I seriously feel like I play worse because of it sometimes

Do you mean the backs or the suits? Actually I'm not sure why I'm even asking because either way, it's ridiculous.

I don’t like playing with it or watching shows with 4 color deck
Just not what I’m used to… But if forced, whatever

Good news is live casinos will never use it

Do you mean in real life or online? Surely you can't be tilted by a standard deck of playing cards in real life

I guess if someones initial exposure to poker was online using a 4 color deck, then playing with a two color deck live would seem confusing. If the live decks had started with 4 colors and then someone suggested you go to 2 colors everyone would say "are you nuts? You'll get the suits confused!" I doubt anyone would think it would be a good idea.

So it's whatever you started with that seems normal, and anything else would seem jarring at first. As a dealer on graveyard I saw many times when players would confuse diamonds and hearts or spades and clubs. Sure the suit design is different but players gravitate to the color first, and as fatigue or alcohol sets in, mistakes happen.

Surely people have seen playing cards years before they played online poker! Those cards are used for so many games you play growing up!

Im sure they've seen them. Though I dont know how much kids today play games with physical cards vs online games. Maybe just when they play with old people! I just think it's different playing go fish as a kid versus playing poker for real money. And one was prob an occasional game vs possibly grinding for hours daily. I'm old and have no prob with the standard two color deck. But given the choice I use the 4 color deck online and on apps. I dont see any downside to the 4 color deck and see positives. So I think those who say they dont like the 4 color deck aren't basing that on any actual playing advantage but just that it appears different than they are used to seeing.

As someone who is reaching an age where my visual acuity at close range is declining, I have to say the 4 color deck is a wonderful idea. I always use it online; different colors makes it much easier to distinguish suits without error. I wish 4 color decks were the norm live. In some card games, (like euchre, as an example) having two suits be the same color is essential to game play, but that certainly is not the case in poker.

I, too, prefer the four color decks. Harder to mess up in reading a flush or flush draw.

I didn't think there was any disadvantage other than lack of familiarity. But recall reading a post on this site that mentioned one possible drawback - if a card is somehow flashed (by player or dealer) then a four color deck makes it obvious what suit has been exposed.

I play more online than live and have used a four color deck online for years.. of course I can read a two color deck but as others have said the color jumps out way easier than the design of the suit, so whenever I play live I am CONSTANTLY doing double takes of the flop to make sure I have the suits right.

The cardroom I play at also uses standard KEMs which have quite small suit designs, even Jumbo two-color would be a bit better

While definitely very helpful, I would not say 2 color deck is essential. As long as it is defined the Left/Right Bower pairs are spades/clubs and diamonds/hearts, could certainly play with 4 color deck. But I suspect errors on the left bowers identification would be more common.

For poker, I am also at an age where near vision is declining, there are still issues with 4 color decks. Yes it makes it easier for you/I to id our card suits but is also makes the same thing easier for those around us. With a 2 color deck, if you make a quick flash when checking your hole cards or something, and if someone is trying to peek at your cards (or not trying really) the color gives away half the suits. With a 4 color deck, same thing identifies the exact suit.

Is this potential issue enough to offset the other advantages? I have not concluded anything. Are there other issues with 4 color decks in live play? Never really thought about it.

I didn’t think of the card flashing issue, but in terms of game play, I really cannot think of any reason why the colors of the suits matter in poker. You could use a one color deck and it wouldn’t change anything; it would just make it even more difficult for us old, blind people to distinguish the suits. Guess I’ll have to train my dog to bark once when I have a flush draw and twice when I hit my flush 😁

Heck, in some cardrooms I have a hard time with a two-color deck.

I played in a home game once years ago with a 4-color deck. I loved it. It makes it so much easier to distinguish suits. I wish they would be adopted everywhere.

I don't get tilted when I have to play with a 2-color deck though. That would be always.

I mean the card flashing thing is whatever, you're supposed to protect your hand, that is such a minuscule consideration compared to the colors of the suits on the board which is read by almost every player at the table the vast majority of hands. And it's not even like it "protects" you that much. You will still usually be able to identify the suit, and if not knowing the color narrows it down to 2.. and the action would almost always reveal the actual suit (it would only really matter in a flush situation)

If you haven't played with a four color deck before (including live), I highly recommend
Pick one up for your next home game for $25 and if people hate it, at least you tried

https://www.copagusa.com/products/co...cards-blue-red

Underrated post.

Unrelated, I hate 4-color decks.

Can people with color blindness tell the difference between colors in a 4-color deck?

The most common type of color blindness is red/green. A person with this type would likely see hearts and clubs as similarly colored. They would most likely have little problem with spades and diamonds, so for them it would essentially be a three color deck.

Of course such people could distinguish clubs and hearts the same way we distinguish clubs and spades (or hearts and diamonds) in a standard two color deck.

I am not known for changing well established poker norms (swear I'm not OMC, though) but I'm not a fan of the 4 colour deck. It is a solution for a problem that didn't exist and makes things more difficult for existing players.

I understand the convenience it provides, especially for newer/online players. Just don't think we've hit the tipping point yet.

You can't distinguish the cards, own up and get reading glasses gramps.

What things become more difficult for existing players? I can understand that some people are uncomfortable with changes. But I dont see anything that actually becomes more difficult.

But as they say, "all change, whether for the better or worse, is equally resisted."

I don’t think you have to worry. The four color deck is not likely to become widespread any time soon. It certainly does not make anything more difficult in poker though. The colors of the suits are irrelevant in poker. There are games where the colors in the traditional two color deck do matter (euchre, canasta and Klondike solitaire, just off the top of my head). A four color deck would not make those games impossible, but it certainly would be much less convenient for them.

Octagons are reserved for stop signs, therefore the color and wording on stop signs are solutions to a problem that didn't exist and make things more difficult for motorists. I am very smart.