Kem or Faded Spade? (4 Viewers)

Kem or Faded Spade

  • Total voters
    75
ArielVer18 said:
Question doesn't account for difference within the brand. For example, I like pre-USPC KEM, but I don't like new KEM; I like the newest V3 Faded Spade, but I don't like the older versions.
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I have pre and post USPC Kem cards. I’d give someone $100 if they could shuffle 5 decks of each type blind and pick which is which.
I have one single deck of 2011 Kems that had a rougher texture but other than that they are all the same. They even smell exactly the same
upNdown said:
That sorta makes sense. A lot of people here have said that Fourniers are the best substitute for KEMs, but I’m not sure I agree. Fourniers are great cards with nice texture, but they’re so significantly stiffer than KEMs that I’ve never loved the comparison. I’m not sure if I’d put them right in the middle of faded spades and KEMs, but I could see how a guy could go either way, depending on his flexiness/stiffness preference.
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I don’t think Fournier are anything close to Kem either. Kems are acetate cards and acetate has a particular elastic flex to them. If Cartamundi acetate cards weren’t so slick they would be the closest I’ve handled.

Desjgn classic culture cards were kind of close to Kems but are Modiano pvc I believe.
 
Old State said:
I have pre and post USPC Kem cards. I’d give someone $100 if they could shuffle 5 decks of each type blind and pick which is which.
I have one single deck of 2011 Kems that had a rougher texture but other than that they are all the same. They even smell exactly the same

I don’t think Fournier are anything close to Kem either. Kems are acetate cards and acetate has a particular elastic flex to them. If Cartamundi acetate cards weren’t so slick they would be the closest I’ve handled.

Desjgn classic culture cards were kind of close to Kems but are Modiano pvc I believe.
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easy....send me the money
 
surfik said:
easy....send me the money
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And what would you be willing to risk if you can’t? There are minuscule difference between the decks year over year…sometimes…but that is the case before and after USPC. One of the biggest myths in the hobby.

I just posted pics of five decks in another thread to debunk a similar comment
 
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Old State said:
And what would you be willing to risk if you can’t? There are minuscule difference between the decks year over year…sometimes…but that is the case before and after USPC. One of the biggest myths on in the hobby.

I just posted picks of five decks in another thread to debunk a similar comment
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You said give, not wager, don't be moving the goalposts on us!
 
Old State said:
Confidence goes down with something to risk I see
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So let me see if I have this right, you volunteer to give someone $100 if they could identify these cards by feel, someone does it, then you back out of your offer to pay them? Oh the shame of it all. I'm almost embarrassed to say we're from the same country. This is a black eye on America.
 
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LeLe said:
Personally, I been disappointed by KEMs far too many times.

They just suck or I just have bad luck with them.
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to many coincidences, looks like they quality control is lacking
they were ok before Cartamundi
I wish to know what happend, I was uder the impression that Cartamundi just let them do ther own thing but maybe they concentrated more on casinos and pokerrooms,
 
KHarp1 said:
So let me see if I have this right, you volunteer to give someone $100 if they could identify these cards by feel, someone does it, then you back out of your offer to pay them? Oh the shame of it all. I'm almost embarrassed to say we're from the same country. This is a black eye on America.
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Hyperbole much? :oops:
 
Here is the difference for me -

Both have a potential issue - Kems can bow (but there is a solution for that…and they aren’t the only brand) and FS split (don’t know of another card that does that).

Kems have a luxurious feel (subjective but commonly agreed on) that has never been replicated and have been a standard in the poker world for over a half century

FS feel horrible and look ugly (subjectives but largely agreed on) and have a marketing strategy more like propaganda trying to convince the poker world they are the new standard.

Kem= potential problems that can be largely avoided with several highly redeeming qualities.

FS = potential problems that can’t be avoided and either no redeeming qualities or very few depending on the person.
 
ArielVer18 said:
Question doesn't account for difference within the brand. For example, I like pre-USPC KEM, but I don't like new KEM; I like the newest V3 Faded Spade, but I don't like the older versions.
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Absolute perfection. This is the whole story!

