Lining up the cards side by side on the table. Why? (1 Viewer)

[Puggy]

I've seen a lot of players lining up the cards side by side now in WSOP, both in Holdem and Omaha events.
What's the story behind it? Just a new style and everyone likes to do so? Or some new rule to do so?
It looks silly and is taking up time, especially in Omaha events.

Anyone doing so? If so, why?

 

[tommythecat]

Possibly for the RFID sensors to pick up the cards? That is the only thing I can think of.

 

[grandgnu]

Yeah, my guess is it's something their being told to do for filming/recording purposes.

 

[abby99]

Possibly for the RFID sensors to pick up the cards? That is the only thing I can think of.

This is correct. I caught the beginning of the Ladies event final table yesterday when they instructed the players on this and on a few other procedures related to the live stream coverage.

 

[Puggy]

Oh, thanks. So the cameras are not in the rail anymore, instead they are integrated into the felt now.
I recall seen some years ago some ridiculous plexi glass with cameras below on the felts. Good thing
they don't have those anymore.

 

[abby99]

No more camera. The cards are "read" by sensors. Check out this article for a non-tech explanation: linky The article includes a photo of the inside layer of a card.

I forgot to mention the WSOP players were instructed to leave their cards in place for approximately three seconds in order for the sensors to read the cards properly.

 

[Puggy]

High-Tech [emoji4] . Thanks for the link.

 

[BiGGyT]

So, if I were a cheater, wouldn't I try and read the signal from the cards next to me via my "apple watch"? Technology is cool, but this seems to me to be a way for someone to get an unfair advantage. Imagine if your "watch" could read the deck because you were in the #1 seat and you would know what cards are left, so you would know what was in the hands of everyone else, maybe not who held what, but you could know 2 aces are in the deck, so that when someone shoves and you have QQ, maybe you are up against AA. I dunno, but seems to me that this is not a good idea. Then again, I have never been a fan of cameras either, some way, some how, someone can know your hand and somehow transmit it to someone else.

BiGGyT

 

[Mr Tree]

So, if I were a cheater, wouldn't I try and read the signal from the cards next to me via my "apple watch"? Technology is cool, but this seems to me to be a way for someone to get an unfair advantage. Imagine if your "watch" could read the deck because you were in the #1 seat and you would know what cards are left, so you would know what was in the hands of everyone else, maybe not who held what, but you could know 2 aces are in the deck, so that when someone shoves and you have QQ, maybe you are up against AA. I dunno, but seems to me that this is not a good idea. Then again, I have never been a fan of cameras either, some way, some how, someone can know your hand and somehow transmit it to someone else.

BiGGyT

This does seem to create a situation ripe for cheating

 

[abby99]

So, if I were a cheater, wouldn't I try and read the signal from the cards next to me via my "apple watch"? Technology is cool, but this seems to me to be a way for someone to get an unfair advantage. Imagine if your "watch" could read the deck because you were in the #1 seat and you would know what cards are left, so you would know what was in the hands of everyone else, maybe not who held what, but you could know 2 aces are in the deck, so that when someone shoves and you have QQ, maybe you are up against AA. I dunno, but seems to me that this is not a good idea. Then again, I have never been a fan of cameras either, some way, some how, someone can know your hand and somehow transmit it to someone else.

BiGGyT

According to the article, the reader has to be extremely close to the RFID source. If the info in the article is accurate, it seems as if a "watch" on the dealer's wrist wouldn't even be close enough to read the deck. That said, if there is a way to cheat using this technology, I have no doubt that somebody will figure out how to do it.

 

[links_slayer]

Wasn't there a dude in a home game a while back that got busted using an app (or something) on his phone that was reading the next two cards off the deck and playing them into a bluetooth ear piece? I know it's not really an apples-to-apples comparison. It's sad that we have to worry about this.

 

[abby99]

Wasn't there a dude in a home game a while back that got busted using an app (or something) on his phone that was reading the next two cards off the deck and playing them into a bluetooth ear piece? I know it's not really an apples-to-apples comparison. It's sad that we have to worry about this.

Wasn't the phone/app reading the cards from underneath as they were being dealt?

 

[links_slayer]

I didn't think so but it was a long time ago.

 

[Leonard]

I witnessed cheating with a similar kind of reader at a game locally: Thread.

 

[abby99]

I remembered Leonard's thread and also located this article about a home/underground game in Austin, Texas. The same info appears elsewhere on the web, too. Note that the dealer was an accomplice and brought his own cards, complete with bar codes that could be read by the device.