Player consistently damages cards... (1 Viewer)

HiveKueen

High Hand
Joined
Feb 13, 2024
Messages
92
Reaction score
100
Location
Rochester, NY
HI All,

I run a tournament league and have a player problem I'm looking for suggestions how to handle.

A relatively new league player peaks at this cards by bending them up along the long edge. He is actually damaging the cards with a depression on the top side and dent on the face side. We have made him aware and have asked him to alter how he looks at his cards (although we didn't do this as gracefully as possible and had to apologize to him for calling him out while he was in a hand!).

Last night I put two brand new sill sealed cards and games decks in play. This morning I'm checking the cards and finding the same damage.

My specific question is, what would you do in this scenario.

A bit of additional info...this player is a retired soldier who is being treated for PTSD. I don't want to ban him and I don't want to piss him off. He really likes playing and, in my opinion, is not trying to cheat (the damaged cards are quite random in value).

Also, the damage is not noticeable at the table because it takes perfect lighting to see it. that said, in perfect light it is so noticeable that I can take a picture of it (see attached example from last night). And, often you can actually feel the damage (the attached example is a case of this).

Here's one approach I'm considering to take the public-ness out of it. Ask him to come over so we can show him the damage, show him what he is doing that is the problem and show him alternate ways to look at his cards.

Any other suggestions, that aren't simply "ya banned"?

Thanks so much with helping me keep this veteran and regular in the game!

IMG_E0530[1].JPG
 

Attachments

  • IMG_E0531[1].JPG
    IMG_E0531[1].JPG
    86 KB · Views: 220
If he can’t respect your stuff in your house there is not a lot you can do. And if you can’t respect my stuff in my house then you aren’t welcome in my house no matter how many foreigners you have killed.

Slightly different if HE buys the cards, then he can handle them however he wants. So just suggest that he buys the cards.
 
Just talk to him one on one. Sandwich it:

"Hey we love having you! That ____ hand was bananas, I never know what Kathy has in her hand, wild card."
yadda yadda
"Hey I loved those cards and they're expensive, please be careful how you're peeking your cards; look"
-show a bent card, and use a card from one of the bent decks to show how the bends form-
"We love having you but the cards are important to me an cost a buyin each. Just be careful with how you're looking at them."
"Take some gabagool, its the good kind."
 
Reach out to him for a catch up. Bring the deck with the damaged cards, show him why it's a problem, and show him other ways to look at his cards. Make sure to stress that you've already told him that he can't do it the way he's been doing it, he's destroying your cards.

There, easy. He's been given another chance. If he's not willing to adjust, it's on you if you wanna keep getting your decks ruined or not...
 
Just talk to him one on one. Sandwich it:

"Hey we love having you! That ____ hand was bananas, I never know what Kathy has in her hand, wild card."
yadda yadda
"Hey I loved those cards and they're expensive, please be careful how you're peeking your cards; look"
-show a bent card, and use a card from one of the bent decks to show how the bends form-
"We love having you but the cards are important to me an cost a buyin each. Just be careful with how you're looking at them."
"Take some gabagool, its the good kind."
/thread

If he continues damaging your cards after this, he doesn't respect you or your stuff.
 
HI All,

I run a tournament league and have a player problem I'm looking for suggestions how to handle.

A relatively new league player peaks at this cards by bending them up along the long edge. He is actually damaging the cards with a depression on the top side and dent on the face side. We have made him aware and have asked him to alter how he looks at his cards (although we didn't do this as gracefully as possible and had to apologize to him for calling him out while he was in a hand!).

Last night I put two brand new sill sealed cards and games decks in play. This morning I'm checking the cards and finding the same damage.

My specific question is, what would you do in this scenario.

A bit of additional info...this player is a retired soldier who is being treated for PTSD. I don't want to ban him and I don't want to piss him off. He really likes playing and, in my opinion, is not trying to cheat (the damaged cards are quite random in value).

Also, the damage is not noticeable at the table because it takes perfect lighting to see it. that said, in perfect light it is so noticeable that I can take a picture of it (see attached example from last night). And, often you can actually feel the damage (the attached example is a case of this).

Here's one approach I'm considering to take the public-ness out of it. Ask him to come over so we can show him the damage, show him what he is doing that is the problem and show him alternate ways to look at his cards.

Any other suggestions, that aren't simply "ya banned"?

Thanks so much with helping me keep this veteran and regular in the game!

View attachment 1413294
I would ask that he pays for new cards until the damage is no longer happening.
No different than using a friend's lawnmower and wrecking the blade hitting something. Make it right and move on.
 
Last edited:
You could take and older plastic deck and just bend the crap out of all the cards, putting a coin in the middle and bending against it to put noticeable creases in them - Bend them hard enough to show.