We could split hairs on early USPC KEM, but not much value there.

I didn’t vote because not enough of a delineation. There’s at least five different sets of cards in the pole.

It’s almost conjecture, trying to declare a winner here, and I feel like this is a popularity between two product companies, rather than a set up versus set up pole.

That being the case, KEM has the old school style and pioneer status for me. I’d take FS 3 over the current iteration of KEM.

But I have like 5 setups that make it to the table first.
 
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Machine said:
Absolute perfection. This is the whole story!

We could split hairs on early USPC KEM, but not much value there.
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I do like color saturation on KEM from pre-USPCC times, wonderful
 
surfik said:
I do like color saturation on KEM from pre-USPCC times, wonderful
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Color saturation is the only real noticeable difference I can notice between pre and post. However the saturation on the post USPC is deeper with all my samples. Maybe because they had heavier use :unsure:

I often wonder how many samples of both people that comment of this actually have. I’ve used Kems heavily before and after USPC and am baffled by some comments. I go back and compare and simple can not see or feel most of the supposed differences.
 
Old State said:
Color saturation is the only real noticeable difference I can notice between pre and post. However the saturation on the post USPC is deeper with all my samples. Maybe because they had heavier use :unsure:
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1967 Jade

IMG_20221203_123500.jpg
IMG_20221203_123532.jpg
IMG_20221203_124107.jpg
 
I do also have Casino Club with sort of "bold" font, kind of smuggy but aces look cool.
They did experimented a bit, also with security ink or designs like Elite B, not to mention 5 suite decks
 
I have about 15 pair, half, or more, that date back to the 50's thru 60's. Maybe even a set from the 40's?
 
I loved old school Kem like 20 years ago and hated them after they were bought out by USPC.
We tried Faded Spade for the first time last night. They were 3.0 and the group liked them a lot. If the manufacturing defects are fixed in 3.0 then I would put them up in my top 3 with Desjgn and Piatnik(These grew on me). I used to love Fournier before I ever tried these others and I guess they have slipped to fourth at this point.

Tagging some others in my group (they were not all there last night but some were)
@Al Azouri @jimgunz @GetUrShineBox @seyff45
 
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RocAFella1 said:
Paper cards for poker?
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Yes thinking the same thing. A very low stakes game I have played in for a few years used to use paper cards. They were visibly marked after one game. I gave him a new set of Copags I had laying around and he evidently used them in one game when I wasn’t there …..and threw them out because several of the others didn’t like the feel. :wow:

Most of them are older guys who have never played seriously and never in a casino. Eventually another play who does bought him another set of Copags and said. “You really really need to use plastic cards in a poker game”. I think he understood and has used plastic cards for the last two years now.
 
Kems are so soft and sticky. I love them at first but after 10 hours their trashed.

Faded spades are a bit stiff, but last longer than Kems and w an auto shuffler they’re perfect.

I think Copags are better than both strictly on feel and not designs.
 
doublebooyah85 said:
Kems are so soft and sticky. I love them at first but after 10 hours their trashed.

Faded spades are a bit stiff, but last longer than Kems and w an auto shuffler they’re perfect.

I think Copags are better than both strictly on feel and not designs.
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1684678043942.jpeg
 
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Ok, so I've had some time to play around with some used WPT Faded Spade (which I'm pretty sure are version 1.0) and since I've learned to do the dealer shuffle more efficiently I find that I'm less annoyed with them than I used to be. Very stiff cards and deck stands tall, but no slipperiness in the hand. These are still best used in a mechanical shuffler, I still think.
 
Sold some chips to a friend whos a competent but casual player, threw in a free setup. He looked through my box with Angel/KEMs/Modiano/Fournier, aaand chose the poker sized Faded Spades 1.0 with the slight warp. Said he likes the stiffness and art, cardbacks are great.
 
Dont feel like making a new card bowing thread, but WOW, faded spades in this video are rough. Look like they're an inch off the table.

 

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