Is definitely not KEM, which is what most casino's use.

All the KEM decks I buy are inconsistent in their thickness, some are paper-thin and I have to send them back. They seem to have poor quality control. I've had decks crack and the ink peel. Decks have warped

So I've been using Copags, which are sturdier and half the price. Wondering what anyone else would recommend, I can only use the bridge sized jumbo index so I'm a bit limited

I've heard good things about Modiano cards. I bought a Platinum set for a friend and they said they were was, but wore out quickly.

https://www.modianocards.com

Thanks, anyone else?

I have like 8 decks of KEM cards which are all fine, though they are also fairly old so maybe made to better quality standards than the newer ones.

Won’t say they are the best since I have not tried them all but I have some nice Copaq’s I really like.

I've found Faded Spade to be fine for professional use. They're better than new Kem. They sort of remind me of Kem from 20 years ago, though who knows if my memory is right on that.

KEM is what I was trained on (and loved!) 20+ years ago. We moved to copag in the late 00s (bad). We now use gemaco. Probably because of price and that the people who bought KEM haven't kept up their standards.

What are the differences that you guys like in these different cards? We pretty much just use copag's in our games for the sheer fact that they seem fairly decent and they are pretty cheap to switch out. One of our games uses a deckmate shuffler and the copags seem to be the way to go so that if the shuffler chews up any cards (happens from time to time) we can just grab a new deck for relatively cheap. The game at my house though is hand delt and ive never been a stickler on the differences between brands. I actually had a handful of KEM setups warp so i stopped using those all together.

The copags (at first) clumped together and were hard to get a decent shuffle. The Gemacos just felt cheap and were harder to pitch perfectly until you got used to them. Nobody ever complained about the KEMS.

KEMs do warp. I've heard it's due to humidity but who knows. I've seen various methods used to combat this like cutting the deck before putting it in the box so it's not always the As on top warping the most, putting the divider on top of the decks to keep air off the cards, or putting weights on top of the decks during storage. In regular use they're the most durable I've used.

I've used two different Gemaco models. The thick ones a lot of casinos use feel very solid but they get creased very easily. They also have really thin ones that are similar to KEM but they stuck together. I had a hell of a time trying to get just one card to come off the deck at a time.

I've used a few different brands at the WSOP but they seem to always get the cheapest model available so I don't think they are representative of the brands.

When we used KEMs it was before card machines (and they honestly did slow down the best dealers, but probably improved the shitty ones). We are in a very humid area and one of the thinfs we were taught was to squeeze them in all directions and fan down two edges. I never had a single exposed card (unless a player tried to catch it. Speed and accuracy was easy because the cards didn't stick. They got bent way less often and marked a lot less. I'm still using KEM at home because they are the best.

I can still do a great job with the Gemacos at work but I would do way better with the KEMs I learned on.

Ive heard that as well about the humidity with KEMs but i dont know if I put much weight in that anymore as I am now in Utah where its very dry. Maybe ive just ran into a few setups that where prone to it. Maybe i'll try them again down the road.

Sorry to bump an old thread but I am now working somewhere that uses both Faded Spade and Kem decks. Those Faded Spade cards are the best I've ever worked with! They have a bit of a texture to them which keeps them from sticking together. They don't seem to get marked easily either, or at least you can't see the marks. They do seem prone to getting tears or delaminating, though. I don't know how many times they get used before this happens.