View on Ipods/Headphones Live?

I dislike them! Don't wear your headphones live people! Maybe listen to a song once an hour to clear your head, but you'd be amazed how much information people spit out if you listen for it. Three examples from this weekend alone that would have cost me hundreds had I not been listening -

1 - Fat guy sitting next to me starts breathing hard in a hand, then shows a set. I got into a pot with him later with AK. Flop of K 10 9. Guy starts breathing hard again and bets. Normal play is to raise, I folded. Guy flopped a straight.

2 - A rather loose player would say "what you think I have...the 5, 6?" Whenever he added the "what you think I have" he actually had it. If he said like I could have or what do you have he was behind....but what you think I have was a cue to get the hell out.

3 - A guy showed down a full boat with very little betting and he said quietly I hate having to bet my boats. A few hands later I get involved, same guy and have trips with top kicker. The opponent bet the flop and turn, when I raised him all in. He called showing same trips, with a weak kicker. I knew he didn't have the boat because he bet!

There's probably more...But this was a net worth of a few hundred dollars! With headphones on I would have missed all of them. I know some people like the music, but audible tells can help a lot

Views on music at the table?

I don't know how people could listen to music while playing. I'd like to feel engaged rather than distant, and as you said the info you can gather by listening is invaluable.

I multi-skill by only having 1 earphone in and find it comforting even if I cant hear the music. A little silly (well probably a lot really) but hey thats me.

Perhaps I'm just getting old, however, I don't care for the ipods in live games either. I like the social atmosphere at the live tables and view the headhones as anti-social and rather rude. I'm sure things can be missed which you might otherwise hear, but it's the politeness of it that really bugs me. What is wrong with getting to know the players at the table?

I honestly don't mind them as long as it doesn't slow down the game. I actually prefer other people to wear them because I feel they focus less on what's going on at the table and more on their own personal issues. I agree, it's much harder to read the table with music on but to each his own as long as it doesn't slow things down.

I LOVE my ipod while playing live! I don't have it in all the time but there are many times when I've got some idiot chatting non stop to me, even when I'm in a big hand and it's sooo much easier to throw on some music to drown him out.

The vast majority of the time I only wear 1 earpiece, I have long hair so the table usually can't see that I don't have both in. The majority of the time I keep the volume low enough to hear the dealer announce a raise and I will turn the volume down to hear a conversation between 2 people when there's a big bet or all in or the like.

It is very annoying to me when a person wears their headset and keeps the volume up so much that everything has to be repeated to him/her. Other than that I see no problem with it.

At times when I feel there is too much conversation at the table and I find myself being distracted (even if it's good conversation) I will put in both ear pieces and turn the volume up a bit. I find this helps me to concentrate even more on betting patterns / physical tells. That's just me.

Although I might miss some verbal tells from time to time, overall I am fairly confident in my live reads of people and they are usually pretty accurate. Most noobs/fish live have the same physical tells and betting patterns.

When a new player comes to the table, especially if he/she sits on my left, I'll pull out an ear piece and introduce myself and welcome them to the table. If the noob has an alcoholic drink I'll start up a conversation with them for about their first half hour of play then throw my music back on. My favorite thing is when a noob sits down and says "I've only played home games, I'm just here to have fun!". I'll keep my music off and make sure they are having a great time losing their money to me! LOL!

So my viewpoint is the music is great to have, at the right times.