Kem reds too dark?

[Rams_Law]

I'm not old (I'm 37...[/Monty Python]) but last time I was at Foxwoods I was having difficulty seeing hearts and diamonds as red when I peeked at my pocket cards. Granted it was dark in the shadow of my cupped hands, but I distinctly recall looking at one hand and seeing a black spade next to a black diamond. Face-up, the red cards were barely perceptible as red. They were a very dark burgundy or brick color.

Is this intentional? Is a brighter red more likely to flash? What gives? Am I the only person with a similar problem?

[CaptObvious]

"The names Dennis."

"Well, I didn't know you were called Dennis..."

[Dept111]

This wouldn't suprise me in the least. I have a friend who runs a retail gambling shop, and he told me not long ago KEM was bought out, and the new owner ran the company in the ground, turning a profitable company with 800+ employees into a company with only 8. Any cards they have been manufacturing lately have been significantly below their usual standards -- set-ups coming with only one color and lots of bleeding ink.

For better or for worse, US Playing Cards bought them out, and hopefully they'll be turning out better products sometime next year.

[Randy_Refeld]

Were they definitely Kem? I know the Gemeco (Gemco maybe) makes a plastic card with brown hearts and diamonds.

RR

[slavic]

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Were they definitely Kem? I know the Gemeco (Gemco maybe) makes a plastic card with brown hearts and diamonds.

RR

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Quite a few of the Washington State card rooms are using Gemco. I've almost made a mistake several times looking at a spade and heart and thinking they were suited. The colors a close enough that with the green felt both symbols look black.

[Luv2DriveTT]

I was playing with a fellow 2+2'er yesterday at the Trop in AC, when I had this problem. As I am color blind (officialy it is called color weak, I have a hard time seeing shades) the reds on the brand new KEM decks looked so dark that more than once I was confused. The Trop has custom made KEMs with the trop logo on them.

On a related note, one of the dealers were complaining about it as well. He said the plastic was "pealing" off on some of the cards, and that they were cracking easily. I personally caught a King that someone had marked (fingernail), I thought that this wasn't so easy to do with old style KEMs, but obviously the newer cards aren't built as well.

TT in da club /images/graemlins/club.gif

[StevieG]

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On a related note, one of the dealers were complaining about it as well. He said the plastic was "pealing" off on some of the cards

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that sounds awful