the regular sleeve, providing extra protection against a spilled drink.

Side Loading Inner Sleeves are favored by many players, as it’s easier to insert the cards in the inner sleeves, as compared to the top loading variety.

Magic The Gathering cards with side-loading inner sleeves
Side Loading Inner Sleeves

BCW also offers Resealable Inner Sleeves. We recommend these for card protection, but are not advisable for game play. Due to the overlapping resealable strip, one end of the card will be slightly thicker than the other end. While this added thickness is insignificant with a single card, it is noticeable when you have a stack of cards, causing the stack of cards to lean to one side.

For the exterior card sleeve, we recommend Elite2 Deck Guards. These are BCW’s premium card sleeves which are thicker than our normal Deck Guards. Elite2 Deck Guards have a blackout layer to ensure the sleeves are opaque. Elite2s are also 2mm taller than our normal Deck Guards, allowing some extra space for inner sleeved cards. If your cards are worth double sleeving, you’ll desire the premium Elite2 Deck Guards. Elite2 Deck Guards are available with a gloss or anti-glare (matte) finish on the clear layer. Learn more about Elite2 Deck Guards.

As double sleeved cards are thicker and more rigid than single sleeved cards, you may want to adjust your shuffling technique.

Animation of waterfall shuffling
A Waterfall shuffling technique
Animation of riffle shuffling
A standard Bridge/Ripple shuffle
Share this…

3 thoughts on “Double Sleeving Gaming Cards

  1. That’s a great tip about having no exposed edge of the card. I use a ‘penny sleeve’ as an inner sleeve and then a toploader outside, but never thought of inserting the card from the bottom.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *