First, full disclosure: this review will not be from a "verified buyer" because I got mine at the Seattle EXPO. OK that being said, this deck really fills a recent need for me, marked cards that I did not need my cheaters for. I can no longer read (at a glance) the marking on most decks I work with without "cheaters." That's life. I figured until I needed glasses bad enough to wear them all the time, it would look suspicious to put them on and take them off during a set. However, I had several effects that I used to do from the work of Kirk Charles ("Read em and Reap," "Marked for Life," etc.) that I had to drop from my sets. Well, no more; the DMC markings are wonderfully obtuse until you know what to look for and then you can see them plain as day, to include completely across a restaurant 6 or 8 top table. Highly recommended!

Do yourself a favor, when you buy the deck, don't look at the instructions first. Glance at the backs and enjoy the naivety. Once you know the secret, you will never experience that again!

I'm interested in a mark deck since I love to perform mental effects.

Most of marked decks have very undetectable marks which is good but very hard to read from a distance for me.

But this one is very easy to read from a distance and I think people wont probably notice that even you tell them it's a mark deck.

The point of using mark deck is that you need to know what the card is in a split sec. You dont want to be seen like looking for something. There must be no pause. You must not need any misdirection for this. And..y ou want to read the marks without touching the cards because if you're needed to touch cards to read the marks then you would just peek the card or force. You want people to completely control the cards by themselves. That's what I believe for the best use of mark deck.

Mark deck doesn't have to be very well hidden because you never let people check the cards if it's a something special or a mark deck. So it doesn't matter how well hidden marks are made.

So for me this is the best one for reading marks the quickest and it's also very well hidden in my opinion.

I also like the design of the cards and the box. I love it. 5 Star

The Pros:
Great viewing distance, easy to read, high quality cards. Passes the riffle test since all the backs are unique. And you'll never miss the marks when you know how to read them. In contradistinction, the Ultimate Marked Deck has markings that require too much attention to the cards in many situations.

The Cons:
Conspicuous King with unusual face, only one Joker included. Box could be better for the price.

Overall:
Best marked deck I've ever owned, in spite of the aforementioned cons.

High Quality Cards. Deceptive. A great deal!

I can see the markings from quite far away, even with my 70-year-old eyes. No spectator will ever notice, I promise. It takes some practice but they are amazingly easy to read.
The reason I only gave them 4 stars is that the cards don't look at all like any of the standard playing cards, which will raise suspicion.

This is the only marked deck you'll ever use. My eyes are going bad, and I need reading glasses. I love the 1800 deck, but it's a challenge to intuit, especially in low light. This deck, designed by mentalism-designer extraordinaire Phill Smith, is the only marked deck I'm ever going to use in performance. It's deceptive, I can read it from a mile away, and it looks cool. What more could you want?

I have had a couple of these decks for a couple of years now. In comparison to my other marked decks, these are by far the most diabolical! I love the way they marked for ease of use and the diabolical concealment of the mark.

I'm not a fan of the customized "King" cards, but the quality of the card and box are great.

As a life long "card man" I'm always interested in Marked decks. After learning the secret to the DMC deck, I decided to use them for playing Rummy with my family. We've played over a 100 games now and nobody has even asked about the cards. Its a very clever approach to marking a deck. Once you learn the secret you can spot them from a mile a way. in fact, you can't look at a card and NOT see the mark after you know the secret.

I only wish the card stock was higher quality. I would never use these for high stakes gambling, but they are fun to play with.

At IBM Ring meeting we were discussing marked decks. When I showed them this deck, they could not see how they were marked until I showed them. They were all looking for small code that most decks have and were amazed at how large and easy the code was to read. The only drawback is some feel that not having bicycle backs is a negative, but a purchaser knows this before buying. So no star penalty for this.

Firstly, these cards are amazing. I love the stock. The back design is beautiful and the marks are the best I have ever used.

However, there is only one thing wrong (this concerns a change with he new Elites Deck, NOT the original) and it is only a small thing, but it comes with one reveal joker and no regular joker. Just the one joker, dues to limitations with the new manufacturers of the deck. I still love and use the deck, the box is one of my favourite designs, but that joker reveal is one of the things I love about a different deck, a trick that I feel is lost with the new Elites Deck.

Saying that, I still love them, I am a great fan of DMC and will still by them because of the incredible marking system!