Why has faded spade always felt like a con? Maybe I just hate marketing. (1 Viewer)

[Josh Kifer]

That was me boss. First shuffle of the meetup and boom banana split.

I get you two confused because your both so handsome.....

 

[Venturalvn]

There seems to be a ton of people on here posting about the cards splitting, and yet not a single one of you will answer if it was 2.0 or 3.0.

If they had a problem with their prior manufacturer/production, and then reworked their product to prevent the past issues, then are they not trying to move in the right direction?

 

[Josh Kifer]

There seems to be a ton of people on here posting about the cards splitting, and yet not a single one of you will answer if it was 2.0 or 3.0.

If they had a problem with their prior manufacturer/production, and then reworked their product to prevent the past issues, then are they not trying to move in the right direction?

I said I'd look when I get home. Geeze. Sorry I didn't bring broken cards to work.....

 

[DMack]

There seems to be a ton of people on here posting about the cards splitting, and yet not a single one of you will answer if it was 2.0 or 3.0.

If they had a problem with their prior manufacturer/production, and then reworked their product to prevent the past issues, then are they not trying to move in the right direction?

I agree with you; however, I believe a good company would have replaced their trash with a free 3.0 deck if they can’t replace the 2.0 stock.

 

[Venturalvn]

I agree with you; however, I believe a good company would have replaced their trash with a free 3.0 deck if they can’t replace the 2.0 stock.

Not arguing with this at all - a 10% discount is some bullshit.

 

[Josh Kifer]

It's these ones. No clue how to figure out the gen.

 

[Old State]

Nope. They went out of business. USPC bought the name and produces an entirely different card which is shit.

Sorry but I have to disagree. This is an urban myth that won’t go away. I have owned several and still have a few pre USPC and have currently several post USPC Kems and the quality is identical. A blind person could not tell the difference….though there is a difference in the darkness of the red ink.

Their propensity to bow is exact the same. I actually had more (two) pre USPC decks warp than my post (one of 5 setups). I also now store them upside down with a cut card and dealer bottom on top. I do however believe there is a difference in what they sell to casinos despite the pre and post USPC QS reps telling me different when I called. I bought my first Kem cards about 20 years ago. When Borgata opened in 2003 they had Kems and my buddy’s and I all commented that they felt thicker the very first day we played there opening week…as we used Kems in our regular game and were very familiar with them.

***All that said, this post was originally about the company not the quality. The owner and the marketing are a huge turn off to me for reasons stated earlier.

The fact I hate the feel of their product is a separate issue. The fact that I personally find the artwork hideous is yet a separate issue than that.

In my quest to find a card that feels as nice as Kems without the chance of bowing I’ve tried almost every manufacturer. Faded Spade is the only manufacture that I recommend avoiding all together from a feel perspective. Their BS marketing has ensured I will never try them again.

 

[TheRealTeddyKGB]

It's these ones. No clue how to figure out the gen.

It's printed on the side of the box

 

[Josh Kifer]

It's printed on the side of the box
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2.0s

 

[upNdown]

Sorry but I have to disagree. This is an urban myth that won’t go away. I have owned several and still have a few pre USPC and have currently several post USPC Kems and the quality is identical. A blind person could not tell the difference

Yup! This is my experience also. Pre and post feel exactly the same. I will say that the new setup definitely has a smell and the old setup definitely does not, but I’m betting the absence of a scent is because they’re decades old.
And look Ma, no bowing!

 

[DMack]

Sorry but I have to disagree. This is an urban myth that won’t go away. I have owned several and still have a few pre USPC and have currently several post USPC Kems and the quality is identical. A blind person could not tell the difference….though there is a difference in the darkness of the red ink.

Their propensity to bow is exact the same. I actually had more (two) pre USPC decks warp than my post (one of 5 setups). I also now store them upside down with a cut card and dealer bottom on top. I do however believe there is a difference in what they sell to casinos despite the pre and post USPC QS reps telling me different when I called. I bought my first Kem cards about 20 years ago. When Borgata opened in 2003 they had Kems and my buddy’s and I all commented that they felt thicker the very first day we played there opening week…as we used Kems in our regular game and were very familiar with them.

