Card Issues at the 2015 WSOP

The 2015 World Series of Poker is in full swing, with events taking place each and every day. The action continues and as events have completed, many players have been complaining of the cards in use during the tournament. Reports of the design of the spade as well as the quality of the cards have come in to question during game play.

Reports show that players believe the design of the spades is similar to the club which makes the cards indistinguishable. The cards have also reported to be think and of poor durability. Players feel these aspects make the cards prime targets for marking by player who want to try and cheat the system.

Officials of the WSOP have acknowledged the issue and have stated a new batch of cards have been ordered from Modiano with a new design to replace the current cards. At this point, the WSOP hoped the issue would be resolved and everyone would move on, but that does not seem to be the case.

The new cards have arrived and been put into game play. Players have noted that the new batch of cards are not really an improvement and this has caused even more issues for the WSOP. Ty Stewart, the Executive Director of the WSOP, has stated that the new cards are adequate for hold’em as well as other flop style games but did agree to use a supply of old decks for mixed games as cards receive rougher treatment during game play.

Even though a solution was put into play, issues still remained. Players were still upset and Stewart seemed to be at the end of his rope when it came to the issue. The WSOP official even placed blame on the players for squeezing the cards too hard during competition. However, making light of the situation only seemed to flare tempers further towards the WSOP.

Many players are none too happy with Stewart for many reasons, especially Shane Schleger, a poker player. Schleger took to Twitter to discuss several issues with the Rio including the decks of cards used as well as food service in the early morning hours. Stewart was not happy with the poker player’s words and was not very professional in a response on Twitter.

With a little back and forth, many began to seek Stewart’s dismissal from the WSOP but eventually the two calmed down and everything seemed to be back to normal. Players seemed to be on the edge of their seats just watching as the two went at each other’s throats.

For now, the World Series of Poker still has a number of events left on the schedule. Over a two week time frame, the series will finish up with the Main Event final table named, then a break until the fall. Since the debate on specific issues has continued, mainly on the card issues, it is not going to be surprising to see the debate continue on as the series continues.

Attendance numbers are down from previous years for the WSOP and with a number of issues, it would not be surprising to see the issues having an even worse effect on player numbers. Most players will most likely continue to compete in various events as they are already in Las Vegas to compete. However, if the issues are bothersome enough, players may decide not to take part next year or visit neighboring casinos to take part in additional large tournament events. Only time will tell if the WSOP will make necessary changes to make players happy or if the arguments will continue.