A curious question about cards
 

I've never played in a cardroom outside the Seneca rooms in NY and Niagara Falls, so please pardon my innocence.

Being visually impaired, I usually try to sit in the 5 or 6 seats when they're available for reasons that should be obvious. If I'm in 1 or 10, I can see half the board but inevitably wind up asking about the cards on the end opposite me.

The cardrooms I frequent switched over recently from Kems to Copags (both regular index, which did not help my cause). While I could squint at the Kems and read them from a fairly normal seated position, I find the Copags to be a lot more difficult to read, perhaps due to their thicker typeface. I've asked the hosts at these rooms if it's possible to use setups of jumbo index cards that I could see, but they claim they don't have any and wouldn't put them into play for me even if they did.

This surprises me, because I would expect that if they ever spread stud games (they usually don't), they would use a jumbo-index deck. Further, I'd expect jumbo-index cards to be preferred from a security standpoint--surely the cameras could read these easier. This brings me to my question: What style of cards do they use in other rooms? I am specifically curious as to brand and, more importantly, index; I assume most rooms use plastic cards for the cost savings. Am I the only going-blind player who wonders about this sort of thing? I'd like to expand my horizons and play some poker elsewhere, but obviously I won't be keen on traveling to play where I won't be able to read the cards.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Almost everyone uses narrow cards with the normal sized print. The big print is for the poker games in the pits (carribean, let it ride, ect..) and those are paper cards anyways. If you aren't keen on traveling to places that use these, you're better off playing online since almost everyone uses them.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

BBB, if you ever get a chance to roll out here to Southern Calif., you can check out Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage (Palm Springs area). They only use large index cards in their poker room.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Large indexes, er, indeces, um, "Cards that feature a large index" are frowned upon for the same reason as the four-color decks: don't want to make it too easy for someone to get a glimpse of your hole cards.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

We have a regular player at our 10-20 game that's visually impaired. He has to sit in the 5 or 6 seat also and uses a small pen light that helps him look at his cards. Like youtalkfunnny said, large index cards are rarely used in card rooms because there's less of a chance of other players seeing your cards. [ QUOTE ]
Further, I'd expect jumbo-index cards to be preferred from a security standpoint--surely the cameras could read these easier.

[/ QUOTE ] In the pit this is true. In poker no. To be honest most casinos could care less about surviellance on a poker game. The bottom line is they care about protecting their money, not yours. [ QUOTE ]
I'd like to expand my horizons and play some poker elsewhere, but obviously I won't be keen on traveling to play where I won't be able to read the cards.


[/ QUOTE ] I wish I could be of more help but most cardrooms I know of use Kem or Copag small index cards.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

[ QUOTE ]
The bottom line is they care about protecting their money, not yours.

[/ QUOTE ]

I'm shocked!

Re: A curious question about cards
 

The only place that I ever visited that used large index cards in poker was at Turning Stone in NY. I really hated it because I had to lift my cards too high to see what the suits were. I noticed that I could see people's cards 2 or 3 tables over, so obviously some unwanted person(s) could see mine despite the fact that I go to extreme lengths to protect them.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

I'm fairly sure (but not 100%, it's been awhile) that one of the Indian casinos in northeastern Oklahoma will occasionally use jumbos on their poker table.

Frankly, I can't think of a much better table image to present than "can barely see the cards". What's that? Diamond on the river? That makes three diamonds, right? Okay, I bet... [img]/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img]

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Surveillance operators don't often look at the index, they read the pattern of the spots on the cards. It doesn't take much time watching games on monitors to also learn to distinguish the face cards by their patterns.

Note that on Blackjack games, the dealers always arrange the players' cards so the center spot is showing; that allows surveillance and the floor people to read the cards from a distance.

And by the way, the cameras in casinos can zoom in close enough to count the hairs on your knuckles.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Get a lawyer

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Viejas in san diego switched to the large cartoon cards last year. it sucks.

i have to totally change the way i look at my cards because the fonts are so big. i have to use both hands and be very careful that someone can't see them.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Large face cards suck, I have played with them at Fort McDowell Casino in AZ and also at morongo in southern cali. It is ridiculously hard to squeeze your cards, especially in omaha....

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Last visit there a few months ago Harrahs in Topeka used the jumbos. Few visually unimpaired players like 'em, but it does seem to help the guys who used to have to stand up and lean over the table to see the board. Which tends to speed things up a little, so there's a good side to using 'em.

I played a couple times with a legally blind person. He was ultra near-sighted. To see his own cards, he'd hold them up about 1" from his eye. The board was just a blur to him, so the dealers had to read out each card. I have enough trouble remembering my own two hole cards, but amazingly he never asked for a repeat of any board card. He'd get help from a neighbor to stack his chips because he couldn't easily distinguish colors on them without bringing each one up to his eye, but he just kept the reds on one side and the whites on the other and it all worked fine.

To make it all run smoothly only required a cooperative dealer who clearly and without prompting read out the board cards each time, called out the bets as they happened, and prompted the sight-impaired fellow when it was his turn. If we had that, the game was never delayed a bit. Which somehow only about half the dealers could ever do well. I never got frustrated at the player, just the moronic dealers who somehow couldn't manage to do this.

Re: A curious question about cards
 

[ QUOTE ]
Large face cards suck, I have played with them at Fort McDowell Casino in AZ and also at morongo in southern cali. It is ridiculously hard to squeeze your cards, especially in omaha....

[/ QUOTE ]

morongo doesnt use the large cards

Re: A curious question about cards
 

Thanks for the interesting comments, everybody.

Can anyone confirm that Turning Stone still uses the jumbo-index cards? I could probably manage a trip there.