Is Gemaco Still In Business? (1 Viewer)

Bikshu

Bikshu

Pair
Supporter
Joined
Jul 15, 2024
Messages
195
Reaction score
274
Location
Cleveland
Is Gemaco still around and actively making cards? Wikipedia suggests they were taken over by GPI in 2014, who was of course then bought out by Angel back in 2019. But the only store I can find that claims to carry any Gemaco products is Kardwell, and we all know that they tend to be full of BS. I've seen some old used vintage Gemaco setups listed on eBay, but nothing that looks like it would've been manufactured within the past 5-10 years. And a simple search of PCF reveals lots of wanted ads in the Classifieds looking for Gemaco cards over the past few years, almost all of which have gone unanswered.

Perhaps most interestingly, it sure looks like they have an active website at https://www.gemacocard.com. But this website lists them as being based out of Sheridan Wyoming, whereas historically Gemaco was based out of Blue Springs Missouri. So I'm not 1,000% convinced that this is even the same company... it could be someone pretending to be them (kind of like how www.kem.com actually takes you to a Kardwell website which is shady AF).

My guess, but I admit that it is indeed just a guess, is that Angel forced Gemaco to withdraw from the consumer market and deal only with casinos... just like they did with Paulson. Is that correct? That would certainly explain why there's no record of the brand having been discontinued at any point, and yet their products just aren't available on the open market nowadays. I'm just curious because I think Gemaco, Grimaud, and Trefl are among the only major card manufacturers that I haven't been able to try out yet. I really wanted to try out a setup of Gemaco's Superflex cards in particular, since multiple PCFers have mentioned them as being among their favorites. Any info would be most appreciated!

Gem Sup_360x293.jpg
 
Was playing in the WSOP at Caesars SI this week and they use Gemaco cards. Got to talking with one of the staff about them, he told me he didn't think they were still making cards. I asked how they got theirs and he told me they had a room full of them, but, they were older and didn't think they could still get them.

Wasn't a big fan of their chips, but, really like the cards. Was looking at the box he had and noticed that it had Blue Springs, MO on the side. Would like to be able to get some of the cards before they disappear.
 
Remember a few years ago they were making the compressed clay chips in a few colors and even offering them to the public. This did not last very long.
 
Another factor I always wondered about was the edge sorting fiasco with Phil Ivey. I’m pretty sure he requested the casino use Gemaco cards because that was the brand he was able to cheat with. It happened in London iirc. That could have been quite a blow for Gemaco.
 
as far Ias I know they limit their production to casinos and pokerrooms
 
CUORE3 said:
https://www.kardwell.com/gem-superflex-bridge-ri

-> Superflex (bridge/standard)
Click to expand...

Correct. They - Kardwell - seem to be the only store on the entire Interwebs that claims to still have new Gemaco setups in stock. The problem is that tons and tons of people have had issues with ordering from them over the years. Just search PCF for "Kardwell" and the results will be filled with horror stories. But I really really really want to try the Superflex and Gem Pros and Kardwell looks to be my only chance, so I just pulled the trigger on an order. If they try to stiff me then I can always dispute the charge through my credit card, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed that they'll come through this time.
 
So, I saw the negative stories and reviews about Kardwell here on this forum. I used to use them pretty frequently about 20 years ago, so I put an order in a month or two ago and everything came through perfectly.
 
GeeOhVee said:
So, I saw the negative stories and reviews about Kardwell here on this forum. I used to use them pretty frequently about 20 years ago, so I put an order in a month or two ago and everything came through perfectly.
Click to expand...

I'm very glad to hear that. And to Kardwell's credit, I will say that they provided me a USPS tracking number literally only a couple of hours after I placed the order. I wouldn't expect that from a company with such a shoddy reputation, so maybe they've really cleaned up their act lately. Definitely keeping my fingers crossed.

FDLmold said:
If I had to pick my favorite plastic cards ever, it would be Gemaco superflex. Just damn good cards.
Click to expand...

Yeah I can't even count how many people here at PCF have said the exact same thing. That's why I figured I had better try to get my hands on some right now, before they literally vanish from the face of the darn earth LOL. I mean from what I can tell once Kardwell runs out of their current inventory that'll be it... consumer access to Gemaco cards will have literally gone extinct. So I ordered one setup of Gemaco Superflex bridge size regular index (they were out of jumbo index unfortunately), one setup of the Gem Pro bridge size jumbo index, and one setup of regular Gemaco "Intricacy" cards which are also bridge size jumbo index. I figure that should give me a good variety of these legendary Gemaco cards so I can finally see what all the fuss is about. LOL
 
davefr said:
$41.00 shipped for one setup??
Click to expand...

If you are referring to Kardwell's prices then yeah they were a bit steep. I think I paid just about $80.00 including shipping for 1 setup of Superflex bridge, 1 setup of Gem Pro bridge, and 1 setup of Gemaco regular bridge. But in their defense:
  1. That pricing is right on par with buying certain cards from the eBay fella in Lithuania who sells rare setups.
  2. This is still far cheaper than buying a new Kem setup right now.
  3. If Gemaco is really as good as everyone claims - and if this is really the last Gemaco inventory on the face of planet Earth - then I think it's a relatively fair price. Hell, if they had the full-bleed Superflex in bridge size I definitely would have sprung for one of those too. LOL
 
Yep, good luck with Kardwell, although they appear to be under new ownership and have maybe fixed a lot of their crappy service. They really went downhill around Covid. I had to use a PP claim to get my money back from a simple order after they just ghosted me after taking my money, and it took almost a year. Their reputation has nowhere to go but up.

