Hard Rockin' Jacks

Table 13, Main Event of the WPT, dealing the table with Mike Sexton (host of the televised WPT events) in seat 6 and after putting out a flop I notice that the Jack of Diamonds looks a little odd.  He's holding a guitar, wearing sungalsses and flashing a left-handed ASL, "I love you."

Sexton says, "Hey! You're at the Hard Rock.  You gotta expect the Jack to be a rocker."

For all the other tournaments we have used the normal, every day, Copag cards used by the Hard Rock in their Poker Room.  For the $10,000 WPT Main Event, the Seminoles went to the trouble to have custom cards manufactured.

The custom cards are very different. First, they are narrow, 2.25" wide "Bridge size" instead of  2.5" wide "Poker size".  These are easier to pitch.  They are also significantly thicker and stiffer than the Copags.  This helps them retain their shape - they stay flat and don't curl up with use - which also makes them easier to pitch.  Being so much stiffer, they are a lot harder to shuffle.  One of our dealers was seen in the break room frantically filing her nails saying, "I can't shuffle these cards.  I just can't bend them!"  They also are a little heavier, so when they are pitched across the table, they stay flat and have less of a chance of being flipped by a blast from the A/C vent or the wake from someone running past the table.  Hopefully they will continue to retain their shape after days of heavy tournament use.  All in all, kudos to the Hard Rock manager that decided to buy these new cards for the tournament.  Good choices for size, weight and design.