What do you think of wearing sunglasses at the table?

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avjul66

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Amarillo Slim quote: "Son I've made a life out of reading people's faces, and knowing what their cards were by the way they held their eyes"
So what do u think about sunglasses culture at the poker tables?
 
Vfranks

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I wear them sometimes and sometimes I don't. I think it is more of a personal preference.
 
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Zin

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I wear sunglasses every day all day, playing poker, golf, fishing etc...just like wearing sunglasses.
 
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loomis311

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I have read a little bit of information about "eye tells." If you know what people are looking for in eye tells, you can make sure that you do not do it in your game making glasses unnecessary. I think people wear them mostly for show now.
 
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shaazy712

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if you really focus on most players you can read them by looking at their eyes.For a player that shows reaction of the eyes easily think sunglasses is a requirement.
 
JusSumguy

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http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/pok...ull&id=1273044738&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&

"One thing I love about our show, is that FINALLY there is a rule in place where you can't hide like a chicken behind sunglasses! I swear every TV producer should ban sunglasses entirely from any televised event. They are so bad for poker on so many levels. Poker wouldn't be on TV if everyone wore hoodies and sunglasses to hide their eyes.

I'm so happy when I see online guys like Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Galfond man up by not hiding behind shades. The majority of the best players in the world DO NOT wear sunglasses. One of the biggest differences between live and online poker is the ability to see your opponent. Eyes and all. Doyle Brunson doesn't wear shades. Phil Ivey doesn't wear shades.

If anyone wants to start a petition to ban them in any form of poker whether it's tournaments, cash games, or televised events I'd do whatever I could to help. If you wanna wear shades when you play online, go for it! If you wanna play on The PokerStars.Net The Big Game then you'll just have to man up and take those silly things off! There are other key reasons why sunglasses should absolutely be banned at a poker table, but I won't get into that.

Let's just say that guys like Russ Hamilton would appose such a ban. I heard Durr say it on High Stakes Poker last week and he is absolutely right. You should always be uncomfortable playing high stakes poker against someone wearing sunglasses. I'm not making this up, it's just a fact. Banning sunglasses helps to protect the integrity of the game against cheating. For that reason alone, they should be completely outlawed from poker. No other sport or organization would allow competitors a device that makes it easier for them to get away with cheating."
~ Daniel Negreanu

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Jokerman66

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I think a good poker player, has to be clean face you know, he has to know to control his fellings, or maybe act... I think that sunglasses, hoodies, make the game more online then live
 
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Jdawg0913

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Itching sunglasses and hoodies should be banned. It takes an element of the game away. No I am not super old. I am 29 and have been playing since I was 18. Even then, I did not wear them. It's a people game and should eliminate anything that assists in hiding. My two cents.
 
Vfranks

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http://www.fullcontactpoker.com/pok...ull&id=1273044738&archive=&start_from=&ucat=&

"One thing I love about our show, is that FINALLY there is a rule in place where you can't hide like a chicken behind sunglasses! I swear every TV producer should ban sunglasses entirely from any televised event. They are so bad for poker on so many levels. Poker wouldn't be on TV if everyone wore hoodies and sunglasses to hide their eyes.

I'm so happy when I see online guys like Tom Dwan, Patrik Antonius, and Phil Galfond man up by not hiding behind shades. The majority of the best players in the world DO NOT wear sunglasses. One of the biggest differences between live and online poker is the ability to see your opponent. Eyes and all. Doyle Brunson doesn't wear shades. Phil Ivey doesn't wear shades.

If anyone wants to start a petition to ban them in any form of poker whether it's tournaments, cash games, or televised events I'd do whatever I could to help. If you wanna wear shades when you play online, go for it! If you wanna play on The PokerStars.Net The Big Game then you'll just have to man up and take those silly things off! There are other key reasons why sunglasses should absolutely be banned at a poker table, but I won't get into that.

Let's just say that guys like Russ Hamilton would appose such a ban. I heard Durr say it on High Stakes Poker last week and he is absolutely right. You should always be uncomfortable playing high stakes poker against someone wearing sunglasses. I'm not making this up, it's just a fact. Banning sunglasses helps to protect the integrity of the game against cheating. For that reason alone, they should be completely outlawed from poker. No other sport or organization would allow competitors a device that makes it easier for them to get away with cheating."
~ Daniel Negreanu

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Interesting. I wouldn't mind if they were banned all together. In the summer I tend to wear sunglasses outside and just happen to have them on the top of my head when I play poker, so somtimes wear them at the table. Most of the time I don't, but if another player at the table has on sunglasses, then I tend to put them on as well. I've noticed that it doesn't matter either way though, and without sunglasses you can make it look like you have a tell when you don't.

I do sometimes wonder when people have glasses on if they are cheating with that card marking stuff, which is what Daniel is referring to I assume. I tend to think that more of people with normal glasses though, as opposed to sunglasses though. If people wanted to cheat that way I'd think they would want to look as inconspicuous as possible, and maybe even just use contacts with that special lens if even possible?
So if you banned sunglasses to protect the integrity of the game ,would you also have to provide proof that you should be wearing non sunglasses for reading/farsighted/near sightedness as well? Also then again we come to the contacts issue, again if it is even possible.
 
