The sunglasses debate

Live Poker / Marcus Bateman / 19 January 2011 / Leave a Comment

There are actually solid reasons why sunglasses can actually be a bad thing in poker for the good player, and ones you need to to think about if you are deciding whether to use them on the live felt or not

We all know the archetypal poker scene - smoky rooms, dim light, frozen faces enveloped in dark wraparound sunglasses staring down at the green felt as huge sums of money trade hands. However, in recent years sunglasses have become quite a point of contention in poker, even to the extent of being banned by some poker TV shows, as well as rarely featuring on the faces of most of the very highest limit players.

This may seem an odd point to an amateur player, who would reason that gaining any extra ability to hide your emotions - particularly something as telling as the eyes - would be a good thing in poker; but there are actually solid reasons why sunglasses can actually be a bad thing in poker for the good player, and ones you need to to think about if you are deciding whether to use them on the live felt or not.

The first and most important point about sunglasses is how they affect the fish. Simply put, if you have an edge over a player, you want as much information as possible from them. If you choose to wear sunglasses against such players, you generally are encouraging them to wear them too, as no one likes feeling at an immediate and obvious disadvantage at the tables. This is a huge mistake in the long run, as they gain little from seeing your eyes, but you lose a huge amount not being able to see theirs - clearly a terrible situation for you in any game you have an edge.

On top of this, in the murky light of most card-rooms, wearing dark glasses can make the odds of you miss-reading hands much larger, and just one mistake like this every few sessions adds up to a huge sum at the end of the year in a world with as fine a margins as poker. It is rumoured that even the great Phil Ivey was bought an extremely expensive pair of dark designer sunglasses by his then wife, but then miss read a big hand while wearing them - an event that caused them to never be seen on him again, and something that illustrates well one of the core reasons most of the very top players spurn eye coverings.

Keeping a tight ship in terms of tells given out is clearly a key priority in live poker, but one that has to be balanced against other factors. Keeping weak players happy and easy to read is much more important than losing a bit of your edge with the odd slip up in your eyes, as is making sure that you are not miss-reading hands and making big mistakes in pots due to not being able to see properly. Sunglasses will no doubt be seen at the tables as long as poker is played, but they need to be considered carefully in the broader context of the game if you are deciding if you should don shades next time you play live.

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