Then just use only that deck when he plays. If anyone complains, direct them to him and say this is why we don’t bend cards. Then just keep playing with the deck like nothing has happened.
 
Reach out to him for a catch up. Bring the deck with the damaged cards, show him why it's a problem, and show him other ways to look at his cards. Make sure to stress that you've already told him that he can't do it the way he's been doing it, he's destroying your cards.

There, easy. He's been given another chance. If he's not willing to adjust, it's on you if you wanna keep getting your decks ruined or not...
Very helpful suggestions. Thanks.
 
I know this is probably not the ideal approach, but you could try a little bit thicker of card stock. Of course you would still have to be shelling out money, $20+ a setup, but Faded Spade, Desjgn, and Broken Arrow all have much thicker card stock than Copag. (which looks to be what you're using?) I used to have this problem with Copags, tried some different cards and no longer can see any damage in any deck. I was the culprit :ROFL: :ROFLMAO: but instead of changing the way I peel, I just changed the cards.
 
My goal with this player is to get him to change the way he looks at this cards so he can continue to play in the league. He is an otherwise perfect match for my league. WE can tell that he is still pretty nervous when he comes to play. Nerves really reduce a person's ability to make changes to well formed habits, probably especially for a guy with PTSD. I've given him two options: (1) experiment on his own to figure out what he does that dents the cards and then figure out a different way to look at them or (2) stop over on a non-game day so we can show him what he's doing that needs to stop and then show him a different way to look at the cards. If he doesn't like these options he will self select out of the league which is preferable to having to ban him myself. I'm definitely not going to give him another chance to ruin another deck of cards (4 now - two brand new, two that were ready to be retired - between this and last week's games)!!
 
@HiveKueen I have had same/similar issues for years and first started looking into it here after @Irish posted.
https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/poor-card-capping-technique.93623/

I found in my case it is definitely not cheating and some where along the line some player damages a card in some similar fashion which is super annoying when cards are expensive. I never found a 100% cure as it is not just one person or just one method HOWEVER here is the punch line.

I noticed my local Casino that uses KEMs does not really have the problem and so dug deeper.
I do have some older KEMs but I do not like them because of the bowing and I was not about to pay the new huge price tag for them.
KEMs are made from cellulose acetate so I figured let's try that and my research led me to Guild cards which I believe are also cellulose acetate but maybe a local expert here can verify that.

I switched a few months ago and while not completely eliminated it is much much better.
First off Guild cards look, feel, play amazing in my opinion and my players all love them as well.
But more important they seem much more able to withstand the dings then other cards I tried such as Faded Spade, Desjgn, Broken Arrow, Fournier, ...
Also in the cases when it does happen I can not see it at all, maybe because of the back design or whatever (not really sure) but I really do not see it, I can just feel it a little.

So the TLDR is I have found nothing perfect but Guild Cards have been a much better choice for me and maybe it is because the cellulose acetate material?
I only do Bridge Jumbo and went with these https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00VMG0EYS?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

Good luck and let us know if you find any better methods.
 
Is he leaving a chip on the cards when he does it?

I bend the upper right corner with the card long side of the card. Never get that issue but I’m aware.

The packs from the old folks game ALL are marked up like this. They all card cap and try and peel the cards with 4-5 chips stacked up. I’m just laughing!
 
Is he leaving a chip on the cards when he does it?

I bend the upper right corner with the card long side of the card. Never get that issue but I’m aware.

The packs from the old folks game ALL are marked up like this. They all card cap and try and peel the cards with 4-5 chips stacked up. I’m just laughing!
No he is doing this with his left fore finger, literally creasing the cards.
 
He's a soldier. Soldiers follow orders. Crack down on him like a drill sergeant.
Full Metal Jacket GIF
He may be a soldier but I am definitely not a drill sergeant! so I gave him choices… something I suspect drill sergeants don’t do very often! I want him to make choices about how to resolve this I really don’t want to dictate!
 
They are not AFAIK

I thought I read it somewhere and found this blurb here.
"The brand is called Guild and the cards are 100% acetate plastic (same material as Modiano Platinum and Kems)"

https://www.pokerchipforum.com/threads/playing-card-review-guild.12814/

I also see the word acetate in the description when they are sold which is why I was leaning toward that they are.
Regardless for my game they hold up much better with minimal dings that I have not been able to detect by sight when they are in the muck.
 
I do own all 3 cards mentioned (Guild, Modiano Platinum and Kem) and Guild don't feel like the same material as the other 2 to me.

I do like Guild Cards a lot and easy obtainable from eBay.
 

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!

Log in

Already have an account? Log in here.

Back
Top Bottom