WHY THE COLLECTION? 492sl

Gala Casinos, Stockport (England) where I first played Texas Hold’em in 2008, is just one example of a Casino that no longer has a Poker Room but did issue a Card Guard. See Photo Ref. 051A. Happy Memories! e5w73

Not only will you find ‘OFFICIALLY’ issued Card Guard’s etc. within the Card Guard Gallery but you will also find ‘UNOFFICIALLY’ manufactured Card Guard’s and also ‘BESPOKE’ Card Guard’s. 622n6p

Card Guard’s, sometimes called Card Protector’s, come in a variety of Manufactured Materials, Weights, Shapes, Sizes and Colours. Many Poker players have a Name or Nickname and use a Card Guard that relates to their name, others use Officially issued Card Guards, acquired from a variety of sources. r122r

The Standard Measurements of Poker Playing Cards is 88mm x 63mm, however, small deviations are made by some Manufacturers. The size of the ‘base’ of the Card Guard should be no greater than the width of the Playing Cards, the explanation for this, is to ensure that other Players at your table, can see that you have ‘Live’ Cards and are still in the hand. How many times have you been sitting at a table, when a player has covered their cards with their hands? 2i3e1k

On numerous occasions, I have seen Players, play out of turn, simply because they had NOT been able to see that a Player that should have stated their bet prior to them, had their 2 hand’s covering their ‘Hole’ Card’s. This has led to arguments and a bad feeling between players. In many Live Tournament’s, player’s are now warned prior to the Start, that a one round penalty will be given to any player, who plays out of turn. 5s263i

Ideally, a Card Guard should be heavy in weight, so as to ensure that your Pocket Cards CANNOT easily be removed and/or thrown into the Muck by a Player or a Croupier. Due to the costs of the precious metals used in the manufacture of Card Guard’s rising, the weight of Card Guards produced in the 80′, 90’s and early 2000’s were heavier than those produced in later years e.g. GROSVENOR CASINOS. 6h5y5w

The U.K. Casino Group’s GROSVENOR and ASPERS  have produced some wonderful Card Guards over the years, with details of the Casino Name and the Tournament Event being displayed on the Face and Reverse sides of the Card Guard. 3j6q4b

The U.K. ‘Rank’ Group, who also own GROSVENOR, have also produced a variety of Card Guard’s to promote their GUKPT/BLUE SQUARE Tournaments, in various shapes.(BLUE SQUARE Poker ceased operation after being purchased by BETFAIR in 2013). 305u15

The Grosvenor Victoria Casino, London a.k.a. THE VIC have issued various Card Guard’s for their Poker Room. The Oldest Card Guard that I have acquired is The Vic World Stud Poker Federation FINALIST Card Guard issued Circa 1980 (Ref. 7A). 6o41

The ‘World Series of Poker Card Guard’ Rules (2016) #80 There will be no foreign objects on the table except for a maximum of one card cap (also known as a card protector). Card caps can be no larger than two (2) inches in diameter and no more than one-half (1/2) inch in depth. 6nb5c

The largest Card Guard that I have seen, is one produced for the AUSSIE MILLIONS. It has a diameter of 8cms i.e. just over 3 inches (see Ref. 390J) 4p2n4l

DUSK TILL DAWN, the largest Privately owned Poker Room in England, issued a large circular Card Guard (GOLD in colour) engraved with the wording ‘GOLDEN £5,000 CHIP’. It has a diameter of 6cms i.e. 2.36 inches. They have also issued  a variety of smaller Card Guard’s, awarded to Players in specific Tournament’s. 572t1b

Most of you will own or will have seen the Card Guard’s made specifically for the various World Series of Poker (WSOP) Tournaments, most of which currently take place at the Rio Casino, Las Vegas (as at 2019) and some for their National Circuit Events. WSOP Card Guards come in different formats e.g. (Face Side) 38th ANNUAL WSOP JUNE 1 – JULY 17, 2007 (Reverse Side) TEXAS HOLD’EM (NOT individually numbered); whilst another example has (Face Side) 39th ANNUAL WSOP MAY 29 – JULY 16 2008 (Reverse Side) TOURNAMENT PLAYER and the LIMITED EDITION NUMBER Two interesting and ‘none related’ WSOP RIO Card Guards that I have come across are: 4d195