***All that said, this post was originally about the company not the quality. The owner and the marketing are a huge turn off to me for reasons stated earlier.

The fact I hate the feel of their product is a separate issue. The fact that I personally find the artwork hideous is yet a separate issue than that.

In my quest to find a card that feels as nice as Kems without the chance of bowing I’ve tried almost every manufacturer. Faded Spade is the only manufacture that I recommend avoiding all together from a feel perspective. Their BS marketing has ensured I will never try them again.

I have been told the same about casino vs retail quality, but my experience is the same as yours. The vast majority of casinos I’ve played in have used KEMs, and they ALL have had a thicker feel to them.

 

[moose]

Sorry but I have to disagree. This is an urban myth that won’t go away. I have owned several and still have a few pre USPC and have currently several post USPC Kems and the quality is identical. A blind person could not tell the difference.

Urban myth my ass. I'm pretty sure a blind man could pick out these warped USPC pieces of shit, including a few USPC WSOP bicycles.

I raise you my perfectly flat original KEMs, including my 1974 set, as good as the day they were printed.

The finish isn't even close to the same. WTF you talking about? The smooth USPC KEMS shuffle like shit in comparison to the lightly pebbled surface of original KEMS, which are very similar to Modianos.

And before you go eww what is wrong with those original KEMS, the cards were intentionally angled to catch the difference in the finish.

 

[Racer96]

I can check tonight. @Racer96 can confirm, he shuffled and found the first split.

It's so many cards that would need to be replaced, I just tossed them aside. It's not like random decks isn't my strong suit from my card buy. Still got a pile of those in use.

I did?

That was me boss. First shuffle of the meetup and boom banana split.

Oh, I didn’t.

I get you two confused because your both so handsome.....

Www.alllooksame.com

 

[Old State]

Urban myth my ass. I'm pretty sure a blind man could pick out these warped USPC pieces of shit, including a few USPC WSOP bicycles.
View attachment 1121215
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I raise you my perfectly flat original KEMs, including my 1974 set, as good as the day they were printed.
View attachment 1121217
View attachment 1121218
The finish isn't even close to the same. WTF you talking about?
View attachment 1121219

And before you go eww what is wrong with those original KEMS, the cards were intentionally angled to catch the difference in the finish.

View attachment 1121223

Sorry dude…. but absolutely no.

Are you comparing casino used cards?? I once bought 5 decks of casino used Kems around 2003 and they were all severely warped and aged compared to the store bought decks I had. Finish looked different than unused cards from the same time of manufacture. I may have a set or two somewhere.

Don’t confuse age with finish differences. Here is my oldest Kem deck vs a newer one - 2003 vs 2018. The 2003 are retired and have a few hundred hours of play. The 2018s have maybe 15 hours. Back then I had one setup at a time for a while. Now I have around 30.

 

[Old State]

Wow…can’t believe I found them! I thought I threw these out a while ago. 2002 and 2003 pre USPC Kems……all severely warped!

The poker size deck was bought new. The others were non custom labeled casino used cards. I say that because I these seemed the same thickness as store bought. What we noticed were that the cards branded with the casinos names seemed thicker.

Did you ever think that maybe the really old Kems that are totally flat are just the ones that didn’t get thrown out…thus surviving all these years?

For anyone considering modern Kems….they still feel amazing. I strongly advise against casino used cards.

If you want to try them (the best feeling cards ever IMO)

• store them upside down with a cut card on top and dealer button if you have them for extra insurance.​
• Put them in the box when you are done playing.​
• Buy them when on sale…if they ever are (I’ve never payed more than $23 for Kems)​
• Pass if you don’t want to store them like this​

I like the feel enough to not mind the effort. That said some with stay flat like my 2003s in the post above did for years

 

[Eriks]

View attachment 1121270View attachment 1121271View attachment 1121272

For anyone considering modern Kems….they still feel amazing.

But look like hammocks…

I don’t think neither Faded spade nor Kem would annoy me so much if it wasn’t for the fact that they are marketed as some kind high end state of the art cards. Whereas in reality they are medicore at best.

