Introducing Gambler's Warehouse

I'm not a gambler.  But I am serious about playing cards, and that explains my interest in Gambler's Warehouse. 

Gambler's Warehouse is based in Texas, and has close connections with the gaming industry in Las Vegas, with one part of their business is about manufacturing gaming chips and playing cards for casinos and other corporations.   But they also have a massive range of quality gaming merchandise that will be of interest to gamers who enjoy a game of dice, poker, or cards at home.  In fact, they're especially serious about playing cards, and you only need to visit their subsidiary website PlayingCards Dot Net, to get some sense of the enormous selection they have available for sale.  They have been part of the playing card industry for more than two decades, and are passionate about playing cards, including their design, production, and their use in art forms like cardistry. 



As part of their involvement with the world of playing cards, Gambler's Warehouse has gained a very positive reputation in assisting creators of playing cards to fulfil their projects.  This is in part due to the strong relationship and connections that Gambler's Warehouse enjoys with the US Playing Card Company.  As a result, many crowd-funding projects choose them to assist them in making their playing card project a reality.

But Gambler's Warehouse also produces high quality custom playing cards of their own design, and that's what this review is all about.  In a previous review, I have taken a close look at the Alloy series of Playing Cards that they produced  - you can see that review here.  I was super impressed with these decks, and they quickly became among my personal favourites.  Now it's time to look at some of the other playing cards they have produced in-house, beginning with the luxurious Regal project.




Regal Playing Cards

The very first in-house project produced by Gamblers Warehouse was Double Black, and its designer John Powell was also responsible for the creation of the Regal decks of playing cards.

The Regal decks were produced in four different colours: green, blue, purple, and red.
 


The "regal" title of these decks alludes to royalty, and reflects the fact that with these classy looking decks, designer John Powell tried to offer a fresh take on classical styled playing cards.   



In John Powell's own words: "I was really influenced by the classic standard English courts, but I wanted to do them in a cleaner, more sophisticated and regal appearance - hence the name."
 
Purple deck

I'll start by showing you the purple deck, since purple is the colour of royalty, and conveys wealth, luxury, and extravagance more than any other colour!

The card-backs feature beautiful, ornate, and detailed artwork, and appropriately gold is a key colour, both on the card-backs, and on the court cards.



The court cards have a classic style, but notice how all the red suits feature the colour that corresponds to the deck, in this case purple.



The black suits, on the other hand, have the usual black pips, although the purple theme still emerges in the colours used for the court cards.



I especially love how the court cards have over-sized artwork that exudes elegance and class.



Blue deck
 
In comparison, here are some cards from the Blue deck, which feature the same back design, but with a touch of blue instead of purple. 



Red suits like the Jack of Diamonds above have blue pips, while black suits like the Clubs below have standard black pips, while again retaining the blue theme in the court cards themselves.



I love the way that the blue complements the gold in this deck!



Green deck

Similarly the Green deck features cards that have green pips for the red suits.



Number cards in Diamonds and Hearts also employ green pips, like the 10 of Diamonds below.



To avoid getting the Spades/Clubs confused with the Hearts/Diamonds, not only are the pips of the traditionally red suits in the deck colour, but the number/value of the card is also in that colour rather than black.


 
Red deck

The Regal deck is a beautiful and classy looking deck all round, whichever of the four colours you choose, but I'm especially partial to the Red deck.



Here's an overview of some of the cards in this deck.



The Red deck in the Regal series uses red pips for the red suits, so it is the closest to a traditional deck.  Notice also the custom arrangement of the pips on the 8 of Spades.



Here's a full set of all the Heart court cards.



Quality

The quality and handling of the cards is also very high.  The Regal decks were printed by Expert Playing Card Company in their Master finish, which is the equivalent of LPCC's Diamond finish, and is a thinner but more durable card-stock with a cleaner cut and more snap than a typical USPCC produced deck.

Because of the design of the card backs, these decks are also beautifully suited to cardistry.  The tuck boxes also look absolutely great!
 


Inside and out, it's hard to imagine how these stunning decks could have been improved!
 

Conclusions

Regal decks: Of all the decks I have that were produced by Gambler's Warehouse, the Regal Playing Cards are probably the most impressive decks if you judge from the tuck boxes alone, with luxurious gold embossing, and a very stylish look.  The oversized court cards are a unique feature of this deck, and it has a traditional look while remaining absolutely classy and elegant, which is further exemplified with the custom pips.  A choice of four colours means you can even get a matching set with different colours.  Absolutely delightful!

Card quality: All the decks that I've looked at and own that have been produced by Gamblers have been outstanding quality.  The Regal deck is from Expert Playing Card Company, and I'm a big fan of their Master finish, which is even more durable and has even cleaner edges than any United States Playing Card deck.  And in every case, the cards are packaged in an appropriate and attractive tuck box.



Recommendation: I continue to be impressed by the decks produced by Gamblers Warehouse.  In an earlier review, I gave a glowing report about their Alloy deck, which featured remarkable iridescent foil on both the back and the front of the cards - an industry first, and a remarkable achievement.  Not only can you purchase their own decks at their subsidiary playingcards.net website, but they also have a wide range of other quality playing cards for sale there too.

In addition to this, Gamblers Warehouse also acts as a fulfilment company for a lot of other card designers, who rely on their expertise and experience.  Clearly, these guys know what they're doing, and I know that if I was producing my own deck via crowd-funding, I'd definitely be considering them as a partner to assist with this.  If my positive experiences are anything to go by, this is a reliable and a good choice to consider as a source for quality playing cards.  I can certainly recommend very highly all the Regal decks I've reviewed above.



Want to learn more? 
Gamblers Warehouse: http://gamblerswarehouse.com
Playing Cards Dot Net: http://playingcards.net



Direct links for the Regal Playing Cards featured in this review:
- Complete set of 4 decks
- Red deck
- Green deck
- Blue deck
- Purple deck