New Cards -- But Are They New & Improved?
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Now, in the first few hands, we know what has changed. And the criticisms from the players are harsh.
Mike Matusow was frothing at the mouth, and yelled, "Did you see these cards? You can't see the cards! Where's Jeffrey Pollack?"
Doyle Brunson took his seat next to Layne Flack, ready to play his first hand of the 2007 World Series of Poker. But when he checked his cards, he had to do a double take. "What the hell are these?"
It gets worse. Two players have already asked for a refund. Johnny Chan has complained and threatened to refuse to play. Daniel Negreanu called them the worst cards he's ever played with.
Before the tournament began, Chad Layne said he had been playing some satellites, and watched as players misread their hands -- in some cases, even the dealers. Layne got some practice in, and feels ready to deal with the cards now that there are bracelets at stake.
What's the problem? The six and the nine are particularly problematic, and easily confused with each other. The "pips" in the center of the card are much smaller than normal, and contained in a box. Instead of having large numbers in the top left and bottom right corners, they are sort of in the lower left and top right -- and that's what makes the sixes and the nines confusing, because the six is in the general area where an upside-down nine would normally appear.
There are still numbers in the upper left corner, but they are extremely small and at an angle, and they're easy to overlook.
T.J. Cloutier, who is on the Player's Advisory Committee, claims that these are *not* the cards that the players approved. (He's also asked to speak to Jeffrey Pollack.) That's an interesting wrinkle -- perhaps there are better cards somewhere, waiting in the wings?
The big question for now is this -- How quickly can Harrah's fix the problem? Or, is it possible for the players to adapt?