 

[DMack]

But look like hammocks…

I don’t think neither Faded spade nor Kem would annoy me so much if it wasn’t for the fact that they are marketed as some kind high end state of the art cards. Whereas in reality they are medicore at best.

I think the thing about KEMs, though, is that if you can keep them from bowing (the Ild State trick definitely works), you’re not going to find a card that will last anywhere close as long. At least I haven’t.

I could show you decks of KEMs that have been used for hundreds of games and have hundreds and hundreds of hours on them. If I packaged them up, you wouldn’t know if they were new or used.

I definitely had some issues prior to attempting Old State’s trick, but that has resolved a lot of issues.

 

[surfik]

I have recently done some experimenting on flattening KEMs and results are promising...
If you have a room and some time just just put them under some flat surfface and add some weight on top (I use books).
It takes some time but makes difference, especially in regard of some heavy used poker size decks.
On the bright side you do not have anything to loose..

 

[Old State]

I think the thing about KEMs, though, is that if you can keep them from bowing (the Ild State trick definitely works), you’re not going to find a card that will last anywhere close as long. At least I haven’t.

I could show you decks of KEMs that have been used for hundreds of games and have hundreds and hundreds of hours on them. If I packaged them up, you wouldn’t know if they were new or used.

I definitely had some issues prior to attempting Old State’s trick, but that has resolved a lot of issues.

Every single setup of Kems I’ve had post USPC has remained perfectly flat with this storage technique. I think I have about 5 setups dating from 2009 through 2020.
And I agree they are very very long lasting. The 2003 I posted above remained flat and was used a few nights every months for a couple years. They still feel pretty new. Copags, the first competition Kems had, used to fade or blend on us. We just started buying them because they were half the cost and didn’t bow

 

[Taghkanic]

It seemed to me that their target audience was casinos more than the home market. They sell to us, but surely in terms of raw quantities of cards, the casinos are far bigger customers.

And they seem to have convinced (bamboozled?) a lot of casinos to jump on their bandwagon.

 

[Old State]

But look like hammocks…

I don’t think neither Faded spade nor Kem would annoy me so much if it wasn’t for the fact that they are marketed as some kind high end state of the art cards. Whereas in reality they are medicore at best.

Faded Spade does the BS marketing. Kems have been the card of choice for the casino industry for 50+ years. They don’t have to prove anything at this point. Go into any major card room in the US and you are most likely going to see Kems in play at the poker tables.

Years ago I posted a pic here of one of the first WSOPs and you could see the Kem Ace card on the table. I’ll try to find it.

 

[Old State]

It seemed to me that their target audience was casinos more than the home market. They sell to us, but surely in terms of raw quantities of cards, the casinos are far bigger customers.

And they seem to have convinced (bamboozled?) a lot of casinos to jump on their bandwagon.

If you are talking about FS yes….but I imagine they were giving away a lot of cards. Very few actually use them. You can tell because they post when ever they get a casino. Hasn’t been many recently. They posted before Covid they had Borgata contracted but I never saw anything but Kems when I went there at the time. Maybe just for their tourneys? A few AC casinos used Gemaco Super Flex for tourneys and Kem for cash…so maybe that’s what it was.

 

[Eriks]

Faded Spade does the BS marketing. Kems have been the card of choice for the casino industry for 50+ years. They don’t have to prove anything at this point. Go into any major card room in the US and you are most likely going to see Kems in play at the poker tables.

Years ago I listed a pic here of one of the first WSOPs and you could see the Kem Ace card on the table. I’ll try to find it.

True, but I’m still not paying $35 for a new set-up. They’re no way near worth that premium price anymore

 

[Taghkanic]

If you are talking about FS yes….but I imagine they were giving away a lot of cards. Very few actually use them. You can tell because they post when ever they get a casino. Hasn’t been many recently. They posted before Covid they had Borgata contracted but I never saw anything but Kems when I went there at the time. Maybe just for their tourneys? A few AC casinos used Gemaco Super Flex for tourneys and Kem for cash…so maybe that’s what it was.

Rivers in Schenectady was an early adopter of FS. Not sure if that carried over to their other properties.

 

[ThinkingFold]

With all the love I have seen posted here for Faded Spade, figured I'd post this discount code I received.