Superflexs are great especially if you can find bridge/jumbo/bordered.
 
I purchased something, don't remember what, from Kardwell about 2 years ago and had zero issues. Knew they had some issuesin the past, and, since it wasn't a ton of money I thought I'd take a chance. Turned out great.
 
OK, well at least part of my Kardwell order arrived today. I'll break down my thoughts on everything to make this a bit easier to digest.

The Good:

I originally placed my Kardwell order on Friday 10/25/2024 and received it on Wednesday 10/30/2024 via USPS. In my mind that's relatively impressive in terms of Kardwell's turn around time in getting the order packaged and shipped out. I received one setup of Gemaco Superflex bridge cards with a border and standard index, and one setup of Gemaco Gem Pro bridge cards with super index.

The Bad:

I did not receive - and I have absolutely no idea why not - one setup of Gemaco "Intricacy" bridge cards with super index. Kardwell's website currently lists this set with a status of "Pending" which I'm assuming means they probably went to go find them and discovered that they were out of stock. But since we have strong reason to believe that new Gemaco cards aren't even available to the consumer market any longer, I have no clue if - or when - Kardwell expects to ever get them back in stock. My guess is that they literally can't ever get them in stock. Which is fine I suppose, but in that case Kardwell had better eventually communicate this to me and then either refund me $13.88 or offer me a credit towards another purchase. I plan to contact them about this if I don't hear anything from them by this upcoming Friday 11/01/2024.

The WTF Is This Normal?!:

Neither setup came in any type of shrink wrap or cellophane. In fact, neither of the setup boxes even say Gemaco on them! The Superflex came in a generic red cardboard box and the Gem Pro came in a generic green cardboard box. I have absolutely no idea if that is normal or not, but it sure doesn't seem normal to me. I mean I had been expecting packaging that looks like the picture in my OP at the very top of this thread: a clear plastic box inside a black cardboard outer layer that says Gemaco on it. But nope... these came in plain unmarked cardboard boxes as shown in the photo below. And I should probably also add that none of the 4 decks inside these 2 setups had any shrink wrap or cellophane either. Instead, all 4 decks just had little white paper bands wrapped around them (not shown in the photo below as I had already removed them). So I think the question has to be asked: is this normal for Gemaco cards? Or did Kardwell sell me used setups which they never disclosed were used? It sure as hell feels like that's what happened!

The Cards Themselves:

Thankfully all of the cards in each of the 4 decks do seem to be present and accounted for and in good condition as far as I'm concerned. I will admit that I didn't inspect the cards with a microscope to make sure that there weren't any imperfections like some of y'all seem to LOL. But I really don't care all that much if they are totally perfect or not... because truthfully I'm not even sure that I'll ever felt these Gemaco setups anyway. I really just got them to feel the legendary Gemaco card stock that everyone raves about, and to see for myself how they stack up against some of my favorite cards. And the condition of these cards seems to be "new enough" that I was still able to do those comparisons, so we'll call it mission accomplished.

I spent a while tonight shuffling the Superflex & Gem Pro decks and comparing them to all of the usual suspects in my collection like Angel in the green box, Bicycle Prestige, Broken Arrow, Cartamundi, Da Vinci, Dal Negro, Desjgn, Faded Spade, Fournier, Guild, Kem, Modiano Platinum, and Piatnik. Overall I really do like the Superflex! I think they stack up pretty darn well against my all-time favorites which are Desjgn on the Dal Negro stock. They have just about the same level of "snappiness" or "flex" as those Desjgn cards do, which I absolutely love. And they must have a traditional cut because they top-down faro beautifully... just like Desjgn decks do.

The one aspect that caught me off guard - and the reason that Desjgn remains my reigning overall champion - is the lack of texture on the Gemaco Superflex. Granted they certainly have more texture than Angel Playing Cards... but a pane of glass has more texture than Angels LOL. The Superflex also definitely have more texture than the Gem Pros... those Pros were so darn smooth that I'm just not really a huge fan. I think the closest I could find to the Superflex in terms of texture was my Cartamundi Casino Plastic cards (the setup in a gray box marked "CCP")... and I consider those Cartamundi to be among the smoothest cards that I've ever tried. Now that smoothness isn't an absolutely awful thing mind you. But I personally tend to like a bit more texture or "grit" on my cards (texture along the lines of Desjgn, Faded Spade, and Fournier). I just think it makes them easier and more satisfying to shuffle, easier to pitch, easier to pick up, easier to hold, etc. But for any of you folks who prefer a smoother card surface, I can now completely understand why you might consider these Gemaco Superflex to be the bee's knees. The only problem is that now I really wonder what the brand new Gemaco cards being sold only to casinos feel like in comparison to these. You think we can persuade Gemaco to sell to us in a group buy? LOL!


Gemaco.jpg
 
Last edited:

Create an account or login to comment

You must be a member in order to leave a comment

Create account

Create an account and join our community. It's easy!

Register

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Similar threads

yabadoo
Obtainable Playing Cards as of 2025 and Reviews
Replies
19
Views
617
yabadoo
yabadoo
S
So which Copags are the best to purchase and where?
Replies
7
Views
869
surfik
surfik
GeeOhVee
Da Vinci Chips and Games cards
Replies
11
Views
356
chopper
C
Split
  • Locked
For Sale WTS Angel Poker, Casino Angel for Poker, and Angel 100% All Plastic Playing Cards (Bridge, Regular)
Replies
11
Views
992
NeoViny23
NeoViny23
MrWookie69
Playing Card search in 2024...
2 3
Replies
76
Views
4K
Coyote
Coyote
Back
Top Bottom