Sunglasses, Hoodies, etc....

Hello!

How do you feel about wearing sunglasses and hoodies in tournaments? When I first started I always wore sunglasses. When I honed in my craft, I felt like having no sunglasses on gave me a better chance to make bluffs which is odd. Every time, I would get called wearing sunglasses when bluffing, and when I don't, I can get away with it more times than not.

In one tournament I tried the hoodie, sunglasses, and ear buds. I got called on everything and after I got knocked out, a player came up to me and basically told me my tells.

So all in all, I feel like the less I have on to "disguise" me, the less I have to concentrate on. How do you feel about wearing things to "block" tells?

If you're wearing ANYTHING to "block tells" - stop. You convey a TON of information in HOW you bet much more than in what your eyes are doing or facial expressions.

And ironically, a lot of times when you try REALLY hard to give off nothing, you are working against yourself because you'll create gaps in your concealment that are now easier to spot because you're working so hard to conceal physical information.

If sunglasses just make you more comfortable, then that's another story and seems reasonable. But if you're doing them thinking it's going to cut off a ton of information, you're probably working against yourself.

Thank you Scourrge!

Hoodies are appropriate in almost all situations. It does get cold in the casinos!

Haven't used sunglasses yet, but I feel that they don't help much to hide any tells.

I wear only glasses somethimes depend on situation

I never wear sunglasses when playing poker - why make it harder to see the cards - and like Matt said above you are kidding yourself if you think you are hiding tells.

I frequently wear a hoodie - because it is cold. But I never put the hoodie on my head or cover my face with it.

I think a good poker player doesn't need anything to cover a face. If the PLAYER with a capital letter he wins and without points =)))

The only reason I would have to wear sunglasses is so they don't see how stoned I am. I normally have a hoodie with me but that's just for the cold.

I don't think sunglasses hide tells but they do make me feel more "protected" at the table - maybe a more physiological thing. I can stare at people and I feel that it is easier to do behind sunglasses.

Best outfit ...

(see pics)

On-topic

No sunglasses, I like to see everything clearly...and it's fun to stare at people

Hoodies is totally fine, but, when I'm playing live I like to wear nice blazer...

I never hide because anyway when I stress too much I tend to start shaking everywhere even with good hands. suddenly my opponents are struggling to locate my game but I'm not against making glasses if it allows me to play better.

Wear your most reflective sunglasses so you own so villain will have to stare at themselves as they stare you. It'll mess them up as they're trying to get a read off you while, at the same time, trying to hide the reads they're reading on themselves through your sunglasses.

Wear your darkest hoodie zipped all the way up. Make sure you put on patches like 'wsop', '1 Time!', '+EV', and an iron on print out of your PT3 graph on the back to let everyone know you're serious.

Make sure your headphones are on over your hoodie. This is important because you want the table to know you don't care about them or the table chatter. What's the action? Who cares, you're going to raise it up anyways.

Have 2 ipads in front of you so you can 8 table cash games in between hands. Live play is so slow anyway and you're a grinder. A minute not playing is another BB you aren't picking up.

I like the hoodie, but I am still not sure about the sun glasses. I tried with and without and for me it depends on the situation. Sometimes they were really helpfull to keep a chatty neighbor at bay or it made it easier to look at their not so well protected hands (yes I do that, if given a chance),.... so there might be some advantages after all.

In my opinion, it's a very miserable attempt to hide emotions during poker game. I did not notice that the best poker players of today carry such things.

Poker Bling?

I don't give HOOT what a player wears or does not wear at the table. It's mannerisms and idiosyncrasis and sudden changes is how they bet(or don't)that I am focused on. I don 't wear glasses because I WANT the enemy to see my eyes boring holes through thier head. And playing online has made that even more integral to my game. I can read most players at an online table given a little time and see even more clearly patterns in betting and card play and speed of execution, etc.

Say HI to your worst nightmare...lol

Nope

At live tables i usually don't like to draw attention to myself. So nothing flashy. I like seat number 2 or 8 or 9. I don't wear sunglasses because it distract me and with a hoodie it would mess up my peripheral vision.

Thank you for all the advice everyone! I believe that for myself, it doesn't matter what I'm wearing. I've even mastered the false gulp to get people to shove on me haha.

I'm off to play 1$-2$ NL tomorrow and I have broken my usual old man glasses. So I have to use my back up prescription sunglasses. I'll probably go whole hog and get the ball cap and hoodie out.

I highly doubt it will have any affect on my game play.

That is crazy

I like sunglasses personally. But to Debbie's point I have a pair that are just light enough to see the cards. Sometimes the table tells me that they can "see my eyes". I tell them I don't care. Sunglasses are to cut down on glare and also hide eye dilation. Oh, and the sunglasses match my clothes so that I am styling too!

I never wear a hoodie. Some places won't allow it anyways.

Some players like the scarf to hide their veins/arteries pulsating. I look at their heavy breathing, which the scarf does not hide.

Good luck !

My eyes don’t tell. Though I do smile and frown a lot so I tend to cover my lower face with my shirt sometimes.
I hate stare downs I think you ough to be able to figure if the person is bluffing or not based on his betting pattern.
If I feel like I being stare at for a tell them I will start acting. It’s worked so far

I have never worn sunglasses while playing poker and I think it’s comical when I see players wearing them in low stakes events or 1-2 cash. I do wear a hoodies (never have hood up) or sweatshirts because it’s often an ice box in the casino. I don’t think being warm should dictate my read or tells. I do think some young players are emulating the “online poker wizard” too much when I see then dressed like that. But it may just be a comfort thing. I do like playing some of them though, as you can pretty much tell very quickly that they are playing way too loose and it’s a matter of time before they get trapped. That being said, I never judge a book by its cover, some of the best players are hidden in a hoodie behind sunglasses.

As Scourrge said, when you try extra hard to conceal your tells, you actually end up expressing way more. But my opposition to this goes beyond pure logic - I just don't like players who do it.

I have a problem in general with people concealing their face in public when it isn't for safety or health reasons. At a casino I just think it's rude, and if you really need to try so hard not to give away tells that you think are very obvious, poker probably isn't the game for you in the first place. With that said, I'm okay with hoodies. They're comfortable and people can still see your face.

I would love to see some statistics on the success of concealing your face - anecdotally the players I see doing it don't tend to win much, and you see very few people final tabling at the big tournaments covering their face (and I can't think of a single winner).

Sunglasses, Hoodies, etc...

I have never understood this. When someone at my table wears all of that, I make it my mission to take him/her out. If you're cold, wear a jacket. If you want to listen to music, go to a club. If you want to play online, go to your room or just stay home.
Just my opinion

I don't see a need for wearing sunglasses, and I only wear a hoodie when it's cool inside.

I think if you have to wear sunglasses, then that person should work on their poker face.