/ Editor / 14 December 2007 / Leave a comment

DOES it matter what you wear to play poker? "In poker, do rags mean riches?" asks The Journal Gazette.

It is not wrong to say that Poker players are known for their fashion know how,. Players too often make dartists, Russian footballers and Helen Bonham Carter look both smart and sophisticated.

Mirrored sunglasses, own brand supermarket clothing and cotton drawstring pyjamas of the type worn by mind-European men on the beaches of Turkey are regular sights.

But can clothes make the player? Can the clothes distract from the cards?

Judi James, British-born author of Poker Face: Mastering Body Language to Bluff, Read Tells and Win, says the way someone chooses to dress can give valuable clues to the way he plays cards.

She has split the players into groups:

Power dressers
Designer clothes, "status-symbol watches" and sharp suits. "Expect industrial-strength bluffs," says James.

Attention-seeking dressers
Bright and brash. James says these people will be "flashily competitive players, more concerned with image than the power aspect of winning." Expect them to bluff a lot and take big risks.

Casually scruffy dresser
These people show up at the poker table in stained and crumpled T-shirts. "James believes their haphazard way of dress means they have no game plan, making them impulsive and erratic players. James says your biggest problem in facing such opponents is trying to find a pattern in their behaviour."

Scruffy, smart dressers
Yes, they are wearing suits, but they are rumpled and too shiny. Shoes are scuffed. They dress like mini cab driers on their way to court. "James says these players often have no self-control and are governed by their mood. They can bluff, but because they don't think things out, look for signs of leakage." Eu!

Smartly casual dressers
"These are the players who come to the poker table looking immaculate, but they roll up their sleeves or loosen their ties when they start betting." Says James: "They can switch roles without batting an eyelid and so are very, very likely to bluff."

Casual-obsessive dressers
Baggy jeans, T-shirts with logos and trainers. They crave anonymity. "Underestimate nothing and trust nothing," James writes. Brilliant bluffers.

Optimistic dressers
They wear bright yellows, oranges and other creative colours, and they often wear "juvenile-looking cardigans and full skirts". James says a joke or conversation can easily distract them. Try a quip about escaping from the library.

Inappropriate dressers
Leather, chains, Goths and Page 3 stunnas. James says they may have read about tactics and decided to do the opposite just to spite people.

Careful dressers
These are "bland fashion-avoiders" with sturdy shoes and muted coordinates, James believes these people "hold strong values and cling to them. They will avoid risks and dramatics. But putting on a poker face comes naturally to them." They are lawyers.

All in all, it's ingenious stuff. And may help when it some to choosing your online avatar...

Tags: Avatar, Poker