1. (Face Side) 2006-2007 CIRCUIT EVENT SERIES WSOP TOURNAMENT PLAYER (Reverse Side) CAESARS MARCH 26 – APRIL 4, 2007. 656f2x

2. (Face Side) WSOP EUROPE (Reverse  Side) INAUGURAL YEAR CASINO EMPIRE THE SPORTSMAN SEPTEMBER 2007. 4w2j65

The Organisation that knows the IMPORTANCE of Card Guard’s more than any other Poker related Company and promotes them far more than anyone else is POKER STARS (as at 2014). Those of you, who have won a Package or Seat in one of the POKER STAR Internet Tournaments, up to 2014, are more than likely to have received a Card Guard in the POKER STARS Bag that was given to you, whilst attending and playing in the ‘Live’ Tournament. To name just a few of the Tournaments that POKER STARS have produced Card Guard’s for are the WSOP (World Series of Poker), EPT (European Poker Tour), UKIPT (U.K. and Ireland Poker Tour) and PPS (Portugal Poker Series) Tournaments. POKER STARS award Card Guard’s in some of their on-line Tournaments e.g. SCOOP (Spring Championship of Online Poker and also offer POKERSTAR.COM Card Guard’s on their Website online shop, in a Silver and a Gold Plated colour and also the well known POKER STARS SHARK that can all be purchased with Player Points. Some of you may have noticed that POKER STARS have also produced a POKERSTARS.NET Card Guard. 6u113

‘SPINNERS’ are also used as Card Guard’s.  The HARDROCK Casino Group have issued a variety of Spinner’s in their Poker Rooms. As the name suggests, these SPIN around and are used as a way of spending your time, when you have gone ‘CARD DEAD’ for a period of time!  4a584i

A number of Casinos and Tournament organisers no longer allow players to use Spinners as they do mark cards. 425d6y

The LAS VEGAS HILTON POKER ROOM (Ref: 241G) is my most prized Spinner. 5hg30

You will also find a selection of DEALER BUTTONS from Casino’s and Poker Tournament Sponsor’s. Whilst the diameter vary in size, you will also note that the Depth of them also vary quite substantially. The WSOP Circuit Events have designed some quite colourful examples for the various Casino’s that the Tournament’s were played in. 1v5i2z

During the COVID 19 Pandemic Crisis in 2020, almost all Casino’s were closed during the Lockdown between March – June. ALL Poker Tournaments were CANCELLED during this period including the WSOP held at the Rio, Las Vegas June – July. As a result, fewer Card Guards will be available for Tournaments held in 2020. 166r3z

I am known as the SKULLMAN and now use a bespoke Card Guard manufactured by WWW.ROOM101SILVER.COM. 6w395l

I have displayed a photo of the First SKULLMAN Card Guard (Small) that I used and also a photo of the Large SKULLMAN Card Guard that you will presently see me using in Tournament’s. 5e273i

I purchased the Small SKULL ‘figure’ from a Store and bought the Circular Base, which I had engraved with SKULL MAN, from a jewellery Store. I then quite simply glued them together. Whilst I enjoyed using this Card Guard and it more than paid for itself, with Tournaments that I used it in, I decided that I required a heavier Card Guard. The weight of the bespoke SKULLMAN Card Guard (see photo) is much heavier than any other Card Guard that I have seen other players use and the reason for its weight is fully explained in the age that follows, titled WHY USE A CARD GUARD/PROTECTOR? 5mx21

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I do hope that you enjoy looking through the Photographic Images displayed within the Card Guard Gallery. 66l25

One should NOT forget the IMPORTANCE of using a Card Guard! 1tdb

As a result of NOT using a CARD GUARD, you could inadvertanly have your ‘Hole’ Cards ‘MUCKED’ by the Dealer, which would automatically have the knock on effect of you LOSING any Chips that you may have ‘Bet’ on the said hand. 1yw46

Gerald a.k.a. SKULLMAN 366n1e