Marked Card Controversy at WSOPE: James Chen Spots Flawed Deck

An incident concerning potentially marked cards has erupted at the World Series of Poker Europe feature table. James Chen spotted that the backs of the RFID card deck was flawed in a way that allowed observers to recognise if a card was upside down.

Chen pointed out that the commentators were wrong with their theory that if all cards are flawed in the same way it doesn’t matter. “If the ace of spades is facing one direction, while all other cards are facing the opposite, you can always tell which card is the ace of spades, even after a shuffle. “Even if multiple cards are upside down, as is usually the case, you can still determine which cards could and which cards couldn’t be the aces of spades (or any other card you know the orientation of).

Houston Curtis said: 'One way decks can be used in poker just like edge sorting in baccarat. However, maintaining the one way direction on the desired cards is difficult due to people holding and mucking. But: cheating can occur on a set up change.'