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Amarillo Slim quote: "Son I've made a life out of reading people's faces, and knowing what their cards were by the way they held their eyes"
So what do u think about sunglasses culture at the poker tables?


eyes are the windows to the soul; i agree... i would wear my aunglasses playing pokerstars at home if i jnew where they were right now :p

but i would also wear my sunglasses at night.....

i have really nice ray bans, if it makes it any less weird... i would wear them only, naked, every day if i could..... which, since i started my new career from bed (naked, no, not porn; poker) i may actually be onto something here...
 
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ravpl

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It's good to wear sunglasses playing live poker.
 
trolaAa

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i dont wear because i cant see my cards... its too darky
 
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packernation85

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i wear sunglasses sometimes but don't necessarily find it to be a huge advantage.
 
SANDYHOOKER KY

SANDYHOOKER KY

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I think it's a joke and juvenile period. But, if you have really good eyesight, sometimes you can see what the guy is holding from the reflection off of his glasses.:D
 
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cotta777

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Only time i would wear glasses is at a big tournament.
I try to act relaxed when I bluff. Also find doing the same thing every time i bet works like i might just look down at the cloth
 
WVHillbilly

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Amarillo Slim quote: "Son I've made a life out of reading people's faces, and knowing what their cards were by the way they held their eyes"
So what do u think about sunglasses culture at the poker tables?
That's a line from Kenny Roger's song, The Gambler, not an Amarillo Slim quote!
 
itsmebobd

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I have nothing against someone else wearing them. I wear them sometimes, other times I dont. For the most part at live games people dont see past the fact "I has 2 jacks, how much to call?"... When i'm up against a few of the really good players at the table ill slip em on. I have bad eyesight and am too lazy to go get contacts (refuse to wear glasses) and already have a hard enough time not being able to see the cards. A good way to prevent cheating would be to say "oh those are cool can I see them?", if they act weird about it, be suspect :/
 
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JamaicanKid

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I wear sunglasses sometimes............ I dont see the big deal (unless we are referring to marked cards and all)
 
John A

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I never wear them, but I'm not worried about giving info away. For some it might make sense, but in general I don't think it's necessary for most players except if you're in a local 1/2nl game. ;)
 
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I have read a little bit of information about "eye tells." If you know what people are looking for in eye tells, you can make sure that you do not do it in your game making glasses unnecessary. I think people wear them mostly for show now.

ill take this one step further;

if you now what theyre looking for, you can show them what you want them to think. if they think one thing that they see (and you have the opposite of what they "see" because its what you show...) then you can play them into terrible position... or better yet, make them play themselves into that position...

sometimes the best money earned is money willingly entered into the pot :p .. sometimes its better to force it.... but if people rely on reading others rather than playing odds all the time you can definitely hurt them with a fake tell or two
 
Vfranks

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ill take this one step further;

if you now what theyre looking for, you can show them what you want them to think. if they think one thing that they see (and you have the opposite of what they "see" because its what you show...) then you can play them into terrible position... or better yet, make them play themselves into that position...

sometimes the best money earned is money willingly entered into the pot :p .. sometimes its better to force it.... but if people rely on reading others rather than playing odds all the time you can definitely hurt them with a fake tell or two
Yeah when I first started playing live, people would say I had physical tells.. so I would do this.
 
LeanAndMean

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I have glaucoma, and my eyes are extremely sensitive to light. I have been at some tables where the light was so bright I had to wear my sunglasses. But to wear them because you think it is "cool" or think it makes you look like a pro I think is stupid.
 
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Keep in mind that the original quote was self-interest. This is coming from one of the all time great people readers. Of course Daniel doesn't want his opponents wearing glasses, hiding a read hurts him more than anyone else.

My father wore his sunglasses all the time, including the poker table. He was a photographer and spent most of his day in the darkroom. So his eyes were very sensitive.

Most of the time, I wear a hat or cap when I'm playing live. I have expressive eyes and I don't want the tension of constantly worrying that I'm giving something away. I can still look up at people and make eye contact, but when I look down to see my hole cards, I'm protected.
 
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don1980

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sunglasses

This is the reason why player's wear sunglasses to hide their eyes. So others won't see where there looking.
 
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ThePioneer

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The eyes are one of the biggest tells in poker (and for emotions in general). The biggest reason people have for wanting glasses banned at the poker table is advantage. They can't see their opponent's eyes, thus turning the advantage slightly away from them. When you hide your eyes, you are hiding some emotion. When you hide emotion, your tells are less obvious. Period. Negreanu isn't worried about cheating; he's worried about playing scared against someone wearing glasses. "The majority of the best players in the world don't wear glasses," he says? Wearing glasses makes you a chicken, he says? Not wearing glasses means you man up, he says? Phil Hellmuth (yeah, the 13-time wsop bracelet winner) has worn glasses. Hoyt Corkins wears glasses. Chris Moneymaker, Greg Raymer, Jonathan Little, Annette Obrestad, Scotty Nguyen, Chris Ferguson, Dave Ulliottt, Johnny Chan, Marcel Luske (though upside down), Sam Farha, Stu Unger... I'll just stop here.

Serious poker players who wear glasses don't wear them as a fashion statement (if they do, they need to stop, immediately). They wear them to keep themselves in a comfort zone, knowing a main source of tells is hidden away from their opponents, and many pros do too. TV may have made it cool to wear glasses at the table, but we are in 2014 - the novelty of it is gone. The benefits of it are here to stay.

For those of you that do not wear glasses at the table specifically because they are too dark or give you a headache, check out Blue Shark Optics. They are made specifically for poker, and they have many different styles to choose from.
 
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