In 2013, I successfully Kickstarted the Whispering Imps®, a deck of cards for magicians that was inspired by Harry Kellar’s famous portrait poster from 1894. After a very successful campaign, 5 different versions of the original design and thousands of shipped decks, it was time for a brand new deck of Whispering Imps®. In January 2014, I partnered again with illustrator Mark Stutzman, and we began designing the second deck in the Whispering Imps® series: The Gamesters.

Designed for card players, the Gamesters are two new decks inspired by classic Las Vegas casinos including Jerry’s Nugget, the Golden Nugget, and The Wynn. The clean, simplistic back design allows players to be focused on what’s most important – the game.

Additionally, I wanted to make it easier for both left and right handed card players to peek at their hand while at the same reducing the amount of card exposed to prying eyes, so the pips are placed just 2.5mm from the edge in all four corners.  The top right and bottom left indices are rotated 90°, allowing players another unique opportunity to quickly peek at their hand when cards are in a horizontal position.  

Lastly, it was important to set this deck apart from the original while maintaining elegance. The original Whispering Imps® sported a very intricate back design and were housed within a very simple, iconic tuck box. The Gamesters incorporate just the opposite – a very simple and iconic back design and an intricate, elaborate tuck box.